Inside Incredible Athletes

Last night Channel 4 showed a really great programme called Inside Incredible Athletes. As regular readers will know I've sometimes mentioned the 'differently enabled' athletes* I've come across in the fields of athletics and bowling.

The show, which if you missed it is on 4OD here, is well worth a viewing and does show how differently enabled many of these athletes actually are. Highlighted brilliantly by England blind football captain David Clarke taking part in a five-a-side game between his current and former work places. Or dressage rider Lee Pearson who can control his horse without his hands due to his muscle difficulties. Or the fact that single amputees running with a blade compensate for the balance and weight distribution issues over time to make it look effortless when it is not.

It shows the athletes in all their attributes, jealousy of Lee's boyfriends getting a free car wash, the passion and aggression from the wheelchair Rugby guys, the wit again rugby player Steve Brown saying:

"Injuries can happen in any sport, or live. Believe us we broke our necks."

The passion and commitment for their chosen field in evident 2 years out from the London 2012 Paralympics. The event that Channel 4 will be covering in more detail and hours than ever before. This show not only brings the athletes to live a normal people with normal attitudes to getting on with things, it also explains some of the difficulties they have had to overcome to be at the top of their game. To be enabled in that different way. Some of them can compete alongside anyone, some need a slight equipment change, but all are able to compete and survive in the world on their own terms and that is what is so joyous to see.

* This was a phrase used by one of them to me saying, "I'm not a disabled athlete, I'm differently enabled."

Hung By His Own Petard: RIP Derek Draper's Blogging Career

Oh dear, oh dear.

You'd have thought that having that what with brandishing the racist tag at all an sundry one would be more careful oneself. Even if such comments came from commenters (Guido), or where made in attacks against hypocrisy of one rule for one not applying to a star name (Iain Dale), that Derek Draper would be careful in his own use of language. Not so.

Over the weekend while some of us had more pressing engagements he used a derogatory term for the mentally challenged. This has forced an editor's apology on LabourList. But hang on a second isn't Draper the editor of LabourList? Isn't this the man who demanded a personal apology from Iain Dale?

Now there is a personal apology on his own site, but that was not where he made the statement. Now surely not knowing the entomology is not an excuse for using a term you are not familiar with especially if you are blogging about pretending to be holier than though. It took me all of 2 seconds to look up the term in question.

Now let's look at what Derek Draper has stipulated should be done in such cases of what he has branded "vicious sites".

1. They should apologise personally on the site.
2. Progressive political bloggers should delete their link to them (as I already don't link to LabourList how do I do that?)
3. We should disassociate from all who associate with them* (even allegedly making threatening phone calls [at least inciting others to do so] to any who do get along)

I trust that Derek Draper would expect the same discretion of the Blogophere to be used against vicious slurs against the disabled or other disadvantaged and targeted groups. To do anything else would be "doublespeak" surely.

*Link to Guido's advertisers and LabourList black list strangely missing (more bad blogiquette) Sorry my err0r just couldn't find it amongst all the dross.

On the Buses: Or Not

Tales of Two Buses

Talking about buses. What? You missed the Eddie Izard-esque segue? I had the misfortune to have a bad day and two different results on the buses yesterday and neither had anything to do with David "Blakey" Miliband.

As I mentioned yesterday I was taking a midweek game in the Corporate Insurance Cup as a chance to catch up on my table topping Livingston.

"You’re no, you’re no, we’re top of the league and you’re no."*

So knowing that the road works around Haymarket are delaying buses I was quite expectant that my 90 second walk from desk to bus stop would enable be to get on a delayed 15:57 bus heading Livingston direction leaving at the end of my working hours on time for a rare change. Sure enough as I looked down the road towards Edinburgh Zoo I soon saw the First Bus livery waiting at the lights at the zoo exit. It was in the outside lane so I knew I’d have to use all my usual tricks to get it to see me and stop.

The lights changed just as the Lothian bus picking up from the stop before the lights pulled along side, this is a worse case nightmare for us First Bus customers along the Glasgow/St. John’s/Corstorphine Road even more so when you are desperate to be somewhere else at the end of your trip other than your sofa. With my week pass in hand I looked straight at the driver of the First Bus as both approached my stop at the Forestry Commission the Lothian driver pulled in and also indicated to the First Bus driver to do the same. Just beyond the stop it indicated it was coming in I thought to stop, so to ease the wait time I ran along to hop on quickly. However, I ended up running after the bus all the way to the next stop where when I was about a length behind it pulled away again from the next stop. A rather irate me was straight on the phone to First to complain.

The second bus/coach related tales are with the coaches that took us to the match itself. The first upsetting thing is that some of the people I’ve travelled with on coaches to away games for some seasons now will never travel by coach to Celtic Park ever again, because of the poor disability access provision for away supporters' coaches.


View Larger Map

I hope this map experiment works but the green flag is Celtic Park and the blue tag is where we had to alight and re-embark our coaches. As you can see it is quite a long trek along Springfield Road to get from one to the other and the guys who require the aid of sticks to walk there were exhausted on arrival, and even worse on getting back. In future they have decided to drive themselves and avail them selves of parking right next to the stadium but also thus missing out on part of the ambiance of travelling to away games.

However, that is not the end of the tail. Oh no! On our return trip homeward bound our coach while travelling along the M8/A8 having just negotiated last nights road works suddenly lost power about the Kirk of Shotts area. Our coach driver manfully lurched, urged and eased it along the hard shoulder to come off at the Shotts junction before coasting the vehicle for a 3 mile downhill stretch towards his depot at Harthill before having to give up and bring it to a stop in Eastfield in a bus stop. Similar to some of your worst flying experiences he then earned a round of applause.

All in all quite an eventful day/night on the buses. Lionel will fill you all in on Celtic Park and the game later on.

*Yes this did get an interesting mix of reactions from humour to derision from the Celtic faithful last night.

HIV Discrimination Shame in Schools

I was led to this shocking report in Sunday's Observer. It led me to wonder are we still living in the dark ages of the 80s over HIV and more to the point why?

The first shocking thing is that schools in Hertfordshire and Lancashire are able to turn away children looking for new schools after it was revealed that they were HIV+. Not only is this shocking but since 2005 under the Disability Discrimination Act it has been illegal to discriminate against anyone because of their HIV status. Also if this is county wide just where are these parents expected to school their children.

In a ideal world there is a limited need to know of a child's medical status and his should only need been known to staff in direct contact with the child and the school nurse. This should not be dissipated further without the parent's consent however reading the incidents that have happened it would sadly be clear why parents would not wish the school to know in the first place.

It is confidential information and has no need to be disclosed to school dinner ladies or other pupils. The fact that one child was told of their previously unknown to them status by a teacher, which led to bullying shows lack of professionalism by the member of staff involved. When there is a chance of an adult having a STI they undergo a private counselling session before taking the test, that session is dealt with by a trained professional in that field. How much more care needs to be taken with a child? Which may well have been why the parents had yet to address the issue with the child. The end result in that child's case bullying and forced to leave the school would indicate one of two things. The child may have been told in the presence of other children and neither the staff, nor pupils once that first error was made were given appropriate guidance on how to deal with the outcome.

What is also shocking is the tenor of the article that teachers themselves are ignorant, indeed fearful through that ignorance, of how HIV is transmitted. In the 1980s we started in ignorance but many of us quickly learnt our facts once these became known from the shrouds of urban myth. In my case the education came swiftly as the result of sharing a house with a Haemophiliac who contracted HIV through bad factor 8. HIV cannot be passed on by spitting, biting, small cuts or grazes, sharing utensils or toilet seats. The risk assessment of any school would reveal that the changes of any possible spread of HIV from an affected pupil or member of staff is so minimal to be be negligible under normal circumstances and normal first aid guidelines would normally be sufficient under those extreme conditions anyway.

That our educators are ignorant of this lead one to wonder just what else our educators are ignorant of in their training, homophobia, race etc are areas that these people need to be taught and trained about to be able to deal with possibilities in the classroom. Are they? And is that training sufficient?

For the sake of the 1500 children in the UK living with HIV, 1000 of whom are under 15 and the 100 new diagnoses in this age group each year we need to provide them with an educational set up that allows them to be who they are without fear of some disclosure that may result in bullying or ignorant fear from others.

Sign up a Disabled Sportsperson to Play for Celtic

I'm all for disabled sports and as far as possible for them to play alongside able-bodied competitors. I've actually played bowls with a paralmpian on my team, against a deaf rink in bowls who I jokingly signed to 'shut up' as they wouldn't stop signing as I was attempting to play. I've also been a guide runner for a blind club mate in athletics. However, what on earth is this latest directive from the Scottish Executive?

Yes sports clubs should be encouraged to integrate as far as possible disabled sportspeople in their clubs, this is easier for some sports than others. Athletics and bowls are the two sports I've been actively involved with disabled athletes and many clubs can quite easily provide provisions for competitors of various disabilities. However, you cannot have a wheel chair athlete run fairly against an able bodied athlete.

Why? Because they have a higher gearing and at equivalent levels of fitness will always go faster. Blind footballers need specialist equipment, ie a ball that makes noise, and therefore to put blind footballers up against seeing players is unfair to the disabled as the sighted players have a slight advantage as light travels faster than sound and can sight the ball without trying to train on its direction.

I love watching paralympian sports, their competitors often adapt sports to suit their level of ability. Wheelchair basketball is as much a non-contact sport as the NBA version. But the competitors who end up getting up ended in their chairs pick themselves off, dust themselves off and carry on playing.

The Sports 21 directive contains the line that clubs should develop an "inclusive selection policy which guarantees all members a game each week". How is this sort of apprach going to encourage participation in sport? Yes the deirective is right in encouraging participation in disabled sport but not every club is necessarily going to be able to offer a weekly competitive place within its make up on an inclusive policy. Some teams may have to group together to match abilities into a team that can compete together.

As for bowls I'll carry on playing against wheelchair bound, blind and deaf opponents and occasionally lose and occassionally win against them.