birding with a disability (3 Viewers)

[walt-m]

All I can say Tammie is best of luck hope to hear not footsteps but running one's
Sam you have hit on the best thread I have seen on B F marks out of 10 = 10+.
To all just keep birding. This from peg leg Walt.

 

[Mickymouse]

I had to laugh reading about the legal worries of an electric buggy, with all the wretched idiots tearing about the place on motorbikes etc, what policeman would have the nerve to arrest you.

Mick

 

[samuel walker]

Slick Rig

Well Christine, I can only say, "been there and done the same trick" don't you just feel soooo stupid? But this is how I now go about and with Trish now being with me it is so much easier, makes birding a real pleasure, this is how I look while out and about!

Thanks for the pic Nina you look good perched there with everything laid out ready to shoot with.I have to believe your shots are pretty good.Please pop some into the gallery.
Sam

 

[florall]

I had to laugh reading about the legal worries of an electric buggy, with all the wretched idiots tearing about the place on motorbikes etc, what policeman would have the nerve to arrest you.

Mick

You've just made me smile Mick. Hadn't thought of that.

 

[florall]

if you can buy your buggy with DLA you don't pay VAT and mine cost £1500 but worth every penny to me, and you can get them on terms using mobility allowance.
QUOTE]

I do get the higher mobility payment with DLA, so I will look into this. Thanks Nina.

 

[oceans]

not believed

Do any of you fine people find that other people don't believe you about your disability? I've never been actually accused of lying about it but have had to actually convince some people about my heart trouble. I've heard a few other people with heart trouble also say that. If you can't see it, it's not there. Or in my case, I'm much too young (first heart attack at 32, second surgery at 36) to have this disease. Well, tell my genes that because it's hereditary (my father died of a third heart attack at 37 before we had a name for this and most of his brothers didn't make it past 45, no matter what their lifestyle) and out of my control. It's definitely there and I'm probably looking at surgery (hopefully angioplasty and not a bypass yet!) next month or May at the latest. At this point, it's just not soon enough because I can barely walk to the end of my driveway!
Okay, don't mind me. I'm having a particularly bad day. That's the end of my rant. Just wondering if anyone else had similar experiences with people.

I know just how you feel, firstly I have Epilepsy which is invisible then on occasion shockingly graphic! Also a friend of mine has had a congental heart disease since 18, she has an implanted device that shocks her heart back into normal rythm. There is one event that will stick forever in my mind...she tried to return to work (after a long absence in the City)....two days down the line she had a bad attack and crumpled to the floor in the train station, it was rush hour....she was very smartly dressed, people walked over her, around her as she dragged herself to a phone. Doesnt matter if its visual or not, people are people. Theyre decent or theyre not and sometimes certain people do the right thing because they have to.
Fortunately there are those in the world who are good right the way through....thank gawd for them.

 

[florall]

Do any of you fine people find that other people don't believe you about your disability? I've never been actually accused of lying about it but have had to actually convince some people

This struck a chord with me too. My problem is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Most of the time I look well (I use make up), when I walk I make sure I'm upright because I want to make my muscles stay in the right place. What people can't see is that after just a very short time, I can't walk any more, or see me collapsed in a heap once I get home and unable to do anything for hours.

Never mind. I have some very empathetic friends and I've found that when I'm out birding in a wheelchair everybody, and I mean everybody, has been really nice about it. Great people, birders.

 

[oceans]

Epilepsy

I have Epilepsy, as briefly mentioned before. I have taken drugs since I was 14 yrs old, they were like poison and in school I was very often asleep! The more modern types are better and after many years the specialist and I have finally found the perfect combination for me...I`m 41 now, it was a long haul and in that time I learnt a lot.
I am in college now, my first term in, learning sign language which I might add folks is a fabulous language and I can at last communicate with fellow britains who as a minority have been marginalised for a long time. Tonight I go to my first Deaf club meet and for the first time in my life, apart from foreign countries, I`ll be waiting for a little conversation! I am very keen and hope for patience.
As for myself, as far as Epilepsy goes it has been a disaster in my life and am so thankful I now at last have a good drug combination that doesnt have me falling over, walking into things and people, falling asleep,lack of coordination and in some cases more seizures than normal, headaches, sickness blah blah blah!
What did happen as a consequence of my illness is I became an artist...I enjoy photography too, digital! Because going out alone was out of the question I educated myself at home, computers are a new skill I taught myself. In fact when I think about it I achieved quite a lot (I`m not blowing my own trumphet honest!) and its been my own self discipline! So inspite of odds I steered myself in a differant direction and from what I have read in this thread so have we all.
Bird watching isnt my main hobby (I have quite a few!) but there are certain birds I long to photograph and paint, Oyster Catchers my fave!! But there are many birds I dont even know about and thats why I joined, to learn from you all.
Thanx

 

[Malcolm Fisher]

Malcolm, I thankfully managed to stop smoking about 13years ago so the emphysema has not "progressed" as much as it would have done. Cancer was/is the curse of our family. My father died with lung cancer at 49yrs, 2 brothers and 2 sisters have also gone. It leaves 3 of us, me being the oldest. My other sister had to have a kidney removed because of it.
I used the patches (nicotinelle) to help me stop. It wasn't too bad after the first 2 weeks.
H

Well done on the 13 years H! Its strange aint it, how families can be stricken with a particular ailment, it must all be in the gene's.

 

[Malcolm Fisher]

I know just how you feel, firstly I have Epilepsy which is invisible then on occasion shockingly graphic! Also a friend of mine has had a congental heart disease since 18, she has an implanted device that shocks her heart back into normal rythm. There is one event that will stick forever in my mind...she tried to return to work (after a long absence in the City)....two days down the line she had a bad attack and crumpled to the floor in the train station, it was rush hour....she was very smartly dressed, people walked over her, around her as she dragged herself to a phone. Doesnt matter if its visual or not, people are people. Theyre decent or theyre not and sometimes certain people do the right thing because they have to.
Fortunately there are those in the world who are good right the way through....thank gawd for them.

Hiya Oceans, I used to have to take an epilepsy medication it was called something like valporate, or such like name. It did bizzare things to me. I dont have epilepsy and was in fact diagnosed with BiPolar or manic depression, and they give this drug out as one of many to treat the condition. I didnt stay on it long, as I quickly became a zombie with swollen feet! :eek!:

This disease of serious depression is also very stigmatised and not believed by a lot of people becasue it cannot be seen. I dont blame people really, as any mental illness is scary, especially summat with the word "manic" at the front of it LOL! It has taken me many years to create strategies to live normally (and I do) and non medicated with this illness. Im not saying all psychiatrists and psycologists are snake oil salespeople, but they coulodnt help me!

I never have anything but sympathy from people for my heart condition, or my arthritis, but depression is another matter, it is invisible and henceforth seen as either fake, or something without debilitating power, but since I have been the charmed recipient of 3 bad illnesses I know that all 3 have the power to put life in the dustbin!

 

[Malcolm Fisher]

What did happen as a consequence of my illness is I became an artist...I enjoy photography too, digital! Because going out alone was out of the question I educated myself at home, computers are a new skill I taught myself. In fact when I think about it I achieved quite a lot (I`m not blowing my own trumphet honest!) and its been my own self discipline! So inspite of odds I steered myself in a differant direction and from what I have read in this thread so have we all.
Bird watching isnt my main hobby (I have quite a few!) but there are certain birds I long to photograph and paint, Oyster Catchers my fave!! But there are many birds I dont even know about and thats why I joined, to learn from you all.
Thanx

Great stuff Oceans, it is allways very inspiring to learn what someone has done positive in spite of serious illness! I learned computers after a really nasty mental breakdown in 1999. Id never even switched one on and it was the condition I was in that forced me to think in a different direction. I didnt take to the world of IT though, and went back lorry driving till the heart attack, but of course learning the computer was a great thing, well, this site for an example! :bounce: I spose there is nowt good about illness in general, but they can, as you have proved, open other doors!

 

[Nina P]

Hi Oceans, I brought my kids up with a friends daughter who also had epilepsy, most peculiar the attitude of parents! Can it be caught? Don't mix with that child she has epilepsy, your kids may get it too! HOw daft and bigoted can folks be? I positively encouraged my children not to slight anyone for being different in any way, mental illness is the worst kind, as there is so little that seems to be done for the sufferer, I can only admire the efforts that some people take to break down the barriers, and hope I'm also one of those, I have been shocked at the reaction of some people who positively discriminate against all forms of disablement, but I do try and ignore the huge wart on a face, the purple birth marks, the albinoism on a coloured person, after all what makes them stand out is a very personal thing, I call it individualism, can we not all regard it that way?
I made the remark about spotting the Pallas's Warbler and another person coming over to ask what we were looking at, she totally never noticed the chariot, and I saw that in her eyes, it was when a remark was made about going through the reeds that she noticed my situation, she blushed and I laughed as it was the first time I'd not been clocked for "disabled" and was really refreshing and I told her so. I feel so many disabled, I prefer different, people seem to have a giant chip on their shoulders and are so rude, but if I am out and someone sees me struggling and they offer to help, I rarely refuse as they mean well and would gladly help, why be churlish and refuse, unless they are trying to build up their arm muscles, and a polite refusal makes it OK to ask next time, so if you get snapped at, just say I meant no insult, but wished to assist if you needed it. Make the rude ones feel guilty, after all they give others a bad name, and others may welcome your help! I know I have often been glad of assistance!

 

[Nina P]

Thanks for the pic Nina you look good perched there with everything laid out ready to shoot with.I have to believe your shots are pretty good.Please pop some into the gallery.
Sam

You must be joking, my photography is awful!! That was taken by Trish not me! so how can I have taken it? If more ask I might but I doubt they will only the best pics are shown ever and after all for each pic shown there are a hundred bad ones, and the good ones are only because the camera I use makes it so!
It is an HP 735 digital with 3X optical Zoom and 15X digital Zoom with 3.2Mega Pixels which has it's own editing suite and is really easy to use, specially for this idiot with a camera!

 

[Tammie]

Its strange aint it, how families can be stricken with a particular ailment, it must all be in the gene's.

This is exactly what's happening in my family:
This particular heart disease my brother and I both now have has taken the life of my father at 37 and 3, maybe 4 of his brothers before age 45.
I had symptoms of it for years (without realizing)... had a heart attack at 32, 5 years ago, followed by two balloon angioplasties (the second one just this past March) and I've already been told that bypass surgery WILL be in my future as they cannot stop the disease, only slow it with medication. I still now have 6 small blockages that I feel the effects of on an almost daily basis. My brother, at age 40, ended up with a mild heart attack in May of this year and a quadruple bypass in September. We had no idea before May that there was even anything wrong with him!!
We are actually just beginning to learn about the family history of this illness that they don't even have an name for. It's truly scary but thank God, we are now in the age where there are treatments!

 

[Malcolm Fisher]

It's truly scary but thank God, we are now in the age where there are treatments!

Indeed Tammie, we are very fortunate! Imagine having a tooth pulled in 1200 a.d.! :eek!:

 

[trishhickson]

Mickmouse, you are so right, but have you seen Nina on her buggy?!!! And when I push the wheelchair, everyone has to look out!! Trish.

 

[Nina P]

Oh dear Trish don't let the cat out of the bag, just surmise it to say we have great fun especially when the hand pushed goes AWOL! LOL, you really don't give yourself true credit, my driving the beast is worse! HONEST!

 

[oceans]

Hey Malcolm....you are right about mental illness being unbelieved!! Strange to think people are so WITH the science of physical I am always shocked when the brain isnt counted as an organ but some ethereal thing that contains the soul....therefore the stigma!!!
Last year, due to a family tragedy, I became depressed and rightly so, i`m sure it would affect other people too but dear me, the health care proffessionals at large....scary!!! When I heaved myself (without drugs) from the pit I thought to myself how I would hate to have a chronic mental illness. At a GP level they were positively unproffessional.
But to end on a more positive note....I think this sharing of imformation can only be useful and you have all certainly given me something to think about because sometimes we dont realise what the difficulties faced by the individual are or even what illnesses there are out there. Also I think the seeming cruelty of people is very often fear, fear of reacting in the wrong way or saying something inappropriate. I know this is certainly true for me. But I`m learning.

 

[Nina P]

Hey Malcolm....you are right about mental illness being unbelieved!! Strange to think people are so WITH the science of physical I am always shocked when the brain isnt counted as an organ but some ethereal thing that contains the soul....therefore the stigma!!!
Last year, due to a family tragedy, I became depressed and rightly so, i`m sure it would affect other people too but dear me, the health care proffessionals at large....scary!!! When I heaved myself (without drugs) from the pit I thought to myself how I would hate to have a chronic mental illness. At a GP level they were positively unproffessional.
But to end on a more positive note....I think this sharing of imformation can only be useful and you have all certainly given me something to think about because sometimes we dont realise what the difficulties faced by the individual are or even what illnesses there are out there. Also I think the seeming cruelty of people is very often fear, fear of reacting in the wrong way or saying something inappropriate. I know this is certainly true for me. But I`m learning.

Have you noticed that most of us have fought with depression, I know I did for quite a few years after the accident, but now I have found that life is actually what YOU make it, hence the crazy antics I get up to now, and I seem to be getting egged on by all the good folks here, would you believe I never took photographs until I saw the light via this wonderful forum, before it was just snaps, and most of them didn't come out. Now I have posted a good few, fairly nice ones but not many really good ones. This place has a lot to answer for!LOL!

 

[Henry B]

I just have to start talking about my disability ,and feel emotionally drained,Has any others got Post Polio Syndrome.