It All Started with a Kick to the Stomach, #SoCS

Not literally of course, as my title suggests, but that is how I would describe the feeling that started it all, this last crazy week.

STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS SATURDAY

Well, it all actually began with a phone call I did not answer, on a Sunday morning, the moment I heard it was an “unknown” number calling. I didn’t see the point.

Shortly after I heard the loud knock at the door. I answered it, learned all I had missed, and I clung to the door for support at the news.

All year I have remembered 2014 and I think back on the beginning of 2015 and all the possibilities to cross my mind.

All that this year would have in store for me was a wild ride, up and down and back up again, and a giant loop or two thrown in for good measure.

But never would I have imagined that kick at the end, but here we are.

My heart’s beating roar slows back down to a steady rhythm, a norm I have been retraining my body to recognize. I put out my hand to steady myself, to restore my equilibrium again after this week comes to a close, as Christmas approaches, and as the holiday music and the last-minute shopping goes on by, slips past me like I hardly even hear.

I can’t think ahead to 2016 tonight because of all that this last block of December days has done to my mind. I can’t catch up. I can’t stop thinking. I need sleep.

How does a body restore itself after the sort of week I’ve had? How do I tell my brain that it will be okay once more?

Christmas is almost here. All the stores are crazy places to be. My mind is no calmer.

Stores don’t hold the only present I want this year. Never before have I needed stream of consciousness writing more than I do right now. I need to write again, to be able to put my thoughts into words again, and to be able to let the words explode here is to allow my sanity to be restored.

I will write and then I will sleep. I can finally sleep. No, not really. I can’t stop my mind from storing up fear after fear that this last week has caused. No store and no Christmas present would be enough if I lost the only younger brother I will ever have.

Merry Christmas everyone:

http://lindaghill.com/2015/12/18/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-dec-1915/

And with that…

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Tap Tap Tap

Took a bit of a break there, from:

THE REDEFINING DISABILITY AWARENESS CHALLENGE

http://rosebfischer.com/2014/07/15/the-redefining-disability-awareness-challenge/

I found it a challenge to talk about disability on a weekly basis and needed to leave it for a while. This blog is not, strictly, a blog about disability and/or blindness.

I realize, as much as I want to forget about such challenges for a while, I can’t get away from disability. It is tangled up in me and with me wherever I go.

I write about it, in small ways or big ones, anyway.

So I will address a few stories in the news lately and use a specific example from the other day, in my life, to illustrate a point. Hmmm. Guess I should hurry up and think what that’s going to be right now.

😉

I guess this might answer number 40 in the list of RDAC questions, as I feel quite sure I want to find ways to become in volved in awareness and social issues: feminism or equal rights. Either way. This involves disability in a big way.

Q: Are you involved in any political or social activities related to having a disability? This could be anything from an advocacy group to an informal social gathering to participation in adaptive sports.

I try to deny it sometimes because the feeling is often uncomfortable, but I keep being dragged back to it.

I have an interview coming up on this blog with a guy who just graduated with a degree in Women’s Studies. I am very interested in hearing his story and viewpoint.

I have spoken with my friend Steph from

Bold Blind Beauty,

who has been working on a new image, one she feels represents her site and her mission:

The Unveiling of a Stylish Icon

I get involved when and where I can. Who knows what that might look like in the future.

There are others who are doing a lot more:

Stand By Me RP awareness page

This poet has recently been highlighting a story that made the news, over in Britain:

Paul Franks speaks to the mom of a blind schoolgirl who has been asked not to use her white cane in school due to health and safety

Maybe you’ve heard about it. This is the kind of thing that makes one want to speak up and stand up for what is right.

It’s hard to imagine, in 2015, that this would happen.

It’s the kind of thing my mother would have fought hard against, if it had been me being told I couldn’t have my cane at school, instead having to rely on others. This girl was told to be with supervision at all times. So much for the independence that is the whole point of school.

If this were true, white canes everywhere would be tripping people, left and right. There would be anarchy, injuries galore.

As long as she is taught how to use her white cane properly, this should be a non issue.

Okay, so there may have been one incident, when I slipped on a wet floor and sprained my ankle in the hallway at school, my own white cane going flying as I went down. This may have nearly empaled a staff member. I say “may have”.

But this could very easily happen with anything, with any child. There is no way a child should be told she can’t have her way of getting around school.

http://www.freerangekids.com/blind-girl-cant-use-her-cane-at-school-its-a-tripping-hazard/

This is the sort of thing that we must not accept from people. This is why awareness and consciousness of others is so important.

How dangerous is a white cane?

How dangerous is a wheelchair? That’s like saying a wheelchair is dangerous because it might run over someone’s toe. Ridiculous. Care is always needed, of course. No waving it around madly, but man…this story is everywhere.

What is a school mobility officer anyway? Differences from North America to Britain I guess, but she should be having mobility lessons of her own, with an instructor, to learn how to use her cane safely and correctly.

They said it was just temporary, while they discussed the matter with the family. What does that really mean anyway?

This story has made the news, in the papers from the UK where it happened, over to Canada and the US, all the way to New Zealand.

It makes an excellent headline, but it really is the silliest thing I’ve ever heard.

Well, I’m so worked up, that perhaps I’ll save the other stories for next week. There will be one of those, and much sooner this time.

The schedule calls for next week to be a free post day anyway and there are only ten or so more of these RDAC questions left.