“The therapists did things I hadn’t even thought about to help Cooper get ready for nursery.”

Cooper’s mum Kerrie shares her family’s journey as a mum of twins to two raspberry blowing cheeky boys, one of whom has cerebral palsy.

“The twins were born at 37 weeks + 5, so not that early. Cooper was born first at 4lbs and 14oz, but then Lucas was born 2 minutes later and he was 7lbs and 9oz. Everything seemed fine, we were back on the ward for a few hours and then one of the nurses noticed that Cooper was very sleepy. He went to neonatal for the night where he became very poorly having a seizure and grade 4 bleed on the brain. The neurologists said he had Hydrocephalus and would probably be severely disabled.

At seven months old he had a shunt put in his brain to remove a build up of brain fluid. As soon as he got it he was a different baby, he was trying to use his hands and doing things he’d never done before. Cooper is weaker on his right hand side and even at that age his hand was tight and into his chest. He was diagnosed about a year later with quadriplegic cerebral palsy.

Cooper was seeing the NHS physio for one hour every three weeks and I felt I wanted more for him. I looked into the Craighalbert Centre in Cumbernauld and Cerebral Palsy Scotland. Craighalbert do an early intervention programme and he goes there for and hour and a half every week. It’s been brilliant.

Cooper has also been coming for therapy sessions to Cerebral Palsy Scotland. I love the way it’s an hour with two therapists focused just on him and his needs. Everyone is so nice and friendly. Cooper’s disability is only physical. He’ll blow raspberries if you encourage him he’s so cheeky, and he loves chatting away with everyone, having a carry-on and being with other kids. He can’t sit unaided yet, but he’s only just three and manages to get around. When he’s lying on his tummy his right hand is always tucked under his belly. We’re trying to build up strength in this arm because his legs are ready to go.

The therapists did things I hadn’t even thought about to help Cooper get ready for nursery. Using little physio benches they’d sit behind him and help him take his shoes off, holding his leg up and reaching over to take the Velcro off his shoes, then helping him take his splints off and get onto his knees and onto the floor so he’s ready to play. It was great to get that focused time, it’s improved his confidence. They also let him choose his activities using a board, we hadn’t done that much and now we do it at home. Asking Cooper what he wants to do has given him a bit more independence.”

You can follow Cooper’s progress on his Facebook page.

“We were given a Novochat machine on loan, the different in Ciaran’s life in that month was amazing.”

Mum Jacqui shares her family’s experience helping her son Ciaran get ready for his first day at big school.

“Ciaran has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy. When he was born the doctors weren’t sure if he would walk. He does walk, loves playing, but he does struggle with his speech. We understand a bit, but we don’t get a lot and he gets very frustrated. As part of his preparation for school we were given a Novochat machine on loan. The difference in Ciaran’s life in that month was amazing. Anything we didn’t understand he could get the machine and bring it over to us.

He loves nursery and does really well, everyone understands him and all the other kids rally around if he needs help. He should use his frame for walking but he’s reluctant to use it because none of the other kids do. We started taking him to Frame Football, where all the kids use one and he’s adapting to it better. It’s great for him to see there are other people out there the same as him and he’s not the only one.

Ciaran doesn’t like change and so the school have arranged for him to have extra settling in sessions every week until he starts in August. His OT and physio have been to the school and are compiling their recommendations. They’ve already spoken to me about wedge cushions for his back and the floor so he can sit comfortably, yet not look different from the other children.

Ciaran comes regularly to Cerebral Palsy Scotland. At the moment, his goals are to work on his balance, posture and speech. Ciaran struggles with his hands, some days he can open them, other days he can’t. At the moment he’s learning to pull his trousers down so he can go to the toilet himself. He’s also learning to drink through a straw. And at home he can now go up the stairs holding onto the bannister. The difference in him is amazing.

I used to have to help him around the soft play. Four weeks after his therapy he held his hand up and told me he was going around on his own. It’s given him confidence, shown him how to correct things on his own very easily, and given him greater strength in his body. All round he’s coping a lot better.”

Alfie Ashcroft has the same interests as big brothers, Hamish and Dougal, and identical twin, Rory. Like any little boy, cars, toy swords and rough’n’ tumble makes his eyes light up.

Bernie’s Still Game Journey

A blog from Bernie Hunter, who talks about her connection with the hit comedy series ‘Still Game’, how she came to set up a Still Game fan page with 7,000 followers, and playing the part of a heckler in the final series.

“A dream come true”

Over the past 17 years, I have grown to love the comedy ‘Still Game’, from becoming a young fan to appearing in an episode and everything in between. Throughout this blog, I will be giving you an insight into my experience of being involved with one of the most loved shows ever. I want to share my story with the aim of helping other people who have additional support needs, to get the message out there that anything is possible.

Let’s go back to when it all began, I started watching Still Game at a young age (really too young-shh!). There was just something about this show that grabbed my attention, the classic humour had a big impact but apart from that, I have always felt a connection with the show as I can relate to the language and the characters too. We all know someone who is like Isa, Jack or Victor! The writing is great too, Still Game can make you laugh one minute and cry the next, it is a comedy sitcom with emotion attached to it too which I love.

Still Game made its debut in 2002 and ran for six series’ until 2007. The show took a seven-year break before making a come-back with a live show, in 2014. I have always been a big fan, during the break, Still Game never really stopped for me and this was when I realised how much love I had for the show.

The hit comedy announced the new live shows in 2014, I was delighted to hear that my favourite show was making a return so I had to get tickets. I was lucky enough to meet the cast after the performance to get autographs and pictures, everyone was so kind. At the time, I didn’t quite realise that this was my first step to becoming involved with the show.

Still Game returned to TV screens after a nine-year break with series 7, in 2016. I wanted to do something special to welcome the series back so I set up ‘The Still Game Fan Club’ on Facebook. I had just completed a computing course, at college where I studied photo editing so the fan club was the perfect opportunity to use my new skills. The fan club has been a big success with over 7,000 fans joining the group, I love running it!

Last summer, it was announced that the show would be coming to an end after series 9. During the filming of the final series, Still Game wanted to thank me for running the fan club so I was invited onto the set to be an ‘extra’. On the 31st of August 2018, I went to the filming location where I met Paul Riley who plays Winston, he was the only character who was going to be in the scene and we chatted for a bit. A little later Paul came back with a signed card for me and I got a picture with him, he put his Winston jacket and bunnet on me-classic!

I went back to my car for a bit because we still had two hours before the filming started then something special happened, Michael Hines who is the director of the show, came to see me. I thought that he was coming to say hello but no, he came to ask me if I would like to say a line, in the scene that I was going to be a ‘extra’ in. I was offered to play the part of a ‘heckler’. The scene was Winston opening a community centre and I was to shout out a put down to Winston. I agreed to do the part straight away… the line was “Get aff the stage, ya fat b******!”

I have Cerebral Palsy which affects my speech so I use a AAC device to communicate and it wasn’t any different when it came to saying my line in Still Game, the crew didn’t see my disability and this meant a lot to me. The crew were amazing at giving me time to programme different lines into my device which I really appreciated. 

Appearing in the first episode of series 9 was very surreal for me as I have been on a journey with the show, it was an absolute honour to get to be a part of the final ever series. I will be grateful to all of the cast and crew forever, people say dreams don’t come true, well mine sure did!

Well that’s it, I went to the filming as an ‘extra’ and came back with an appearance, in the show. I’m not an actress but I do know that getting into the acting industry isn’t easy, for anyone. I was very lucky to get the opportunity by chance. My advice to anyone who is starting out in acting is to just go for it, keep asking and eventually someone will believe in you.

Thanks to everyone at Still Game, the wonderful memories will stay with me forever!

“That’s Plenty!”

Accessible Accessories

Bernie Hunter shares her thoughts on accessible accessories, and why it’s important to be able to choose ones that are right for you.

People use accessories all the time which can be something simple such as a bag. People get to choose what type of accessories best suit them and that is the way that it should be. Accessories can also make a real difference to people with disabilities but not everyone gets the choice to pick the right type of accessory- some people might have something very useful, but are afraid to use it due to the way that it looks.

Everybody should be entitled to have their own opinion when it comes to accessories, no matter who you are – like all things in life you should be able to voice your opinion. It is very important because you are the one who is going to have the accessory so it should be what you want – at the end of the day no one would tell you what clothes that you should wear so it isn’t any different with accessories.

As I am a wheelchair user myself, I have accessories that I use to help me. One of my accessories is a clutch bag which is fitted with a small strap that attaches onto my belt- this makes it secure so I don’t have to worry about losing the bag. I use my bag to put my money and phone in. It is silver and has gold features on it- I picked it myself at the shops and this meant that I got to choose the right bag that best suited me – that I felt happy with. 

I feel very cold sometimes, I have Cerebral Palsy and this affects my circulation. As I can’t walk, my legs and feet get really cold… there is no way I can avoid this happening but I look for accessories that will help to keep me warm. I have a blanket that I put over my legs every time I am going out, in especially cold weather. The blanket is black so it goes with the colour of my wheelchair so it doesn’t stand out and gets people attention. I picked the colour myself for that exact reason, not because I’m ashamed that I wear a blanket but to stop people looking and maybe questioning it. It is the fact that I’m in my early twenties too… I wouldn’t want a different style of blanket. 

I am able to choose the style of accessories that I want and I’m happy that I get to do this. If I was to just sit back and let my family and carers make all the decisions for me then that would take away the chance to voice my opinions of what accessories I use.

There is a wide range of accessories available for people with disabilities but I personally think more could be done to get information out there e.g. a website that gives tips and advice to those who need it, focussing on accessible accessories.

As I have explained above everyone should have the chance to voice their opinion on what kind of accessories that they have. It is so important that people get to make their own choice especially when the accessory is going to benefit them.