I called up The Edge this morning to purchase tickets to Chris Rock’s show in August at Auckland’s heritage Civic building, which me and my two mates are really looking forward to! So imagine my disgust when I was told that there is only provision for the disabled person and “one carer”, and that if I wanted to go with my two friends, one would have to sit in a different area of the theatre. When I enquired as to

TVNZ screened “Real Life: For One Night Only” last night, featuring a group of disabled British guys (including Asta Philpot) as they journey to Spain to experience a ‘normal’ sex life… in a brothel. Asta Philpot, a 24 year-old man with arthogryposis, lost his viriginity in a brothel a few years ago, and was so revitalised by the experience he decided to take two more with him this time. One man was blind, and another was paralysed after a motorbike

So for those of you who missed it (and shame on you ) I was featured on Attitude last Sunday morning! Attitude is a great disability-flavoured TV show hosted by Curtis Palmer, Tanya Black, and Grant Sharman, amongst others, which screens every Sunday morning at 9:30 on TV1. But never fear! If you didn’t get to see this momentous occasion in NZ television history, I present it to you below in all its YouTube-ified glory. Check it out, and let

I’m sure it’s nothing new to any of you that petrol prices are on this inexorable rise to, well, unaffordability, but do you think as disabled New Zealanders, this is having more of a severe impact than on the rest of the population? Many of us are on a benefit of some description, and some have no other income outside of this. It would be a real pity, methinks, if rising petrol prices meant many disabled people could not venture

Hey everyone, Just a quick update to let you all know why I haven’t been posting as much the last few weeks – I really am still alive! I’ve started back at Uni for my 2nd year of my Communications degree, which of course brings with it such joyous obligations as essays, assignments, et al. I’ve scored a job working part-time at Saatchi & Saatchi which, while freakin cool, takes up a good half of my week! Add to that

From the blog of Philip Patston… www.200gr8.com 27 March 2008 Here’s an innovative idea…NOT You bring around 800 of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs together to celebrate five years of excellence in social innovation. You call it the 2008 Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. You hold it at the prestigious Saîd Business School at Oxford University. You hold the opening plenary at the Sheldonian Theatre on a cold, wet, spring day in March. You forget to open the only

What do you enjoy doing on a Sunday afternoon? Looking up random synonyms on your Mac? No? Well, me neither. But someone out there in this crazy world evidently does, and one day stumbled upon a rather peculiar one. For those of you – like me – with an Apple Mac, open up your Thesaurus widget, and type in “observe”. Check out that example of the verb in use! It goes like this: “I observed this wheelchair dude in the

I’ve been contacted by a research manager from a Polytechnic in Greymouth, who is making a presentation to the Wellington City Council, and wants to know the answer to the following question: What’s it like to journey through Wellington with a disability? We’re talking hotels, motels, footpaths, public facilities (art galleries, movie theatres, etc.), tourist attractions (cable car, anyone?) – anything at all! Whether you live in Wellington or have been on holiday there, leave us a comment below –

Some time ago, I wondered whether Beijing was ready to host the 2008 Paralympics. I think this picture says it all, don’t you?

This is so, so important. Please read this post. I’m sure many of you have a passionate stance on the whole ACC vs. MOH funding conundrum, and why those who can prove “medical misadventure” was the cause of their disability (or, ironically, those who got drunk, crashed their car, and are now wheelchair users) are entitled to so much more funding than those who are simply disabled by illness or birth condition. Why is the gap so vast when the