Author: Dan McIntyre

Based in Mauchline, East Ayrshire (the home of Robert Burns) I write in my home office and can often be found on the road. I love travelling, photography, reading and (of course) writing!

What is Multiple Sclerosis and how does it affect people?

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a condition that affects the brain and spinal cord, causing damage to the nerves that carry messages between them. This damage can lead to a variety of symptoms, such as problems with vision, movement, sensation, balance, thinking and emotions. MS is a lifelong condition that can sometimes cause serious disability, although it can also be mild or moderate in some cases. There is no cure for MS, but treatments can help manage the symptoms and reduce the frequency of relapses.

MS affects more than 2.8 million people worldwide and around 130,000 people in the UK. It is one of the most common causes of neurological disability in young adults. It is more common in women than men, and usually starts in the 20s, 30s or 40s. The exact cause of MS is unknown, but it is thought to involve a combination of genetic and environmental factors that trigger an abnormal immune response against the myelin sheath, the protective layer that surrounds the nerve fibres.

MS is a complex and unpredictable condition that can affect people in different ways. There are four main types of MS:

  • Relapsing remitting MS (RRMS): This is the most common type of MS, affecting around 85% of people with MS. People with RRMS have episodes of new or worsening symptoms, called relapses, followed by periods of recovery, called remissions. The symptoms may disappear completely or partially after a relapse, but some may persist or get worse over time.
  • Secondary progressive MS (SPMS): This type of MS usually develops after many years of RRMS. People with SPMS have a gradual worsening of symptoms over time, with or without occasional relapses. About two-thirds of people with RRMS will develop SPMS within 15 years of diagnosis.
  • Primary progressive MS (PPMS): This type of MS affects about 10-15% of people with MS. People with PPMS have a steady increase in symptoms from the onset, without any relapses or remissions. PPMS tends to start later than other types of MS, usually in the 40s or 50s.
  • Progressive relapsing MS (PRMS): This is a rare type of MS, affecting less than 5% of people with MS. People with PRMS have a steady progression of symptoms from the onset, as well as occasional relapses. PRMS can start at any age.

The symptoms of MS vary widely from person to person and can affect any part of the body. Some of the most common symptoms include:

  • Fatigue: This is one of the most common and troublesome symptoms of MS. It is an overwhelming sense of exhaustion that can make everyday activities difficult or impossible.
  • Vision problems: These can include blurred vision, double vision, loss of vision, colour blindness, eye pain or flashes of light. These are often caused by inflammation or damage to the optic nerve (optic neuritis).
  • Numbness and tingling: These are abnormal sensations that can affect different parts of the body, such as the arms, legs or trunk. They are caused by damage to the sensory nerves.
  • Muscle spasms, stiffness and weakness: These are problems with muscle function that can affect movement, balance and co-ordination. They are caused by damage to the motor nerves.
  • Pain: This can be acute or chronic pain that can affect different parts of the body. It can be caused by nerve damage (neuropathic pain) or muscle spasms (musculoskeletal pain).
  • Problems with thinking, learning and planning: These are cognitive problems that can affect memory, attention, concentration, reasoning and problem-solving. They are caused by damage to the brain tissue.
  • Depression and anxiety: These are emotional problems that can affect mood, motivation and self-esteem. They can be caused by the impact of living with MS or by changes in brain chemistry.
  • Sexual problems: These can include reduced libido, erectile dysfunction, vaginal dryness or difficulty reaching orgasm. They can be caused by physical or psychological factors.
  • Bladder problems: These can include urinary urgency, frequency, incontinence or retention. They can be caused by damage to the nerves that control bladder function.
  • Bowel problems: These can include constipation, diarrhoea or faecal incontinence. They can be caused by damage to the nerves that control bowel function.
  • Speech and swallowing difficulties: These can include slurred speech, difficulty finding words or swallowing food or drink. They can be caused by damage to the nerves that control speech and swallowing.

The severity and impact of these symptoms can vary from person to person and over time. Some people may only experience mild or occasional symptoms, while others may have more severe or frequent symptoms that affect their quality of life. The symptoms can also be influenced by factors such as stress, infection, temperature, medication or menstruation.

MS can be a challenging condition to live with, but there are ways to manage the symptoms and cope with the changes. There are various treatments available for MS, such as medication, therapy, surgery or complementary therapies. These can help reduce inflammation, prevent relapses, slow down progression, relieve symptoms or improve function. There are also support services and resources available for people with MS and their families, such as MS nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, counsellors, social workers or support groups. These can provide information, advice, guidance, practical help or emotional support.

MS is not a fatal condition, but it can affect life expectancy to some extent. The average life expectancy for people with MS is about 5 to 10 years lower than the general population. However, this can vary depending on the type of MS, the age of onset, the severity of symptoms and the availability of treatment. Many people with MS can live long and fulfilling lives with the right care and support.

If you want to learn more about MS, you can visit the following websites:

  • MS Society: A UK charity that provides information, support and research for people affected by MS.
  • MS Trust: A UK charity that provides information, education and specialist services for people living with MS.
  • NHS: The UK’s national health service that provides information and advice on health conditions and treatments.

What is autism and how does it affect people?

Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how people communicate and interact with the world. It is not an illness or disease, but a different way of thinking and processing information. Autism is also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), because it covers a wide range of abilities and challenges.

According to the National Autistic Society, more than one in 100 people are on the autism spectrum and there are around 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK. However, this number may be higher as many autistic people may not have been diagnosed or identified yet.

Autism is a spectrum condition, which means that every autistic person is unique and has their own strengths and difficulties. Some autistic people may need a lot of support in their daily lives, while others may be able to live independently. Some autistic people may have learning disabilities, mental health issues or other conditions, while others may not.

There are some common characteristics that autistic people may share, such as:

  • Social communication and interaction challenges: Autistic people may find it hard to understand and use verbal and non-verbal language, such as gestures, facial expressions and tone of voice. They may also struggle to make eye contact, initiate and maintain conversations, or take turns in speaking. They may prefer to communicate in different ways, such as using pictures, symbols or sign language.
  • Repetitive and restrictive behaviour: Autistic people may have a strong need for routine and predictability, and may get upset by changes or unexpected events. They may also engage in repetitive actions or movements, such as rocking, spinning or flapping their hands. They may have highly focused interests or hobbies that they are passionate about and want to share with others.
  • Sensory differences: Autistic people may experience sensory input differently from other people. They may be over- or under-sensitive to sounds, lights, smells, tastes or touch. This can affect how they cope with everyday situations, such as crowded places, bright lights or loud noises. They may seek out or avoid certain sensory stimuli to regulate their emotions or cope with stress.

Autism is not something that can be cured or changed. It is a part of who a person is and how they see the world. However, with the right support and understanding, autistic people can live fulfilling and meaningful lives.

If you think you or someone you know could be autistic, you can find out more about getting a diagnosis and where to get support from the National Autistic Society website.

Take Control of Your Career By Building a Business From Home

This is a guest post by Elijah Dawson of Look for Jobs Here

Are you looking to take control of your career? Starting and running your own business allows you to be your own boss, work on your own terms, and live the life you want. With the right plan and some hard work, you can build a successful business from the comfort of your own home.

Have a Well-Appointed Office Space

When working from home, it’s important to have a designated office space in order to stay productive. This will help reduce distractions and allow you to focus on building your business without worrying about other household chores or tasks. You should also make sure that this space is comfortable and inviting, as this will make it easier for you to spend time in it. Also see that you make the space accessible and client-appropriate.

Setting up a home office can also add to your home’s value. Such improvements and updates often result in a boost in one’s property appraisal value, which is a great help should you decide to sell your home soon. Be sure to save all the receipts as you create the office space so you can justify the update in the future.

Write a Business Plan

Creating a detailed business plan is crucial for starting any successful business. It should outline start-up costs, target customers, market research, and marketing strategies. Harvard Business Review points out that a well-thought-out plan makes it easier for potential investors or lenders to understand the project and to decide if they want to invest or provide funding.

Hire Remote Workers

Hiring remote workers can be a viable solution for businesses looking to grow quickly and save on overhead costs. Remote workers offer flexibility in terms of work location and required resources, resulting in lower expenses over time. Additionally, remote work allows access to a wider pool of talent, including specialised skillsets unavailable locally.

Develop a Marketing Plan

A marketing plan is crucial for the success of any new product or service launch. It outlines how you will reach potential customers and convince them to choose your offer over others in the market. This plan includes creating an online presence, building relationships with influencers, advertising through multiple channels, and utilising referral programs to maximise customer reach and build brand trust.

Take Advantage of YouTube

Utilising Youtube‘s global user base of millions provides an incredible opportunity for effective advertising. By incorporating banners and ads within related videos, businesses can greatly amplify their reach and attract customers. And with Youtube‘s free and user-friendly platform, it’s easy to get started.

Take Breaks

The Wellbeing Thesis notes that taking regular breaks throughout the day is crucial to maintain productivity levels and avoiding burnout caused by overworking oneself. Engaging in activities like taking walks outside, reading books, or listening to music can help rejuvenate the mind and body from prolonged hours spent staring at screens. Even short breaks away from the workspace can have a significant impact on an individual’s productivity and overall well-being.

Get an Online Business Degree 

Going back to school to sharpen their current skill sets can benefit individuals who aim to become better entrepreneurs and leaders. Either by enrolling in a full-time study program or online classes, individuals can improve themselves professionally and gain a university degree which can increase their employment opportunities. This approach can also provide huge time savings and demonstrate the applicant’s commitment to personal and professional growth, which is highly valued by potential employers.

Building a successful business requires hard work and dedication, but the effort is worth it. One should consider having a designated office space. Utilising sites like YouTube and sharpening your skillset by going back to school to earn an online degree are all effective tips that can help you take your first steps toward owning your own business and tackle future obstacles head-on.

Image via Pexels

Telegraph Leads Hate Campaign Against Disabled People

Charlotte Hughes's avatarThe poor side of life

Rather unsurprisingly a new media hate campaign against disabled people has begun and it’s one of the worst that I’ve seen for a while.

It comes as no coincidence that this started alongside government plans  to abolish the WCA (Work Capability Assessment).

These plans will allow unqualified jobcentre work coaches to decide whether claimants are capable of work.

The government’s answer to this sadly is text book for them, demonizing vulnerable disabled people portraying them as the enemy and the usual scrounger rhetoric.

The Telegraph however was the first to start this campaign of hatred stating in an article

“Millions are claiming benefits without ever having to look for work, helping to push the tax burden to hit its highest point since the Second World War . . . It raises the question, just how much of our hard-won salaries are spent on the benefits of those who do not…

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My Journey to my Autism Diagnosis

On Tuesday, March 29th, 2022, I was diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder by a Psychologist working in our great NHS.  A diagnosis of autism doesn’t come easy.  There are currently no blood tests, urine dips, or imaging techniques that can detect autism.

My journey started in August 2021 when I was hospitalised with COVID for a period of around 10 days.  The consultant treating me asked me one morning if I’d ever been assessed for an autism diagnosis, which I hadn’t.  Here I was, a 44-year-old man, with a long professional career, being asked if I had been assessed for a condition that I thought only affected kids.

The consultant put in a referral to the local autism assessment service and gave me a questionnaire which I now know was the AQ10 – Autism Quotient 10.  It’s a screening tool to see if a full assessment is warranted.  Out of the 10 questions, I scored 9, which shows that the person taking the test is highly likely to be autistic.  I also had a questionnaire for my mum to complete.

Having completed these questionnaires, they were posted back to the assessment service, and I waited.  Eventually, I received a phone call from the doctor at the assessment service with some more questions, and told me she would need to speak with my mum about what I was like as a child.  I gave her my mum’s phone number and waited again.

The call to my mum was made in January of 2022.  I was not made aware of what had been discussed, and at the time of writing, I have not received the report from the doctor.  I now know this was called an ADI-R which is a structured interview and took 2 hours.

Following this, I was called into the assessment service for a face-to-face appointment to carry out an assessment named ADOS-2 module 4, the ADOS assessment for adults who are fluent speakers.

At this appointment, I performed several tasks in front of 2 psychologists who observed me very closely.  During these tasks, the doctor with me attempted to spark a conversation and I don’t know how I did but I’ve never been one for small talk, it’s a struggle to hold a conversation unless it’s about a subject I know about.

One of the tasks was to tell a story and the doctor handed me a picture book full of frogs that fly on lily pads.  All I could do with that was tell the doctor what was happening on each page and noted the very precise times on the left-hand pages which were blank except for the times.

Another of the tasks was to choose some items from a bag of toys and tell a story using them.  At the time I’d just had a horrible car accident that involved a large bull in the middle of a dark country road and just around a bend.  As I rounded the bend, doing no more than around 30-40mph, I came into contact with the bull and he wrote the car off.  According to the ambulance crew, I was lucky to get out of the car alive.  Back to the assessment, the items I chose were a toy car, a pair of glasses, and something else, a large thing, to represent the bull. I re-told the story of my crash.

After all of this, I went home and waited a couple of weeks for a results appointment, which confirmed what I had suspected since the consultant at the hospital had asked me about autism.

At present, I’m waiting for the report from the assessment service.  This diagnosis has made sense of so much of my life.  Behaviours, meltdowns and shutdowns, masking, and over-sharing, which I’ve always done.

So, I’m autistic.  I’m with the camp that say it’s not a disability and is instead the way our brains are wired which is different from neurotypical people.

Coming to Terms With my Autism Diagnosis

Just over 2 weeks ago I was diagnosed as being autistic. While this wasn’t a huge surprise it still came as a shock. It also explained a lot of things in my life, things that have happened and my reactions to them, things I’ve done and times when I’ve misunderstood what’s going on.

Now I find myself wondering if some incidents in the past have been autism related. For example at work I’ve found myself shouting at my manager twice. Frustration turned into anger and while I knew at the time what was going on, I was powerless to stop it. It was as if I was a spectator. It also wasn’t me. I’m one of the most placid, calm people I know. Of course when those incidents occurred I didn’t know I was autistic.

I hate small talk. Whether in written messages such as emails or instant messages or verbally, I am rubbish at it. I’m also useless at starting a conversation, even with people I know well.

I can’t do subtext. I take everything literally and a former partner had to explain when she was joking or being sarcastic about something. This has a large impact on my life because neurotypicals tend to speak in subtext most of the time, never directly saying what they mean.

Another thing I have issues with is knowing how I feel. This applies to both physical feelings such as hunger, thirst and types of pain as well as emotions. I now know this is an autism thing called Alexithymia. It’s not a diagnosis in itself, it’s more of a symptom. This leads to problems when seeing a physician and they ask what type of pain I’m in; I can’t answer because I simply don’t know.

With the emotion thing, I don’t know how to explain how I feel if someone asks, so I always give the stock answer that I’m ok, even when I’m not, but can’t explain how I am actually feeling.

Eye contact is a very common symptom of autism, and it’s something that I struggle with, when I’m talking with someone face to face I tend to look over one of their shoulders instead of making direct eye contact, which is way too intimate.

I also get very anxious about having to change a routine or an arrangement, for example I have a morning routine and if I get anything in the wrong order it upsets me and makes me ver anxious. If arrangements/plans are changed it causes anxiety. Finally for now, I am rude. Let me explain; I don’t know when to enter a conversation and am tactless, I say things as I see them rather than skirting around the way neurotypicals do.

These are just some of the issues I have and now I have a name and a reason for those. It’s reassuring to know there are a lot of people going through the same issues themselves.

I’ve come to terms with my diagnosis. It is what it is and it makes me, me. Sometimes it causes problems in life but, on the flip side, it also enables me to see things that others miss, to see things differently with a unique perspective. I spot and remember car registration plates and can instantly recall when and where I’ve seen a particular car previously. This isn’t something I “do” as such, it just kinda happens automatically, or autistically, if you will.

Now that I know the cause of so many problems I’ve had in the past, I can move forward with that knowledge and hopefully understand more about my life.

Autism is part of me. My brain is wired differently to the majority of people and that’s ok. I think. I’m only 2 weeks in, I’ll have to come back and revisit this in 2 years maybe.

Why Then Barbara Met Alan Made Frances Ryan Cry

Powerful programme. I can think of a few people who should be tied to a chair and forced to watch it.
Even though the DDA of 1995 was superseded by the Equality Act of 2010 some employers, service providers, organisations etc still don’t “get it”

samedifference1's avatarSame Difference

Before we even reach the opening titles of Then Barbara Met Alan – the BBC’s one-off drama depicting the fight for the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), which aired on Monday night – Barbara has graffitied “piss on pity” on a bus stop and turned down going for a drink with Alan because, in her words, she’d just end up getting drunk and giving him a blowjob. It is an instruction to the audience from the off to reject their preconceptions: this is not disabled people as you might think.

The story of how disabled activists – led by Barbara Lisicki and Alan Holdsworth – used direct action to lobby for the UK’s first disability civil rights law is one you’d be forgiven for not having heard before. Disability history is not taught in schools. It is not dramatised for entertainment and is rarely the subject of documentaries; on…

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Matt Hancock and the NHS Rainbow Badge

Having seen Matt Hancock sporting an NHS rainbow badge on TV I wondered if he actually had any idea as to its origin or purpose, or whether he was just wearing it as rainbows have now become synonymous with the NHS?
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I couldn’t help wondering also if his wearing the badge and the proliferation of rainbows being used as a show of support for NHS staff might obstruct or dilute the actual purpose and message of the NHS rainbow badge scheme?

Some people are of the opinion, as seen here, that the rainbow badge is being used to denote or show solidarity for NHS staff who are part of the LGBT+ community or an ally, and whilst some of the staff wearing these badges may well be part of the community or allies, it’s important to remember that not all identify as being part of the LGBT+ community.

The NHS rainbow badge is a symbol that the NHS is an open, non-judgemental and inclusive place for people that identify as LGBT+ and that a badge-wearing member of NHS staff is a safe person to talk to for any patient or staff member to obtain support or advice on anything relating to LGBT+ matters.

The badge is a symbol that you can talk to NHS staff about who you are and how you feel. They will do their best to get support for you if you need it.

Initially the badges and the ability to talk, advise and support were aimed at young patients but anyone can talk to a badge-wearer in confidence and safety and in the knowledge that they will not be judged.

Badge-wearers are committed to a course of training and a pledge to provide unbiased, non-judgemental support to anyone identifying as LGBT+ before they are issued a badge.

For more info see the Evelina London page.  Home of the NHS rainbow badge.070220-NHS-rainbow-badge-scheme

 

DWP Loses Court Fight Over Treatment Of Severely Disabled

About time, though it won’t make any difference sadly.

samedifference1's avatarSame Difference

The government has suffered a humiliating court defeat after it was found to have unlawfully discriminated against thousands of severely disabled people who were left financially worse off after moving on to universal credit.

The court of appeal dismissed a challenge by the Department for Work and Pensions to two previous high court decisions that protected claimants in receipt of severe disability premium against a drop in income under the new benefit.

The cases were brought by two disabled individuals, known as TP and AR, who had sought justice after their benefit income was reduced by £180 a month when they were required to claim universal credit after moving house into a different local authority area.

Responding to Wednesday’s decision, AR said: “We hope that the court of appeal ruling will finally bring an end to our fight for severely disabled people not to be disadvantaged by universal credit. It…

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Internalized Ableism