Writer Iain MacLeod talks about his experiences of growing up with cerebral palsy in the Western Isles.

Born in Stornoway, Lewis, Iain MacLeod now lives in the North East of Scotland. He has spent his life challenging expectations, studying, driving and living life in every way he can, including studying through the Open University.

Cherish each day and live it to the fullest extent possible. Every moment is precious, and not to be wasted. Life is for living, not waiting to live.

Iain tells the story of how he pursued his own learning and education, at a time when schools were very different than today. He also shares his advice for people with cerebral palsy and their parents.

I hope to inspire my readers to rise above the perceived limitations of disability and live life their way with grace, guts, and gusto!

Read some of Iain’s life story in Iain MacLeod – Wheels Galore blog

Visit Iain’s website and find out how to get a copy of his new book Wheels Galore!: Adaptive Cars, Wheelchairs, and a Vibrant Daily Life with Cerebral Palsy where he tells stories of his life with a kinds of wheels from wheelchairs to cars: https://www.wheelsgalore.scot 

The Biggest Achievement in My Life: Marion remembers the boost of achieving a goal and getting a qualification.

Our volunteer, Marion has written a blog about her experiences of studying a computing course at college while talking about how CP didn’t stop her from achieving her goal. Thank you to Marion for this wonderful blog, a perfect read ahead of World CP Day, read what she has to say:

Hello everyone,  I hope everyone is well  and keeping safe.

As Cerebral Palsy Day 2020 is approaching us,  I thought I would share with you  my greatest achievement in my life. This blog might encourage you to take up something new!

When I was 18 and when I finished school I went to my local College to do my ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence) .  My dad managed to get me on the course by talking to the College and they agreed to have me on the course. I loved being a student  with a disability as I was in a class with mostly able bodied students.

I enjoyed going to College  by myself with a support worker, I felt it was a great opportunity for me to do something independently. The College was very accessible and I liked going to the café and meeting my friend.

I got excellent help from the College’s unit for people with disabilities. The special needs advisor helped me set up my Intellikeys keyboard  so I was able to use their  PCs.  They even fought for me to get extra time for my exams, that took time,   but we got there in the end. Although I was later than all the rest of the students to take  my exams, I was the 3^rd top student in the class.

I had always been interested in computers so the ECDL was right up my street. I started on my first computer when I was 3 years old when my Dad set me up on a BBC B computer.

When I did this course 18 years ago, there were 7 modules which included, Word  Processing, Spreadsheets, and Information and Communication.

Then after my ECDL was finished I got a lovely surprise and won The Provost’s Community Award  for Special Needs Adult, The prize was a trip to  London and while there I went to see Chitty Chitty  Bang Bang

I have used my skills that I have learnt from doing the ECDL to work in 2 offices,  and had my own little business making stationery.

Having Cerebral Palsy didn’t stop me from achieving a European Certificate for my computer work, and my advice to anyone who is thinking of doing something that you are wanting to do is to keep at it. You never know what you can do!

Marion Burns, 29^th September 2020

“Don’t be afraid to move on & try something new, you’ll find your path eventually”

Education is one of the most important parts of life, everyone has a right to learn. In this blog, I will give you an insight into my educational journey as I explain the different stages of school to moving onto college and how I found my path.

Early Education: I attended Richmond Park primary, the school was especially adapted for children with additional support needs. As I have Cerebral Palsy, I really needed to go to a school which could support me in the best way possible. Richmond Park had smaller classes which I was able to cope better with- even although my Cerebral Palsy didn’t affect my learning, it did have an impact on my writing and communication, meaning that I found it hard to keep up with my school work.

The school had flexible learning methods and suitable accessible equipment to make things easier for me. I still got taught the same as if I was in a mainstream school, it was just a different set up. The school definitely gave me the best start in life, having the right support in school, I was able to achieve so much. I had a communication device from a very young age, I used it to the best of my ability and it made such a difference throughout my learning experience.

In 2006, it was time to move onto secondary school. Everyone gets nervous when starting a brand-new school and I wasn’t any different. I had to adjust to a whole new way of school life such as new subjects, new people supporting me and changes in how I recorded my work. I was lucky as most of my friends from primary moved on with me to the same secondary school. It took me a while to settle in but when I did, I was set up for the next 6 years of my life.

I enjoyed most of the subjects at school, art and computing were my favourites. I found English really challenging as I couldn’t write due to Cerebral Palsy affecting my hand movements. I had a classroom assistant who would write for me but as I use a communication device, it wasn’t the right set up for me. I found a new way to record my work independently which was using a laptop with a big keys keyboard.

In 4^th year, I studied Modern Studies at standard grade level so I had an exam at the end of it. This was my first exam so I worked so hard to prepare for it- I completed 10 past papers and 9 times out of 10, I passed. I was ready, I felt confident but unfortunately time got the better of me. The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) only gave me 50% extra time which wasn’t enough for my second paper so I ended up failing the exam. It was so disappointing as I knew what I had to do.

I wasn’t going to put myself through another exam for it to happen again so I just picked to do units and build my qualifications that way. I had many achievements throughout my secondary school experience as I always tried to work to the best of my ability- I won an award in an art competition and I left school winning the ‘student of the year’ trophy which was a big surprise to me.

Further Education- In 2012, I became a college student at Glasgow Clyde College: Langside Campus. The course was called ‘Transition to Mainstream’ which my school suggested that I go on as I didn’t know what I wanted to do at that point. I liked the course but it wasn’t challenging enough for me, it was aimed at people to learn everyday skills etc. to live independently. I stuck at the course to gain more qualifications and it gave me a great work placement opportunity too.

I had a real interest for computing so I applied to go on a mainstream admin, business and computing course and it was the best move that I made. I didn’t have a communication device at the time but I still managed to complete the course successfully which gave me the chance to go on and study another computing course at a higher level.

A year later, it was time to say goodbye to the student life. I left college having gained so much more knowledge, I wanted to make good use of what I had learned so I started to volunteer for two amazing charities that assist people with additional support needs. I currently volunteer for Paragon which is a music charity and the other is Cerebral Palsy Scotland. I help create social media content, design promotional posters and write blogs.

I love my volunteering jobs and I am also getting to use the computing skills that I learned at college. I left school and I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my future- not everyone wants to go to university or finds a career straight away so I’m lucky that I found my own path which has led me to where I am today.