Personal Blogs

Another thinking point, in my daily work of training HE students with assistive technology I am constantly reminded that "disability" comes in a myriad of seen and unseen forms.  I am also aware that we are probably scraping the tip of the iceberg still with diagnosis and acceptance of disabilities.  Many students receive a diagnosis late in their years or late in their studies, i.e they are not diagnosed until working at university level, these of course are students with hidden learning disabilities such as dyslexia.  I increasingly loathe the term disability too as I see these issues as differences not disabilities.  My own son has differences, both hidden (badly!) and unhidden as he stammers and suffers from ADHD and Dyspraxia - the stammer is obvious but to me so is a lot of the ADHD behavior.

I feel its time to re-name disability as difference, but then I also feel its time to re-name racism as ignorance.

In the ebook I was struck by this sentence

True to form I mindmapped the terminology for the different models - colour coding them for those which I think are socially acceptable in todays society.

Seale, J. (2006). E-learning and disability in higher education. London: Routledge.

Its appropriate that I was desperate to do this module as I have been very unwell the past couple of months and I feel like I'm emerging from a fog.  The main problem has been itching and a severe facial rash and its been going on most of this year but seemed to get worse in the summer, I am definitely suffering some photosensitivity.  This might not sound like a big deal but when it flares up badly its like needles constantly digging my skin, painful and unmanageable, Creams, lotions etc are not even touching it and are often causing worse reactions.  When its at its peak I literally sit with a cold wet flannel on my face for hours trying to cool the burning sensation and keep the itching down to a minimum.  In between bouts my skin is dry and scaly and I have gained a lot of wrinkles.

This is not the only unpleasant symptom, my body has lost the ability to regulate temperature and when I get hot or cold I stay that way.  Hot is worse as my face starts to sweat and guess what?  It makes the itching worse!  We have had a long hot summer where I felt increasingly unable to cope.  Some days I was also fatigued to the point of spending most of the day napping.  In the past 6 to 8 weeks I have also suffered joint pain, particularly in my knees which have been much better since last summer and I have once again taken to using my stick to aid mobility.  Oh yes and i've developed brain fog.   

The GP has suggested Lupus as I have raised markers but waiting for a rheumatology appointment was 2 months.  During this time my general depression worsened to the point where I was not effectively functioning, I had a total lack of concentration and was desperately trying to finish the EMA for my previous module.  I didn't even apply for an extension as I felt the pressure of having a deadline to meet was too much.  I just carried on when I could and finished it for my own piece of mind.  Last week I finally saw the rheumatologist and he thinks it is not Lupus and has referred me on to dermatology for the face and confirmed the joint pain is the early onset of arthritis.  I have now applied for exceptional circumstances to hand in my EMA next April.

And now I've started properly on H810 and I have my first TMA due on Monday!  I will ask for an extension of 1 week and I'm going on holiday to chill out and study.  

Already I've started and feel inspired by the material and that my recent experiences of being physically unable to function have given me an insight.  First week of work and I love the table of language to use - It makes total sense.