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I am a mother with Cerebral Palsy, learning disability, hearing impairment and Lipoedema, who like a lot of parents with a disability has been told that they can’t look after their child.  Casualty on BBC One has been showing what life is like when you are constantly fighting all the time. You are not treated the same as everyone else they can’t see past the disability, see that you can do anything that a non-disabled person can.  I find it to heart-breaking to watch Casualty, it is like watching my life on the television. They have been showing episodes of a woman with Cerebral Palsy fighting to keep her baby, as she kept the pregnancy a secret because she already had one baby took away. The recent episode shared this Saturday 5th February 22, was the worst one when Paula went into labour, she was trying hard to show that she was a good mom, but no matter what she did social services still took her baby away. Paula didn’t even get 24 hours with her baby.  Why does life have to be like that? Why do we always have to have a label? Hopefully one day we can have a happier future and our new project Pregnancy to Parenthood can change the way people see us and see that we can be parents to our children even if we need support.  Since February 2021 Rosie Jones who is a comedian and actress has been playing Paula Kettering. Rosie herself has Cerebral Palsy and her character shows the difficulties.  Rosie said in the metro on her character: “Paula not perfect. She has flaws, she’s stubborn, the story is showing that disabled people can be three dimensional, well they are always 3 dimensional and I feel like playing Paula meant showing there are millions of disabled people who like her disability, they are underestimated and treated awfully by the services, the system and the government. This needs to change. I think it is important to know this is definitely something, that disabled moms have to go through we need to raise awareness about how there is still stigma with disabled mothers”. Casualty also showing a character who is visually impaired that falls over while walking her guide dog to show how people have been affected by visual impairment. The character is struggling to come to terms with her lifelong companion who has been there to protect her having to retire and trying to deal with it on her own.  Everybody has in a way been affected with Covid 19. I feel as though we have been completely invisible throughout the pandemic, we were not a priority for the vaccines at first. As well as that all our care services stopped, as there was a heart-breaking story in the paper of a woman who killed her disabled son because she couldn’t cope anymore, without the support that was needed. I think it is good that there is starting to more awareness on the TV about people with disabilities, mental health and actors with disabilities, but I still think we have a long way to go. As said, hopefully with the Pregnancy to parenthood project we can all see a happier future. As I say, “The greatest disability of all is those who don’t treat or respect us the same as everyone else”.  Jennifer Brown
Reference: Metro.co.uk Mother admits killing 10-year-old disabled son during lockdown | UK News | Sky News For many years we have been polluting the earth, did you know that in Birmingham sometimes the air pollution is that high it is illegal? We are polluting our rivers and seas by plastics and chemicals.
David Attenborough was on BBC news on location filming his new program, The Green Planet talking about the environment and going to the conference in Glasgow. “If we don’t act now, it will be too late.”  I am getting worried about the damage that is being caused by global warming, but I can’t change my hobby. I can’t live with there being no steam trains in the world. No matter how much eco coal they use it is still polluting the air. Luckily, there aren’t as many steam trains as cars and lorries in our city, otherwise the air would be terrible.
Big companies want us to look at our personal carbon footprints, but unless they stop polluting the atmosphere, we can’t save our planet, our wildlife, our plant life through small actions.  Buying more local food and checking where your food comes from, as well as growing your own fruit and veg can cut down your carbon footprint (the amount of carbon dioxide released into the air). Also, if you don’t buy things wrapped in plastic when we are shopping and take our own bags that will make a difference, as well as recycling. Many plastic items end up in the sea and can get caught around an animal’s neck, causing them to die.
Reducing your electricity usage around the home will save you money as well as reducing your carbon footprint (the amount of carbon dioxide released into the air). You can do this by switching off electrical appliances, such as kettles and televisions, at the wall when they are not in use. Also, switching off the lights when you’re not in a room and using battery powered lights or solar lights to secure your home when your out, so as not to leave the electricity on.  Turning down the heating in the home, even by 0.5 degrees, does make a difference. If you own your home, there are schemes to help with the cost of getting a new eco boiler to cut down on gas use.  Eating meat means there is less space for trees as we need to use a lot of land to grow food for the animals. Cutting down on meat that we eat is not only good for our health but also for our planet. Here is an easy vegetarian recipe, and it is cheap too. https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/one-pot-mushroom-potato-curry  Together we can make changes to save our Earth. We can’t solve the environment problems on our own, but we can help to make a difference by taking clothes to charity shops or putting them in charity bags/banks at the supermarkets.  You could also choose support politicians who want to make a difference to the environment. This week there has been a conference in Glasgow where all the world leaders have come to discuss the environment people’s and we can be a voice to them of what needs to change.  In Birmingham on Saturday there was a march to voice our concerns of how much things to need change. You can ask your MP or councillor to makes changes to make Birmingham less polluted and protect our planet better. I hope the blog I have done will help you think of ways that you can help the planet and hopefully support you to have a voice. Jennifer Brown  |
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CASBA is a registered charity (Charity Reg No: 701365) established in May 1988.
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