Just a bit of a personal prattle from me today! This morning I spoke at my old intermediate school’s prizegiving, and wow, what a buzz. I went to Kowhai Intermediate in 1997 and 1998 (whoa, how old am I?!) and it was such an awesome school, playing a huge part in the self-confidence and self-belief I possess today. So it was a real honour to be asked back, especially to speak in front of all the students and their families!

If you haven’t already heard, New Zealand was recently awarded the prestigious Franklin D. Roosevelt award in recognition of the efforts made by both the NZ Government and the disability sector in improving the lives of disabled people through economic, humanitarian and social efforts. Did you know Roosevelt was in a wheelchair pretty much all the time? I didn’t! Anyway, it was received on behalf of the Government by the Minister for Disability Issues, Ruth Dyson. She had this to

Check out the picture on the left. This is what you get when you type “invalid” into Google. Honestly, I like to put the word “invalid” along with “wheelchair-bound” in the ‘Words That Really Piss Me Off’ bucket. Namely because they are such archaic vernacular, not to mention their grossly offensive connotations, and being so reminiscent of a time when disabled people were not to be seen or spoken of. If you weren’t aware, the ‘Disability Benefit’ in New Zealand

Following on from this post, regarding some right-wing politicians’ view that disabled children are better off segregated within their educational environment, a recent local study has shown that in fact, disabled children usually thrive in an integrated classroom. A huge factor in the success of integration is the part played by the classroom’s teacher, say the researchers from the Donald Beasley Institute and the Children’s Issues Centre in Dunedin. “The teacher has to do two fundamental things — believe that

Ahh, Prego. How you slumped from a potentially spectacular rating to one of disappointment. Why, you ask? Well, to cut a long story short, a waitress spilt a dish all over my back. That’s right, a waitress decided she could squeeze through the gap between my wheelchair and the wall carrying two dishes. She couldn’t. So the risotto went all over my back, inside my bag, and all over my wheelchair! Now I have rice-sodden clothes, a risotto-smelling man-bag, and

Perhaps I can attribute this bout of late-night frustration to a rather dull Saturday, or my penchant for insomnia-induced rants, but however I justify it, I’m here to say how much I hate shaking people’s hands. It’s not so much that I’m an impersonable recluse who shies away from meeting people, quite the opposite in fact. It’s simply that, for a guy with hands as appallingly undextrous as mine, attempting to shake hands with people is like telling someone who

Hey everyone, You might’ve noticed that I no longer have a link to the forums atop my menu bar. I took it off because not many people were using them, and it made the site look a bit unused and outdated – not really the image I’m going for! If enough people want them back then I’ll chuck the link back up. In the meantime, you can still access them via http://walkingisoverrated.com/forum.

Yet another ‘ooh this is interesting…’ moment today! This blog post I stumbled upon is really targeted at owners (and potential owners) of hotels, motels, and other places of accommodation, and is a comprehensive guide to catering for disabled people, especially those with less obvious impairments. It talks about things like: Speech impairment Guests with a speech impairment (who either do not speak at all or who are difficult to understand) may not require any special equipment, however they do

I stumbled across quite a funny blog post today, moaning about the inaccessibility of rain! But the ironic thing is, I happen to agree! You’d think rain would wise up and realise that it’s the 21st century, and concessions should be made. Things like a deliberate pathway, perhaps, designated a ‘rain-free zone’ would make my – and I’m sure many of yours – life so much easier! Gosh.. Anyway, check out an excerpt below, or head on over to BBC

I came across quite a neat blog post today, documenting a wheelchair user’s trip to Paris. It makes for some interesting reading! Check out an excerpt below… But as for the Metro… OK, maybe I was mad even to try it. The looks of the French travellers told me I was – who on earth, they seemed to be saying, would try and take a wheelchair on the Metro? Probably I would have the same experience in London – I