Sally's World

I can't believe its a year to the day that I started blogging. My good Friend Trojan,(Trojan's Corner) not only suggested it, helped me set it up (as in...he did most of the work lol) and he has given me nothing but encouragement all along.

I can hardly remember life before blogging now. I have been able to reach out to so many people, and have been helped and supported by more people, from more places than I could ever have imagined.

I had to laugh when Iwent back to our intentions a year ago, http://sallyannestephenson.blogspot.com/2008/10/hi-im-sally-i-live-in-london-with-my.html I was going to put out a blog once a week...crikey, I've done at least one a day...

I was going to only talk about issues that surround being a parent of children with special needs...

Well, that all went out the window, i chat about anything and everything, this is my online diary, thought process and has been great for meeting new people...

So thankyou for reading and supporting...

And special love to you Trojan xxxxx

Deion has come up with a new slogan, he's very proud of himself, he's been wearing 'Wheelchair Demon' and 'Wicked on Wheels' for a while, and he asked me if he could have a 'skills on Wheels' one.

So here it is, what do you think? This is the first time we've used the gold and silver lettering too.

Lots of people have seen it and ordered it, I love the feedback we get from kids wearing these t-shirts, they are really making a statement, its fabulous.

I hope you are all impressed with the new background. I'd like to be able to take the credit, but I won't, mainly because it would be a big fib.

My good good friend Trojan of Trojan's Corner did it for me.

Trojan's a star, and I hardly had to hint at all, I made one comment about liking something on his blog, and it was done, on mine the same day. Then he updated the background for me with one of my favourite flowers....

Most men (especially my darling husband) needs to be hinted to death, nothing less subtle than a sledge hammer over the head will do it. Birthdays and Anniversaries have to be mentioned on the hour every hour weeks in advance, and its still hit and miss if he remembers...

But mention something to Trojan and he takes it on board...a man that pays attention (not a myth after all ladies).

This is why Trojan introduced me to blogging, video blogs, and promoting the charity together. And also how we ended up salsa partners.

So Trojan thank you for your ideas, support, friendship and enthusiasm.

I bet he's blushing now lol!!!!

For anyone who is interested, here is a great article on CP, Trojan...being the angel that he is, and always on the lookout for stuff like this for me...sent it over...it lays out the facts far better than I ever could.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions/cerebralpalsy1.shtml

What is it?
There are several different types of cerebral palsy. While some people are severely affected, others have only minor disruption, depending on which parts of the brain have been damaged.

The main types of cerebral palsy are:

Spastic cerebral palsy - some of the muscles in the body are tight, stiff and weak, making control of movement difficult
Athetoid (dyskinetic) cerebral palsy - control of muscles is disrupted by spontaneous and unwanted movements. Control of posture is also disrupted
Ataxic cerebral palsy - problems include difficulty with balance, shaky movements of hands or feet, and difficulty with speech
Mixed cerebral palsy - a combination of two or more of the above

Deion has mixed cerebral palsy as such a large part of his brain was damaged.

What are the symptoms?
The symptoms of CP may take some months to become apparent and depend on the type.

There may be abnormal tone (stiffness or floppiness) of the limbs and odd postures.

In spastic cerebral palsy (70 per cent of cases), the limbs become stiff and may be drawn in. In athetoid cerebral palsy (10 per cent of cases), the child develops involuntary irregular writhing movements.

There may be incoordination of the muscles of the mouth, causing feeding problems such as slow feeding, gagging and vomiting, delayed motor milestones, such as crawling and walking, weakness or paralysis of the limbs, an abnormal gait and slowness in developing speech and social skills.

As many as one in three children and adolescents with cerebral palsy also has epilepsy.

Other common problems include:

Difficulty with walking, writing, eating, talking, dressing
Problems with balance and coordination
Difficulty controlling and maintaining posture (they may need help to sit upright)
Visual difficulties
Hearing problems

A common misconception is that people with cerebral palsy inevitably have learning difficulties. This may have arisen because people with the condition can have problems controlling their facial movements and speech, and it can be difficult to understand them at first. Some people with cerebral palsy do indeed have moderate or even severe learning difficulties, but just as in the rest of the population, there's a range of intelligence.

What causes it?
It's easiest to think of cerebral palsy as a condition in which part of the brain hasn't developed properly. This might be because of a variery of events occurring before, during or after birth.

Most people think of cerebral palsy as a condition caused by problems during labour and birth. However, it's now generally accepted that complications at this time are an important factor in a only minority of cases, around one in ten.

The most common cause of cerebral palsy is something that damages the brain while the baby is growing in the womb. These antenatal factors can be found in 80 per cent of those affected and include genetic problems, malformations of the brain and maternal infection (rubella, toxoplasmosis).

Better maternity care has meant fewer babies are born with cerebral palsy due to birth trauma, but this has been offset by the improved survival of premature and low birthweight babies, who may be up to 50 times more at risk of cerebral palsy.

Infections when a baby is young (especially encephalitis or meningitis) can also lead to cerebral palsy.

In a number of cases, it's difficult to pin down the exact cause with any certainty.

What's the treatment?
There's no cure for cerebral palsy. However, there are plenty of treatments and therapies that can reduce the impact of the condition by easing symptoms such as spasticity, improving communication skills and finding other ways to do things.

Physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy can all play an important part. Find out more from Scope, a charity that focuses on cerebral palsy.

Children with cerebral palsy do best when they get special help from an early age. Because the brain changes a lot during the first few years of life, it can be difficult to assess the extent of cerebral palsy at first, but most experts suggest babies should be first assessed at about nine to 12 months.

Many children with cerebral palsy benefit from an approach known as conductive education, which helps them to overcome movement problems and gain some control through special education and rehabilitation. Adults can get a lot from it, too.

Speech and language therapy helps with speech development and also with eating, drinking, and swallowing.

Surgery is sometimes needed to correct any deformities that develop as a result of abnormal muscle development or function. Like Deion many children have their hamstrings lengthened to counteract the effects of the CP.

Medication can reduce muscle hyperactivity and spasticity, but physiotherapy is the bedrock of cerebral palsy management and can helps with posture and movement. It also tries to prevent progression of disability.

Occupational therapy helps children overcome difficulties performing everyday tasks, encouraging them to lead independent lives.

With help, most people with cerebral palsy are able to live much the same sort of lives as everyone else. They may have to work a bit harder to overcome practical problems, but most things are possible.

Trojan from Trojan's corner sent me this advert (he probably knew I'd have an opinion lol!) apparently its showing on TV at the moment...I haven't seen it as I don't get to see much TV...but it's interesting...its really lovely on one level i.e. 'A mum is someone that saves for a hat, and spends the money on a cricket bat instead.' We've all done that..well, I'm not a hat person..but you get the gist!

But on the other hand...and maybe I'm being over sensitive here, but is it not a tad sexist...mums use persil, mums wash the clothes, mum cleans up, mums are the only ones who look after and comfort the kids...okay so at one point she makes her son wash a shirt...big deal, he wastes so much washing powder, she probably wishes she did it herself anyway...yes persil has been going for 100 years, and it seems that a woman's role hasn't changed in the eyes of society for roughly the same amount of time...

And if mums are as tough (yet gentle) as the adverts suggests, why don't they give their husbands and children a gentle kick up the arse and tell them to get the bloody persil out and wash their own clothes....not a single dad in the advert you note...probably they are all busy off earning the bacon, while these stay at home mums get on with women's work!

Thank you so much Becca for giving me this award, I am touched.


The rules...I have to list 7 things I love and then give the award to seven bloggers I love....so, seven thing I love....husband and kids of course, goes without saying....

I also love...

1) Driving on an open road
2) Rich chocolate cake
3) Swimming in a clear warm sea
4) Lillies
5) Long country walks in the spring
6) Walking on the sand
7) Dancing

Blogs I love and nominate are...

1) Trojans Corner http://trojansgallery.blogspot.com/
2) Just-a-mom at Jams own reality http://jamblogging.blogspot.com/
3) Missy at Is it just me http://is-it-just-me-missy.blogspot.com/
4) Isaiah’s mom at Inside Isaiah http://insideisaiah.blogspot.com/
5) Melinda at blogging it from the burgs http://thebrookshirefam.blogspot.com/
6) Crazy Texas mommy at http://crazytxmommy.blogspot.com/
7) Pam at Smelling the roses and dodging the thorns http://stradtt.blogspot.com/

I could easily nominate another 7...but I'm sticking to the rules (for a change)...

I just want to say a very quick thank you to Trojan for helping me revamp my blog last night, he is brilliant at this stuff, and I have to say he has the patience of a saint (well, sometimes!!!)

THANK YOU!

I love the make over...now if only he could do people too!!!!

Let me know what you think!

You can see Trojan's own blog and his brilliant pics at http://trojansgallery.blogspot.com/

Okay, so I feel that because I love posting other peoples embarrassing moments and stories, that it is only fair that I do the same for myself!

For the last four months my good friend Trojan…of Trojans corner fame…and I have been going to salsa classes, we were complete novices, it was something we’d been saying we’d try for years, and just never got round to.

Our Wednesday night salsa class is now set in stone, the kids know I’m leaving the house for a couple of hours, and no longer make me feel like I’m neglecting them to do something for myself (sin of all sins).

we've gradually moved up through the classes as our ability has improved, we're pretty proud of ourselves. We keep up anyway (almost).

After the class, the lights go down and it’s a salsa club, and it’s great to watch all the experts spinning around the dance floor.

I got asked to dance last time, and rather than shy away, I bit the bullet and went for it, the fact that the guy who asked me was in his sixties may have had something to do with it, I was pretty sure I could keep up…well, how sadly mistaken I was. He was a great leader, so all I had to do was follow, but he threw me around the dance floor like a mad man, making me dizzy and out of breath, and I think I did okay, but I practically needed oxygen afterwards as I staggered off the dance floor for a rest…he however went on and danced with someone else…that will teach me to judge on age!!!

Trojan's mum came with us that night and took some photos and did some videoing...luckily she didn't get a shot of Trojan spinning a woman across the dance floor so fast that she actually ended up half way across the room on her butt...oops! sorry, was I not supposed to mention that Trojan!

Anyway, you can take a look here and see for yourself...Trojan's worked his technical wizardry as usual....its certainly better than our first video blog about it!

I still have nightmares about that one!

http://trojansgallery.blogspot.com/2009/03/salsa-feel-heat.html

Take care

Sal & Trojan xxx

More like, Sally's World harasses/heckles/terrorises Trojans Corner!

As most of you know, Trojan (http://trojansgallery.blogspot.com/) is the one that got me into blogging. You probably also know that we do video blogging as well.

A while ago, Trojan put me on the spot and fired 20 questions at me, giving me no time to prepare and give suitable/sophisticated answers...it was very funny, but I really wanted to change my answers afterwards!!!

Well I got my own back, Trojan has now been put under the same pressure and truly appreciates the difficulties of coming up with decent answers so quickly.

I was as mean as he was, and wouldn't let him change his answers either, although we are still waiting for one answer Trojan. He was obviously worried about getting himself in trouble like I did !!!!


Actually, I think he did well,his Mum and I managed to put him off a few times, but overall, he managed to ignore us, and thats not easy.

Here is the video blog from when Trojan asked me all the same questions...oh dear!

Sal & Trojan

For those of you who follow the blogs in any way, you’ll know exactly who Trojan is. For those of you who are brand new…

Trojan is a close friend of mine, and he is the one behind the whole blogging idea. We work well together because he has all the technical know how and I just have plenty to say! Trojan strongly believes in what I do with the t-shirts and the charity, and will be getting more and more involved in both those things as time goes on.

For as long as I’ve known Trojan, he has been into taking photos; he always has his camera with him and snaps away all the time. This is great for recording those memories for those of us who always forget our own cameras, or forget to use the bloody thing even if we do have it.

Of course, it’s also a bit of a pain in the arse because Trojan has a love of ‘natural shots.’ Which roughly translates into him catching people in embarrassing moments or while they are yawning or stuffing food in their mouths. And if you want to get up to anything slightly illegal/immoral, forget it if your with Trojan! It will recorded in glorious, immortal Technicolor!


I’m not going to pretend I always got it, often he’d be snapping away and I’d be all like “erm...Trojan, it’s a gate!” to which he’d just smile and continue with shots of wildlife/flowers/buildings/lampposts. But once I saw the photos and what he’d done with them, I got it. He has a great eye, and seems to be able to capture art through the camera lens. Something I admire because about 80% of the shots I take are of headless people, my own thumb or look like they are taken at midnight...in a snow storm…in gale force winds!

To show off some of his brilliant photos Trojan has a blog. It’s called Trojans Corner, and not only are the photos of the places he’s travelled brilliant, it’s a great way to find out more about him and those places. Its fun and informative, he talks about many of the things that interest him, and he has many interests and strong views and is certainly worth getting to know.


So take a look at his blog on http://trojansgallery.blogspot.com/

Take care

Sal xxx