Inclusion — A Delusion?

A week in the life of a Guide Dog owning, Braille reading, working lone parent.

Saturday – Food shopping – local supermarket has Braille on a number of items now so this makes it easy to find the unsmoked bacon, and the vegetable lasagne ready meal. After lunch Guide Dog puppy walker takes Wade (my Guide Dog), out with her puppy. Take taxi to Funky Fun House to drop off my daughter at noisy 7 year-old’s party. Meet another parent from school who offers a lift to shopping Centre. Trainer shopping. Buy hockey stick and shin pads. Son then practices at home – in the front room! Guide Dog and puppy come back and we puppy sit for the evening.

Sunday – Wade is not up for working today. A 6 year-old dog just can’t take the pace of a puppy! We walk into city centre. Children select a favourite café to go for lunch. As we enter we are told we cannot come in because of the dog. I say we can because Wade is a Guide Dog. We sit and start to select our food. The waitress again states we cannot be there. I say it is the law that we can. The waitress again returns and says she is happy for us to be there, but the manager has said we cannot. Children are totally upset and we leave. They refuse to go into another café. We sit on a bench and they eat hot dogs. We go to bookshop and they cheer up as they spend yet more of their Christmas money on books! How has it lasted so long? I ask if its O.K. for me to go into bookshop café for a hot chocolate. They spot muffins and their mood changes about cafes! The staff are very pleased to have Wade and say how lovely he is. He behaves as a Guide Dog should – thank goodness!

Monday – I don’t like Mondays. However organised the uniforms are, the homework, the lunch, it is still always chaos. We make it on time to school but then a bus passes me a few metres before the stop. It is my lucky day as within 30 seconds another one arrives. It is crowded and I am standing with dog. Next stop a mother wants to get on with pushchair. Driver asks if someone will please assist by moving and allowing me and mother with child to get a seat.

Only 26 emails today, 2 meetings and more paperwork regarding my Support Worker – employed to help me with paperwork! Something crazy about the Department of Work and Pensions creating so much paperwork around their scheme to provide support to visually impaired people who have difficulty with – yes, paperwork!

Between meetings I return to café where I was sent away from yesterday. Owner is there. He is not apologetic, talks over me, and only after prompting by Ann, my colleague, takes the information I have printed off about the Disability Discrimination Act as it relates to visually impaired people and Guide Dogs. I explain that the problem with disability is being refused entry to places, having your children embarrassed about going places because of the fuss that occurs. He says he knows, his mother is disabled.

Tuesday – Stephanie starts work after school. The County Council have funded 6 hours of support to assist me in my parenting role. Childrens homework may now get completed and they will get the help they deserve. She is 23, has energy beyond my understanding, and stains on uniforms, and untidiness is removed in minutes! Paperwork around her employment foxes me again. Have to contact the Rowan Organisation to get help. They are great and patient with my mental blocks about forms. Feel it should be easier for me dealing with this sort of thing at work, but just seems to be worse with so many forms and processes to get my head around.

Wednesday – My long day at work and children are collected by after school club, then go to have supper with their father. Arrive back bickering over who will give cabbage to the guinea pigs! My brother calls to say he is going to have an operation on his knee. The nurse at the hospital filled in a form with him, asked about his blind registration and how much he could see. She then explained he would not be able to drive for 24 hours after the op. He says it will be great if he can drive 24 hours after the op! So many times people ask about your visual impairment and then ask about your driving skills!

Thursday – No work today! I am as usual exhausted and there are so many phone calls and letters to follow up. No email or internet connection on my computer. Second time in two months and yet I am paying a large amount to have reliable broadband service. Cannot sort it as noone here who can tell what the lights on the modem are doing. Bathroom tap is wobbly and dripping – where do I find a plumber?

Friday – get up early as I am being paid by another organisation today to go and do interviews. My son appears, has temperature and a throat that sounds like a rusty saw. Have to phone and say I cannot make interview panel. I don’t suppose they will ask me again. I reassure my son that it is not a problem and say he is my priority, (but could have done with the extra money). He wants to bath the dog. We manage to lift 32 kg dog into bath and have a great time – even the dog. Spend 45 minutes on the phone regarding computer internet connection. Son relays information about flashing lights, screen etc. They say after all this that we need an engineer. So no internet food shopping this weekend. Go to friends house for a curry and discuss the joys of being working lone parents before I leave to go to bed at 9.00!!

Lynne Hester