Ah, the internet. Enabling professions of love for women on the other side of the world who you’re unlikely to ever meet. Nonetheless, this is a woman who I think deserves all the accolades in the world. Perhaps she’s lucky, living in the UK amongst a thriving disability community, but nonetheless deserves our attention.

Her name is Kiruna Stamell, and she’s an Australian actress who is now based in the UK. She’s appeared on Eastenders, Cast Offs, and the Baz Luhrmann’s masterpiece, Moulin Rouge. She’s shorter than some, but her achievements are totally inspiring. Now, I hate it when the word “inspiring” is used to describe someone who has experienced disability, but this is an exception, because I damn well mean it! Click the ‘more’ link to watch her latest video blog, and tell me you’re not amped to start something similar in your neck of the woods.

Kiruna, I LOVE YOU!

I tell ya what, if I could cook, or had the slightest desire to learn how, I would be checking Nic Steenhout’s website daily. The man has forged himself a rather unique niche as a self-styled Wheeling Gourmet, with his website providing delicious recipes, tasty blog posts, and tips on how to cook when you’re spending time in a wheelchair! (Because that’s all this wheelchair thing is really, a casual lifestyle choice…)

Nic’s website has also just been announced as a finalist in the 2010 Plain English Awards, for sites that are easy to read, understand, and engage with.

Anyway, if you’ve always wanted to try your hand at a culinary masterpiece, or simply learn how to make a mean chicken salad, make sure you check out Nic’s website, The Wheeling Gourmet. If you’re really up with the play, you can even follow the guy on Twitter.

I’m back from my ‘wheely big OE’, and excited to announce I’ll be restarting blog production on walkingisoverrated.com! Over the next few days I’ll be updating the site with a new look and feel, so don’t freak out if things look a bit different around here! I’d also love people to help write for the site to keep it fresh so make sure you flick me an email if you’d like to contribute to walkingisoverrated.com That’s all for now! Red

I was sent a link to a new NZ-based accommodation site that’s popped up, reviewing/rating establishments based on their level of accessibility. It’s called AccoMobility, and you can visit it here. Now, while it’s great to see others doing their bit to increase the amount of information available to the disabled traveller, this site (in its current form) is pretty poor. Not only in terms of content, which I’ll cut them a little slack for given their ‘under construction’ notice,

Here’s an interesting conundrum that a lot of able-bodied people struggle with. How “helpful” should one be towards a disabled person, without appearing to be condescending, or patronising? Every now and then you might see a wheelchair user struggling up a curb or a step. Do you offer to help, and risk offending him/her, or do you leave them be, confident that they know what they’re doing? It’s a tricky situation, for sure. But how about a blind person? A

Morning folks! As you can tell, my blogging activity has been a wee bit sporadic lately, thanks to Uni going back and me galavanting around this beautiful country of ours. So it is at this time that I ask – would you like to contribute to walkingisoverrated.com? It could be anything – a review, opinion piece, video blog, poem?! Whatever floats your boat. So please get in touch!

Thanks for coming to check out my blog! If you’d like to get in touch, head on over to the contact page and drop me a message – would love to know your thoughts on the site or the article, or anything else you’d like to discuss! For those who don’t know, this month’s Rise magazine featured me and this site within their illustrious pages. Check out the cover art on the right, and to read their wee interview with

Here are some sweet link-drops to brighten up your day! The first is a link to self-professed ‘Wheelchair Junkie‘ Mark E. Smith’s blog, who responds to any sympathy-inducing questions around the impact of his disability with two simple words: so what? I really like this. Here’s an excerpt from this particular post: Often when it comes to the presumed limiting factors of our disabilities, they’re based almost entirely on our own negative thinking – our embracing victimhood – instead of

Oh yup. And how, exactly, is that meant to work? Cheers to Matt from CCS Disability Action for the image

Apologies for the somewhat convoluted heading. However as it turns out, the below image depicting a (presumably) able-bodied guy sitting in a chair with wheels attached to the sides, is far from a quirky gimmick to attract customers. In fact, it’s part of an advertising campaign by Australian agency JAM to convince punters that drinking and driving is a bad idea. This ambient portion is backed up by a print campaign, which you can read here or by clicking on