As a candidate for my home town in May's local elections, I've helped residents fight for repairs to roads, I've lobbied for more action on dog mess and I've campaigned to prevent closures to residential homes.
For over a year now, my condition has meant that I've started to use a wheelchair more frequently, and this has definitely taught me a lot about the people around me and strangers in the street. Sometimes it's difficult to self-propel myself in my chair, and I'll ask family members to help me. This is totally OK. However, what isn't OK is people just randomly starting to push me. This goes for family members and strangers.
From a very young age I've always been very aware of how different I was to those around me, in height, socially and by my body worked. When I was four I was diagnosed dyspraxic. My mum always tells me even though I found day to day day tasks (and still do) a challenge I always had a go and always been really determined. Around that age I decided to give ballet a try, grace, co-ordination and balance has never been something I've been good at (you know it's me coming up and down the stairs by how heavy footed I am.) But nevertheless I gave it a try, but it was then my mum was approached by the ballet teacher and told "was there something wrong with me? Why was I backwards?" It was from that young age my family were aware of the struggle of getting others to understand such a misunderstood hidden difficulty.
We are very honoured to publish the following press release:
Planned changes to disability benefits will be "kicked into the long grass", according to a government source.
Iain Duncan Smith has resigned as work and pensions secretary, denouncing £4bn of planned cuts to disability benefits as "indefensible".