The title of this blog makes me cringe so much. That is what happens when you start writing a blog at the age of seventeen, when you are an extremely uncool person. Fifteen years later you look at it and wonder what the hell you were thinking. To clarify, I am still uncool, it’s just…
Author: Connor Scott-Gardner
Weekend in London and Royal Albert Hall accessibility
I’ve always wanted to go to the Proms, and now I live a lot closer to London it actually seemed like a reasonable option this year. On Saturday I went to watch the National Youth Orchestra in the evening, and then on Sunday I went to the relaxed prom. I’ve been to the RAH once…
I absolutely lose it sometimes
I am not a patient person. I like to be left alone with my own thoughts and I value being given space. As a blind person, this means I absolutely lose my shit sometimes because the average member of the public is incapable of recognising that when interacting with someone like me, the usual social…
Lacking control
I struggle a lot with feeling a lack of control. When I feel like a situation has too many variables that are out of my control, I find it much more difficult to engage. I’ll avoid things and places I might enjoy, all because I find the unknown too difficult to deal with. I know…
Changing plans and mental health
I have been finding some things quite challenging as of late. They aren’t new difficulties. They are old difficulties that resurface again and again and again. I can make progress on learning to live with them and I have, but I’m not sure they will ever fully go away. Even so, I always try and…
Accessible voting
I’m planning a workshop on voting for the young people I work with. When I went to vote for the first time, I had no idea what the process would be like. I’d never been able to get my hands on a tactile voting device and was unsure how exactly it should be applied to…
A silly video about expressing your anger in English
I made a video. Not anything to do with blindness, just having fun talking about the English language. Languages are great, and I love how they allow us to use them in really creative and varied ways. A group of people can speak the same language, but depending on where they are from, the way…
Running
Ten months ago, I couldn’t run a 5k without having to stop and walk. It wasn’t even my fitness that was the barrier. My legs would hurt so much as the muscles were really tight. I would start running, and within about 500 metres be in so much discomfort I didn’t want to carry on….
Low Expectations
Blind young people objectively face many barriers. But one of the greatest barriers a blind person can face in life is low expectations. When a person grows up being told they can never achieve, they will begin to believe that message once they hear it enough times. “You cannot climb a tree” can easily turn…
Writing
I was inspired to start writing on this blog again. It’s been such a huge part of my life for a long time, but I have also spent a long time neglecting it. I might start writing and post regularly for a couple of months, but inevitably I stop and move on to doing something…