Further to my previous efforts to create tactile graphics, I’ve been messing about with creating them using my braille embosser. There are clear advantages to this over using a tactile image printer, mostly cost. A box of 1000 sheets of braille paper costs around £65, whereas a box of 100 sheets of swell paper for…
Category: Thoughts
University, interesting books, and the death of blogging
I’ve been back at university for almost two weeks now, and it still feels strange to write these words. For those who don’t know, I decided to get a second undergraduate degree, studying Classical Studies at the Open University. This means studying online rather than going to a university in person, and I’m also doing…
Assistance on the Railway Fails Again
Once again, a disabled person has been left on a train. When I was scrolling social media earlier today I saw a post by Tanni Grey-Thompson, former Paralympian and Member of the House of Lords, stating that she had to crawl off a train yesterday. Tanni is a wheelchair user, who is forced to request…
A complicated loss
In December 2022, three months into my PhD, I dropped out. It was objectively the right decision, but that doesn’t mean that thinking about it isn’t painful. I had applied for my PhD at a time when life seemed if not simple, then like it was heading in the direction I wanted it to. I…
Where are the Latin Books?
I’ve been exploring learning Latin. It’s going to be something I learn as part of my degree, but I wanted to get a head start as I know already that I’m likely to face some accessibility challenges once I reach that module. It is also several years away, and I am eager to learn and…
More fun with tactile graphics
Since I wrote the first post on trying to create tactile images a couple of days ago, I haven’t stopped. It’s as though now I’ve started to be able to connect with the world in a way which I haven’t had access to before, I can’t stop. Yes, I’ve been able to touch tactile images…
Writing and places to exist
I used to use this blog as a place to put my thoughts. More of a journal, I suppose. With the really private, embarrassing stuff taken out. But I’ve been writing less and less with each year that passes. Part of it is that I seem to be tired almost all the time. But the…
I can only tell you
I used to feel as though my body was filled with words. So full they could not be contained. They fell from my hands, my lips, my very skin. It was as though writing was the only way I could keep myself from overflowing like a river that has burst its banks. Now I hardly…
Beneath My Skin
It started with a binder. I suppose it started before then, with thoughts and questions, but I will always look back at that first binder and view it as a defining moment. I wasn’t one of those people who had grown up always knowing that I was transgender. I liked being a girl, or at…
Notes from the end
In that last week before my mum died, I wrote little notes. I don’t know why. Maybe it was a way of working through the horror that was unfolding around me. Maybe it was because writing is all I’ve ever reached for in the most challenging moments of my life. Maybe it was because by…