Beavers and Birthday Bowling

A couple of weeks ago I led an accessibility evening at our local Beaver group. I volunteer there each week (our children are both Beavers) and in order for the group to earn their Disability Awareness Activity Badge I offered to talk to the Beavers and let they use my wheelchair to carry out practical tasks.

I talked about disability in general and how it can affect everyday life. Then the Beavers used the simulator glasses and tried matching socks together. They also worked in pairs guiding a Beaver who was blindfolded and negotiated an obstacle course in a wheelchair. They all loved it, and asked some really interesting questions afterwards. In particular, one which I struggled to answer and still don't know, is whether it is harder being sight impaired or mobility impaired. I would probably say that my sight is often harder to live with, it is very difficult when I'm out in unfamiliar places. I think it is harder to have a sight impairment in a social setting because you do not recognise people and their facial expressions easily, whereas being in a wheelchair is not usually as hard in this situation. However, there are many times when my wheelchair prevents me from going to places, especially on family outings or people do not treat me in the same way as they would if I wasn't in a wheelchair. So I can't really say which impairs me the most. The evening ended with a chat about my Dog for the Disabled (recently renamed Dogs for Good), Rowan. The Beavers loved see the photos of him and asked some more questions. It was very positive way to finish, demonstrating that although disabilities do pose limitations and obstacles on your life, you can find ways of overcoming some of them and it can also open other pathways and opportunities.

We celebrated my birthday by going to Tenpin Bowling. I've never been before, and wanted to take our children out as part of my celebrations. I mention it because the venue was very accessible with a portable ramp to enable access to the bowling lane which the staff brought out voluntarily, ramps to roll the balls down which were available in various lanes (I'm unable to lift and throw a bowling ball) and a fully accessible disabled loo. They did turn the lights off and put on the disco lights and very loud music a short time into our first game, it was probably for a children's party which was taking place at the time. This did make it hard to see the skittles and made it feel like a night club - a bit strange on a Saturday morning - we would have preferred being able to see better and be able to talk to each other easily! Overall though, we did have fun and it's something we haven't been to before as a family.