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17/07/2013

J Cole, his song JoDeci and my opinion

You may have heard the song on radio or YouTube. I didnt hear the song that way. No I learned about the song when I happened to read a post about JoDeci. I dont care about the word retard it really doesnt bother me. 

No what I found troubling was that there was no attempt to use proper grammar and make sure the song made sense. None at all. And, it is not acceptable to use the word nigga in so many lines, either. 

The song is completely senseless. Next time, write a song which makes sense to me and many others. 








The unknown Mami

If you dont know who Unknown Mami is, that's okay I understand. Unknown Mami has another name, Claudya Martin- her real name. I found out about her, when I read a post about her at AutismWonderland. 

AutismWonderland is sort of like Alice in Wonderland. Except, the blog is written by a lady named Lisa. So.. lets get back to Unknown Mami, then. Claudya has a blogging website, not just a blog on WordPress or Blogspot. 

Here is the link http://www.unknownmami.com/. I was going to write about Drake, but this somehow seemed more important. And, I will write about him and JoDeci- song name soon, I promise. 

I almost forget about AutismWonderland. If any one is interested, I have put the link at the bottom of the post. And, it has artwork. Of all the blogs I read, hers is the only one with artwork. Makes AW stand out. 




15/07/2013

Parents, 'normal' children and their lives

... Can be summed up like this: 

1- Will Henry/Melissa do well in school? I certainly hope Henry or Melissa get okay not good grades. Why must you be so pushy? Its not healthy for you. Just be grateful your child is not doing drugs, smoking or in trouble with the police. 

2- I hope Lyla/Pam do some sporty things. Of course they might. If not, NEVER force the issue, its not emotionally sensible. 

3- I want my child to be married. That is a possibility. Again, forcing is not a good option ever. 

Mums/Dads of children with needs lose on the 'expected' stuff. Maybe, not all but they do lose out on some. Over time, progress happens and goals are achieved. Parents of children with difficulties are more thankful than normal mamas/papas. 

Message for typical families- If the things above are your only concerns, be grateful and dont moan. Typical parents look at your child's accomplishments again and celebrate them with your offspring. 

I happened to read a excellent blog post on the subject a while ago. Today, I thought I would write my own version of it. 

Disclaimer- this is not a copy. Like I stated in a previous blog post, I hate copying. Its plagiarism, not sure how to spell it rightly. 

12/07/2013

Schools, the problems with them and politicians

Over the past five days, I read a number of posts about the school system. It seems the politicians are only interested in grades, levels and exams. In the real world, we need to know about loans, mortgages, bills, contracts and percentages. 

Children also need to learn how to use electronic calculators to do fast calculations. They also need to know how to use a keyboard effectively. Algebra and geometry aren't essential. Unless of course you are doing a job which asks for that sort of maths. 

The not yet rolled out curriculum wants to teach pupils some sort of English grammar as well. I literally laughed at that one because let's be honest, English grammar is as useful to pupils as mud or grass, quite frankly.  

Boys/girls are taught unessential exam skills not vital conversation skills. Or, empathy, personal presentation or decision making. Neither are our kids being taught how to be assertive. 

Education should not be at the mercy of politicians. Clearly, they do not have teachers and learners best interests at heart. Nor, are they responsible. Instead, they are unresponsible, uncaring fools. 

Thank you Michael Gove. All praise the British education system. P.S If you want a different perspective, Ross Mountney has written a post about the same topic. The link is at the bottom of the post. 
http://rossmountney.wordpress.com/2013/07/12/curriculum-corsets-and-a-vintage-education/

A charity called Scope

Scope is a UK charity for disabled children and parents. They offer a range of services including therapies, breaks and conducive education. Conducive education takes the form of schools for parents. As well as that, they provide information, support and help for parents. 

You can contact Scope via the contact section of their website. The contact details page includes a telephone number and email address. Their online forum is used by thousands of UK parents everyday. Scope also run a manned helpline for parents eight hours a day Mon- Fri. 

The charity run a number of campaigns. The new one is Britain Cares and the details are on this page- http://www.scope.org.uk/campaigns. All you have to do is press the I care button, its blue. But, participating in the campaign is entirely optional. There is also a list of previous campaigns below the current one. 

Scope have a Facebook and a Twitter account. Scope's Facebook page is here- https://www.facebook.com/Scope?fref=ts. SIDE NOTE- You dont have to like it though, again it is not required. I think SCOPE have been in the news, not sure when and in which newspapers though, sorry. 

And you can find your local shop using the useful shop finder tool. There are loads more of useful features on the website. I cant list them all, it would take forever. If any of you want to contact Scope, here is their email address response@scope.org.uk 

11/07/2013

Colin Brewer, the former councillor

On one of my favourite blogs, the owner wrote a post saying Colin Brewer has now officially resigns (for lack of a better phrase). 

I guess I feel sort of happy he has gone but I never gave much thought to him. It never really occurred to me, really. Many special needs parents will be over the moon and rightfully make a big deal of the fact he left. 

Not only that, he has been banned from working with disabled children ever again. I must say I have mixed feelings about that. He has been asked to take a media training course as well. Not sure who told him though, presumably some annoyed man. Or, a woman. 

This despicable incident has done 1 good thing, it brought the disabled community together. Lets hope he does not take part in any future elections ever again. Oh and it forced people to protest and organise campaigns etc. 

As another blogger says, attitudes like his needs to change, he should make a effort to see beyond the disabilities. In other words, he should look at the abilities and personality, not the disability of the child. 

If you're new to my blog, please read my previous post about the man- http://thararavishanker.blogspot.fr/2013/05/colin-brewer-is-behind-times.html. It makes sense to read it, then you will know who he is. And, what he said. 

08/07/2013

Tips for when your child with Downs is beginning school

Its that time of the month when you are sending your daughter/son off to school. Maybe, you had to get a statement of special needs for the child. 

Here are some tips

1- Let your child meet his/her future classmates. Invite them round for tea or lunch at your house. And, vice verse.

2- Take photos of the staff and pupils. Glue them into a scrapbook and write the names on labels. Then put the labels below the photos.

3- Allow your child to set the pace. It is wiser to start off small than to start too big and find you are in over your head. 

4- Encourage your child to show interest in their school clothes. Purchase plenty of cheap 2nd hand uniform. Leave 2 changes of clothes in your child's classroom.

5- Be friendly with the teachers. Talk about your child's day. Also voice any naggling concerns as well. 

6- Suggest ideas you know your child responds to well. Every child has a unique learning style, find out what your child's preferred one is. 




07/07/2013

British citizens and their obsession with the gap year

A gap year is what 18 year old boys and girls do after they finish full time education. It literally means a year spent in a different country doing something completely new. Some teens go to Africa and help build villages. 

Other teens waste the year, drinking themselves crazy in bars and discuss how 'amazing' the poor know what the definition of real joy is too. For the record, it is not amazing, the poor should know how to laugh and all.

Lately, families have been taking their daughters and sons out of schools so they can teach them without any restrictions. The oppositions are teachers who insist they must learn how to read, write and spell etc. 

My own feeling is that a child learns much better if they are not stuck in a boring old classroom for six hours a day. To me, that is a real waste of time. I wouldnt want my own daughter/son in a classroom. No, I would want them with me travelling the world. 

Even if my children had needs, I would still feel the same way. Unless their needs were so severe when continuous travelling would not be a option. 

Despicable lady forces a disabled child to leave

Over the weekend, I happened to read an appalling article in the Sun. The article was about a crazy Costa worker who made a family leave. Her reason, another customer moaned and was 'put off' is not a good enough reason. 

My opinion is that Costa should have told the customer who had the audacity to make up such a terrible excuse, to get out, instead. Staff said other people were also uncomfortable  too. Costa if that is true, why not insist that the uncomfortable customers leave or stay and keep quiet. 

Or, even better, apologise to the affected family and insist that those shallow customers never come back. All of those options are far more sensible than the one that you actually did. What is worse, the moaning customer got a free cup of coffee because it was 'inconvenient' for her.

A fifth choice would have been to teach the lady to handle such situations better. I dont agree with some posters who said that Costa should be blamed. Because I dont think this one incident reflects on the whole company. Let's face it, that is not possible. 

She should never have got a free cup of coffee. Another lame excuse issued by Costa covering their asses, no doubt about that. I dont get why the worker must go along with the needs of a difficult customer either. 

(Sorry to Linzie, I needed to write about the issue. In a different way though, I dont do outright copying). 


A useful charity called Cerebra

Cerebra is a UK based charity which aims to help brain damaged children and their carers/parents. As well as that, they do a lot of research into neurological conditions like cerebral palsy. 

In fact, there is a whole multitude of other things they do. Like, providing information for the parents. And, trained support workers who talk to the parents. What's more, they even help you fill out forms and attend meetings. 

Cerebra even run a grant scheme which funds equipment and services to make life easier,  their words, not mine. There is soo much help available and I cant explain it all, sorry readers. If you wish to learn more about Cerebral, here is a link below.

SIDE NOTE- Sorry for such a unusual short post, I am exhausted after a night of extreme dining and partying in Epsom. Obviously I paid the price, as they say. I promise a more detailed post next time though. 

I am off to sleep, I am that tired.



06/07/2013

All about BabyCenter

In case you dont know, BabyCenter is a popular website used by parents. The website went live in 1997. Since then, the website has helped 100 million parents worldwide. Baby Center is what I would call a educational informative site. 

BabyCenter has offices in America and international sites. The BC team includes bloggers, editors and designers. There is a doctor who is part of the Baby Center team and his name is Dr Harvey Karp. He does the monthly Q and A. 

Being a site member has numerous benefits. Some of them include, using the forums, signing up for newsletters and entering competitions. Users can read and comment on the BCB- Baby Center Blog. 

Members get access to free parenting apps launched by Baby Center for the iPad and iPhone as well. I think that they also have the chance to write their own reviews of the apps as well. 

Another two great things, that members do are look at recipes and check out some wonderful baby deals. You can also view current jobs at Baby Center. But, I am not sure how you go about applying however.

This post is the first in a series which look at sites. If anyone is interested, please leave a comment on the post with your name. 

UPDATE- There are more things but it would take too long to list them all. Therefore, quite frankly, I am not going to bother. BTW, here is the link- http://www.babycenter.com/

05/07/2013

This doctor has to be reported

There is an Indian doctor who thinks CP can be 'cured' by homeopathy. We know that is not true. I also dont believe his patients have had any 'success' either. According to him, CP has two other names and is a disease. CP is not a disease, doctor you should know that. Nor, can CP be caused by a infection. 

And, his English is appalling. He says homeopathy is definitely suggested for all cases of cerebral palsy. Doctor, you know what, homeopathy is not going to cure CP or autism. As these are life long conditions. 

Your ridiculous claims make me mad. I am going to report his website to the Internet Fraud Watchdog, IFW for short. In fact, we all should. That way he can learn he is a fraud. Here is where you report him http://www.ifwonline.com/lodge-case.htm 

To help you fill it out, say homeopathy fraud in the comments bit on the form. Like I said earlier, the more reports, the better. 

Ten toys for children with special needs

1- Cozy Coupe. This toy helps you strengthen your legs. You can go forwards or backwards with this toy. 

2- Rocking Caterpillar. The rocking motion makes you use the core muscles. The antennae allow you to hold on and stay upright using the arms. 

3- Shake&Crawl Racer. This toy is very colourful. It also plays music and can be easily moved as well. This toy wont stop rolling until the child shakes the rattle or rolls the ball on top of the car. Good for cause and effect. 

4- Poppity Pop Musical Dino. The toy helps the child focus and improve their vision. It also teaches the child to release things.  

5- Interstar Rings. These rings are easy to pick up. The texture is appealing and the design can be manipulated. 

6- Duplo Building Set. The bricks promote creativity which is a good thing. The parent can use them to help the child understand colours and sizes. The fabulous thing is that there is no correct way to use the bricks. 

7- Ice Cream Cone Playset. The pieces can be used in matching, stacking and counting games. The toy teaches the child to ask for what they want. Very good toy. 

8- Parum PumPum Drum. Another musical toy which can be used to help the child learn about colours and shapes. And, about textures. 

9- Brilliant Activity Bugs. This wonderful toy forces children to open their hands, finger isolating, use both hands and bend their elbows. It also provides the children with lots of fun and entertainment.

10- Zany Zoo. The toy comes with beads, pens, doors and animals. All of which will help the child to practise their fine motor skills. 

04/07/2013

Therapy activities and exercises to do at home

There are hundreds of therapy activities out there. However I will only cover OT activities which is easier. The following ideas are taken from a therapy website called http://www.otplan.com/default.aspx. The website is full of OT activity ideas and has a search engine feature. 

1) Water running is a popular activity. The aim of the activity is to help the child develop and strengthen their finger muscles. 

2) Pom-Pom Bird helps the child improve their grasping skills. The aim of the activity is to make birds of different sizes. 

3) Crossing Colours is another recommended one. In this activity, the child has to draw between vertical lines while standing. An added bonus is that the child practises mid line crossing and functional grasping as well. 

4) Crumbles is a fabulous one. Your child has to crumple the paper into tiny little balls. Is good for manual dexterity and strengthening the finger muscles. 


A open letter to Sarah Palin

Sarah P if you are reading this, I hope you take it as constructive criticism. Because that is actually what it is. And, you had the powers and the opportunity to change society's views on disabilities. It seemed like such a wasted opportunity. I was completely disgusted and annoyed with your attitude as well. 

I would love to see you taking care of your son not leaving it to Todd. Kudos to Todd for helping but why cant you prepare your son's pureed food, then? There better be a good reason for not doing it. All you do Sarah, is shove Trig in the limelight. No offense but you should be involved in his care. Show us some photos of him and you once in a while. 

Sarah, you should teach society not to pity and feel bad for Trig. Pity is a very dangerous emotion. And, a wasted one far too often. Look at Trig and feel proud of him. Surely he is has been beating the odds and making progress since day one. Ignore other people's opinions, they are not important. 

Nothing can possibly make up for cruelty. Cruelty is a by product of ignorance and just as dangerous as pity. In fact, even more so. Quit thinking Trig is not 'normal'. Like I said earlier, normal does not exist. Break out of the comparison idea, Trig is very young and full of potential too. 

I did have a lot of respect for you Sarah but that went to hell after I read the article. 


A teen sails a boat in the English Channel alone

Today is Independence Day. It seems only right that I write about the teen girl Natasha Lambert who managed to  sail a boat alone. Sailing a boat is a difficult task for anyone let alone someone with cerebral palsy. Natasha is not new to sailing either. This week she managed the challenging job of sailing that boat using only her mouth. 

Natasha completed the 25 miles in under five hours. Along the way, she defeated fog and steered her boat by puffing. Mr Lambert, her father built the device for her. Natasha raised money for 3 different charities. In 2012 she raised over £12, 000 alone for the same charities. 

Natasha experiences freedom and control whilst sailing. She added" Its about leaving my wheelchair and feeling free". 

A post about nothing which is about something

I decided to post recipes and reviews on this blog from now on. I also realised that it is pointless to keep posting about different topics all the time. Its okay to do so from time to time though. 

But I decided to keep the posts as I cant be bothered to write out twenty four posts all over again. I will delete them later at some point however. Much much later, like in two or three years, perhaps. Plus, it is a waste of time. So here's another recipe for you to read. 

Name 

Cauliflower cheese

Ingredients required

Potatoes
1 cauliflower 
1/4 onion( must be diced)
Butter/margarine 
1 tbsp plain flour
450ml of milk
Grated cheddar cheese

Method 

Put some small or cutup potatoes in a large pan and cook. After five minutes, add a cut up cauliflower or broccoli. 

To make the cheese sauce

Fry a onion quarter in some butter or margarine. Put a lump of margarine next to the onion to melt. After the margarine has dissolved, add a large tsp of plain flour and mix it in. Add a   small amount of milk to the mixture. Again, make sure you mix the milk in. Throw in more and stir it again. 

Then chuck a big handful of the grated cheese in as well. Next, drain the potatoes and cauliflower and leave in a oven safe dish. Pour all over the cheese sauce and sprinkle cheese on top. Bake in the oven for 15/20 minutes at 180 degrees. In other words, use Gas Four. 

Variations

You could add sausages or chopped bacon to the cauliflower before putting the dish into the oven. The sausages could be vegetarian/Quorn/ meat ones.  




03/07/2013

Grace the Sea Sister- a review

For some time now, I was wondering about doing a book review post. Eventually I decided to take the bull by the horns and do it. The series are about two girls who have been assigned the task of saving all the magical sisters of Avalon. 

A book summary 


Morgana kidnaps the sisters and traps them in various locations away from Avalon. She also steals their powers. Nineve asks Gwen to track down and free all the sisters. 

A review

Grace the Sea Sister is the fifth book. I'm not sure why but I liked this book better then the previous ones. A new character, Eleanor is introduced in this book too. The drawings make the book a lot easier to read. I loved the stickers at the very end of the book as well- they were easy to peel off. I give this book 10 out of 10. 

Gwen also learns a valuable and important lesson about herself. If you want to be purist I suggest you start with Sophia the Flame Sister. 

Travel websites, books and brochures

There are travel books, magazines and brochures out there, I know that. However for this post, I'm going to squeeze them all under the umbrella term of travel literature. The fact that people have been interested in travel ever since 2000 obviously helped. Well that's what I think so anyway. 

One website is the Thomas Cook site. TC run the website and the company has a shop in my local shopping centre on the second floorThe store has a staff desk and free travel brochures too. Anyone can pop in and take one of their excellent brochures. Or, you can speak to the staff working there. Im not sure if they have a website. I would imagine they do, however.

Another popular well known maker of travel guides are Lonely Planet. They even own a website called http://www.lonelyplanet.com/. Unlike Thomas C, LP do not have a physical store. Instead, they have a online shop on their website. For some reason, I cant change the link colour to black. 

As well as books, there are several good travel magazines. Several of them are sold in  WHS today. The range of magazines include Come to France. Travel guides made by LP are also available in the shop. 

I could have written about the variety of magazines and books which exist. But that would have taken forever, I'm not kidding. So I decided to choose a genre and stick to it when I was doing this post in my head. 

Four different therapies available on the NHS

There are many types of therapies which exist today. Wikipedia has a extensive list of therapies. However I decided to focus on the four common ones. Those are, physio, OT, speech and vision. Okay, maybe vision therapy isnt that common but who cares. All of those therapies are available on the NHS. 

SIDE NOTE- The therapy directory has details of therapists. Here is the website- http://www.therapy-directory.org.uk/region-surrey.html. The site is a UK one though. 

Physiotherapy is hands on. But some physios prefer the useless hands off method. I do not understand that at all. Don't become a physio if you are never going to touch the child, please. Yes its wrong and everything, but there is a exception for physios. 

OT is another type of therapy. Unlike physio, OT is hands off mostly. OT therapists do have to get hands on sometimes. OT therapy is concerned with feeding, swallowing and so on. 

SALT therapy is pretty obvious. This form of therapy is communication based. Speech therapists help children who cant talk. I dont think this sort of therapy is hands on.. But I could be wrong, feel free to correct me. 

SIDE NOTE 2-  Funnily enough OT, vision and speech are not mentioned. Why is this, as OT, vision and speech ARE effective proven therapies. Unlike homeopathy which is mentioned... well never mind. 

On to vision therapy. I'm guessing vision therapy is about vision. Again, I dont know a lot about this kind of therapy or its effectiveness either. In fact it probably does work.

I discovered a new site Wordle

I never knew there was a site called Wordle till today. Wordle is a site which creates a box of words used in your recent blog posts. This is my Wordle here- http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/6867744/Untitled. Check it out if you want to. I didnt know the words had to be from your blog but never mind. 

Wordle seems very interesting but there's not much of the site to see though. It is what I called a limited sort of site. Don't let that put you off however. 

02/07/2013

Another blog promotion post

Last night I realised I haven't done a blog promotion post for ages. The blog is called LoveThatMax. I hope you find the blog as interesting as I did. Here is the blog address for you http://www.lovethatmax.com/ 

However there are a LOT of posts, I should warn you. Dont let that put you off though. 

01/07/2013

On Downs Syndrome and the new screening test

Yesterday afternoon, while surfing the Internet, I came across an article which discussed the new Downs syndrome screening test. I dont think women should be forced to take the test, not if they dont want to. Out of plain curiosity, I decided to read the comments section at the bottom. 

The first poster said" I think the test is wonderful. Care homes are not a option because he/she would be treated badly. Stop being small minded". What, does no one have trust in care home workers, then?? Also, sometimes care homes are a necessity. And, the people who dont abort, are not small minded and a coward, you are. 

The second poster said" Your job as a parent is to raise a child who should be independent". Not necessarily, sometimes the child will never be able to be completely independent. These comments are utterly disgusting and disturbing. Yes, raising a child with issues does require effort but if you cant do it, dont be a parent. It really is as simple as that. 

Next commentator said" Why bring a damaged person into the world when it can be prevented"? You seriously think Downs children are damaged, then? Okay, that shows you are small minded and a despicable person, really despicable. I never thought people would display cowardice and small mindedness. 

On the flipside, here is a positive comment. I dont know why it was worst rated it should NOT have been. "Don't get pregnant if you're not prepared and never forget you killed a child because you didn't want to make the effort and provide a little more help and support for longer". So true, I love the comment. 


The most appalling article of 2011- maybe

If you were asked to describe the UK mobility scheme, what words would you use? And more importantly, what reasons would you cite? 

The mobility scheme is supposed to help the disabled population get around independently. But the Sunday Times thinks otherwise. The newspaper printed a article claiming that the scheme was 'abused'. Really Sunday Times, why would you try and promote hate propaganda, it is UTTERLY despicable. 

Your claim that the State hands out vehicles in a £500m scandal is a shocking lie. I cannot remember the government being that kind to the disabled. Ever in my opinion. It gets worse too, here's the disgusting bit. The Sunday Times seem hell bent on promoting hate crime, which we all know we need... thank you for that. 

I also think the article is a nice way for the privileged to claim they hate the disabled folk entirely. Privileged in this sense means the government. But, it only makes them look like they are crazy sociopaths. Also, the article is rather crass, uncaring and totally appalling as well. 


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