Guest Blogs

GUEST BLOG

My first memory of my brother is a visual in my mind of my mother holding him in her arms with my four-year old, hand reaching out in disbelief that he was finally born. The next vivid memory I have of him was seven months later when my parents returned from the doctor with him after finding out he had Cerebral Palsy.

He lived for seventeen years and passed away a few days before Christmas, nearly thirty years ago. His life was a brief flicker of light I carry with me every day to help me guide the way to a …

GUEST BLOG

My son Tadhg was born with Cerebral Palsy and Global Developmental Delay, which affects him both physically and intellectually and as a result Tadhg is non-verbal.

We are constantly learning all the time from Tadhg. He has been our best teacher on this journey. We of course have been given tips over the years to help with his communication needs …

GUEST BLOG

What a two year old with Cerebral Palsy might say about her life.

A few months into my life, worry grew for my development. I was not meeting my milestones. At my six month appointment with my Consultant, I still wasn’t babbling, rolling or tripod sitting …

GUEST BLOG

Tai chi: Ancient practice – Modern therapy

We live in a world that reveres ‘newness’. We aspire to growth, progress and prosperity. Technology advances at an astonishing rate, and everything becomes faster, easier and stronger. We judge civilizations by their level of modernity.

Since the Industrial Revolution, the West has led the way. Now, the East is rising. Yet the healing and nurturing practices of the Eastern old-world live on; amongst them, is Tai Chi and it’s now used as an alternative therapy for conditions as disparate as cerebral palsy …

GUEST BLOG

I’m Ellie and I live with my mother and sister in Willenhall, England.

I have Cerebral Palsy, Epilepsy and Hydrocephalus. I’ve had to use a wheelchair most of my life. It gets boring as I often wish I could be up and about like the other children. I feel lonely watching …

GUEST BLOG

Ordering a cup of coffee; picking up the phone and ordering a pizza; or telling a taxi where to take you should be easy. These tasks shouldn’t lead to frustration and anxiety. Or what about reciting a poem, singing out loud, or telling a joke? How much fun are these activities and, what would it be like if we couldn’t do them?

It’s a question not many ask. Some of us lose our voice every once in a while, or we move to a new country and have trouble communicating. We may know the limitations of speech to a certain extent …

GUEST BLOG

Food Labelling

Food labelling should be simple, shouldn’t it? In fact, can’t we just look at food packaging and be totally clear on what we’re eating?

Unfortunately not, food labelling is so complex that there is a committee that meets regularly to discuss ongoing issues and when you delve down into the minutiae of this complicated area …

GUEST BLOG 

Choosing supplements

Type the word ‘supplement’ into Google and you will be presented with 55,300,000 results, which include a plethora of supplement retailers, articles and advertorials touting supplements for weight loss, muscle gain, fatigue… the list goes on.

On top of this, supplements can be found in every supermarket, high street health store, chemist and independent health food shops.  With such a wide range of supplements, how do we know …

GUEST BLOG

Reflexology: more than just a foot massage?

Complementary therapies have been growing in popularity for many years and they can have a positive effect on our wellbeing. There are so many choices of therapies that it’s important to understand a little about them before you choose.

Reflexology is an ancient holistic therapy that focuses on massage to stimulate reflex points on the feet. This therapy was thought to be practised by the Egyptians and Chinese as early …

GUEST BLOG

There were probably many times in school when your friends talked you into doing something you wouldn’t have otherwise done. While peer pressure can easily influence the judgment of children, some may wrongly believe that this aspect of life ends once we graduate high school. The fact is, peer pressure continues throughout the rest of our lives; it merely changes to coincide with adult circumstances.

The main reason we may follow suit is to become part of the greater whole. We all want to belong to a group of some kind, to interact with those around us so that we become accepted. So what happens …