30 Day Blogging Challenge Day 30: Final Post

Everyone has challenges in life, whether it is passing an exam or getting a job. The challenges in my life have been many,  from the moment my identical twin sister and I were born 32 years ago at Kingston Hospital, Kingston upon Thames, UK. She was born minutes before me, and from the moment we were born, there was the struggle to breathe, to survive. Natalie did not get the opportunity to do either of these things, as she passed away 9 days later. I won my struggle two weeks later, but it came with a price: I was diagnosed with spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus  due to a severe brain bleed which almost claimed my life on more than one occasion. 

My second challenge was coming home, where I learnt to suck and swallow after another long struggle. I was judged as being globally developmentally delayed, as I did not reach milestones, but with time I did. 

Education posed a huge struggle for me, and at every turn I was faced with challenge  after challenge, but, as I said in earlier blog posts, I managed to get a good education and a degree. The other constant challenges I faced, and still do, are society's acceptance of me and my disabilities, and the assumption that as I am as intelligent as the majority of people (here, I will not use the phrase 'of normal intelligence' like the doctors did in my history, as everyone is clever in their own way), I can sort out the struggles I face just by 'being positive'.  Believe me, it is really not that simple or clear-cut, especially when trying to get housing or publish my first novel, both of which I am trying to do at the moment.  

In spite of all these adversaries, I love a good challenge-who doesn't? unless you are naturally very shy, or very lacking in confidence.

 In the past few years, I have repeatedly done various reading-and -writing-related  challenges, but they all have one thing in common: they are all related to the written word. 

I have participated in the Dewey's Readathon five times, NanowriMo once, and Camp NaNoWriMo twice, and am 48 hours away from participating in my second NaNoWriMo. Of course, I am participating in the 30 day blogging challenge too! 

I used to be scared of challenges, but as the years went by, I found people who believed in my abilities, and that in turn made me believe in myself more. Sometimes people still get it wrong, and think I am still that mousy, scared little girl who was too nervous to speak up for herself, but time changes people, and in my case I think it has definitely changed me for the better. There are still situations where I get nervous, just like there are for everyone, but I have more drive to give every challenge I face in life my best shot.  

 A Final Word.............

Well, we've come to the final blog post for me in my thirty-day blog challenge, and I cannot express how enjoyable it was, and how much it has helped me improve, not just my blog, but also my confidence when blogging. I did not know it existed until I did a Facebook search for personal blogs. Before I started the challenge  I thought that writing a blog post everyday day would be hard work, but, as I progressed through the challenge, I've realised that it was not as hard as I thought it was going to be. I struggled at some points in thinking about what to write about and also in thinking up  blog entry titles that would make people WANT to read my posts,  but I just asked around in the group, and people were really helpful. This is another great thing about this group: people are so helpful , friendly and approachable. 

 I had no doubt,  that after writing three novels,  I would be able to complete this challenge .  I will be doing it again (and I would always in a heartbeat) . 

 I have met so many great people this month, and thank you very much to Sarah and Kevin for doing a great job in organising this event. I will definitely be spreading the word about other people joining you in this great challenge. I am sad that it has gone so quickly, but I will never forget this amazing experience I have lots of blogs, and there is no doubt that I will be doing this again in the future at some point so that I can improve those blogs as well. I am so pleased at the increase in traffic to my blog, and also my increase in followers. Most important for me is  other people's belief in me, which just makes me feel I can conquer the world, and that the people who criticised my blogs before I did this challenge were so completely WRONG! I have my writing style, and I will never stop blogging Thank you so much Sarah Kevin and everyone else! you are all amazing people. 

I can't WAIT to see what chllenges lie ahead for me in my life, and plan to taxkle each and every one head-on! 

Stay in touch with me: 

https://www.facebook.com/katherine.hayward.94

https://www.twitter.com/theglitzqueen

https://www.facebook.com/KatherineHaywardMyLifeWithCerebralPalsy?ref=ts&fref=ts

30 Day Blog Challenge Day 29: My Top 10 Posts

I started my blog in 2012 as I wanted to show the world my life somewhere other than on Facebook. I wanted to spread awareness about my disabilities  through my life experiences , and opinions on life in general . 

Here is a rundown of  my most popular posts!

1) Blogging Against Disablism Day 118 views 

http://katherinehaywardmylifewithcp.blogspot.com.es/2014/05/blogging-against-disablism-day-2014.html

2) Birthday Blog Entry 88 views 

http://katherinehaywardmylifewithcp.blogspot.com.es/2012/12/birthday-blog-entry.html

3) A Hidden Disability is Just as Important as A Visual One! 67 views 

http://katherinehaywardmylifewithcp.blogspot.com.es/2013/06/a-hidden-disability-is-just-as.html

4)  Dewey's Readathon Day 2 (28 April 2013) 63 views

http://katherinehaywardmylifewithcp.blogspot.com.es/2013/04/deweys-read-thon-2013-day-2-28-april.html

5) The Value of Friendship 

59 views 

http://katherinehaywardmylifewithcp.blogspot.com.es/2013/02/ive-had-lots-of-friends-in-my-life-so.html

6) How I Created my Facebook Page, Katherine Hayward my Life with Cerebral Palsy 56 views

http://katherinehaywardmylifewithcp.blogspot.com.es/2013/04/how-i-created-my-facebook-page.html

7)  3E Loves Wheechair Heart Essay Contest 2014 51 views 

http://katherinehaywardmylifewithcp.blogspot.com.es/2013/12/3e-loves-wheelchair-heart-essay-contest.html

8) 30 Day Blogging Challenge Day 1: How to Ignite your Passion for Blogging  http://katherinehaywardmylifewithcp.blogspot.com.es/2014/10/30-day-blogging-challenge-day-10-how.html and Poem for Blogging Against Disablism Day 2013 45 views 

http://katherinehaywardmylifewithcp.blogspot.com.es/2013/05/poem-for-blogging-against-disableism.html

9)  How I got my Passion for Horses 44 views. http://katherinehaywardmylifewithcp.blogspot.com.es/2014/10/30-day-blogging-challenge-day-10-how.html

10)  Welcome to Blog! http://katherinehaywardmylifewithcp.blogspot.com.es/2012/11/welcome-to-my-blog.html

42 views 

30 Day Blogging Challenge Day 28: Why I Love Geography

I have always liked travelling, and also knew that I liked geography from my studies at school. I decided to study it at university. I have a geography degree. Most people hate the subject, but what I really like about it is that it is a very diverse subject with lots of different areas to it. It is not just looking at places on a map. You can learn about how different people in different countries live , and also about their customs, and way of life. When I was at university, I also learnt about the differences in society, and what people see as  different. I really liked this subject, as I went through a lot of years feeling different because of my disabilities. I can remember my lecturer was very good at her classes and very patient . I also really liked tourism in the third  world, and studying poverty. These are important subjects to be interested in, as the world is such a dynamic place. In terms of physical geography, I really enjoyed learning about the formation of volcanoes, the ice ages, and the rainforests. Even now, I enjoy watching programmes about these kinds of things on TV.

30 Day Blogging Challenge Day 27 : Suki, Pippa and Tala, Part Of The Family

My family has always had a cat. My parents had a cat even before I was born. I know her name was Suki, and that she was a Tabbie cat, but apart from that I don't know anything else about her. I was really young when they had her so I don't have any memories of her. She lived with them in Hampton Hill in Richmond, London, and then in Framfield, Sussex, and moved with us to Wallingford , Oxfordshire, in 1986.

 The house I grew up in an Wallingford was on a corner of two residential streets on a popular housing estate called Fir Tree  Avenue on the outskirts of the town, and, although it was quite a quiet area,because the road was very long and straight, cars would often go faster down there then they were supposed to. Unfortunately, one day, Suki was outdoors, and she got run over by a car.

Shortly after that, my parents who wanted another cat in the house got a cat called Pippa through their friends in Sussex. Pippa was completely black with a white chest and white paws. 

Pippa in 1987 when I was six years old

I can remember she was the type of cat who did not sit on people's laps, but was not antisocial. She was always very popular with visitors. She lived from 1986 until I was 18 years old in the year 2000. One day, I can remember that we could not find her and we looked all over the house and garden, and she was not there. She used to like sitting underneath my mum's car when the weather was hot, and one day my mum found her asleep. We thought she was asleep at first, but it turned out that she had died. I can remember saying goodbye to her and we were all really upset because she was the first cat  my sister and I had really known in our childhood.My parents buried her in the back garden.

Some months after that, we went as a family to a pet home in Wantage , Oxfordshire , my sister and I were really excited as mum and dad had told us that they wanted to get another cat. The pet home was run by a lady who adopted pets that nobody wanted. We went to have a look at the cats that were there, and I can remember not liking the fact that they were in cages as it has always seemed quite cruel to me that animals are kept like this. I can remember not knowing on which one to choose, but it was my sister who suddenly said

'  look how about the grey one?' 

We saw a grey kitten with a tail with lines on it like a raccoon's tale, and decided that the cat was such an unusual dark grey colour, and with that tail , it had a very unique and unusual appearance. It turned out that the cat was named Tala, and we all stroked her while the owner of the pet home cuddled her against her chest.  As we watched,  Tala began pawing at the lady's fleece jacket: we didn't know this at the time, but this would become a habit of hers, she loves anything soft, and I have paw marks on many a fleece and dressing gown! 

We were told that before we could take her home, the pet home workers had to come over to the house and see whether it would be okay for her. We had to agree to some conditions to keep her: that she was not allowed to have kittens, and also that we would not allow her to go out of the garden and onto the paths and roads surrounding the house for at least a month. She had to have a microchip inserted so we could find her if she got lost.  So, for the first couple of weeks, we had her in the house only, and she was really pleased when she could finally get out of the house and explore her new surroundings! I had to go off back to to university, and I remember coming home one autumn evening in 2002 to find Tala  hiding underneath a wooden rocking chair that my parents had bought  for the lounge, and also doing things like hiding behind the washing machine, and hiding in drawers. She was really not used to people, and we were told by the lady at the pat home before she came to us, she was living in a house where an elderly lady had quite a few cats and kittens,  and so she would keep some of her cats in the garage so that they wouldn't make so much noise. Tala was one of those kittens. 

After some weeks, she got used to being in a new home, but there are some things that have not changed about how she acts  even now, and we think that it is left over from when she was living with the old lady. For example, when people come around to the house, she gets quite nervous, and is not sociable and takes herself off to sleep or take herself outside. However, when it is just my parents, my sister and I,  she is fine. Tala has a great personality, and always wants to be the centre of attention. She always sits on people's laps, and has been known to sit on my lap while I am in my wheelchair, and she really does not mind me moving around when she is sitting there, so she gets a free ride as well!  

Tala in her favourite place on the couch age 10 

Tala Christmas 2011 age 10

A recent photo of Tala 

Tala now age 12 

Both Tala  and Pippa would keep me company when I was ill in bed. also sat on top of my books when I was trying to study for my final exams at university. (If you have read my blog post called 11 Years Without You, you will know that I came home from university in my final year to live at my parent's house after my grandfather's death in 2003 ) or when I was just trying to read. She did this with my dad and sister as well. Two of the other things she loves, are pens (we really don't know why this is) and chicken. When she sees a pen, she will jump up to where you are if you are sitting at a table and try, and nearly always succeed, in knocking it out of your hand and watching it fall to the floor. I say she loves chicken as whenever my mum used to cook roast chicken when I was living at home , Tala always used to sit and wait as patiently as she could, which was usually not very patiently, and she would visibly shift from one paw  to the other until the end of the meal, when she just knew that mum would give her the leftovers. I am told she still does this. I have not seen Tala  for a while, as my parents have since moved, but I do see her on FaceTime time every time I call them.

Happy World Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Awareness day 2014

I was born with hydrocephalus, a condition where the cerebrospinal fluid  protecting the brain and spine builds up and causes swelling to the brain and skull. To drain the liquid, I have a shunt, which is a pressure valve in my brain attached to a tune which drains the CSF all the way from my brain to my abdomen. I cannot regulate these levels on my own, so that is why I need help from the shunt.  The shunt works well most of the time,

But sometimes it can become blocked or damaged. When this happens, I have to be operated on within four hours of the symptoms starting. My symptoms in the past were sickness, headaches, dizziness and feeling really sleepy. I'm quite lucky because I had five operations on my shunt . This might seem strange to you that I say this, but some people have had a lot more operations than I  have, and at least I had my operations when I was younger whereas  I do know some people who have had to have operations as teenagers or adults

My hydrocephalus is not cured , and never will be. I will never be able to live without a shunt . I feel really lucky that on this day I was born in, and live in a country where shunts are easily available. Some people do not get to have their shunt operation, as they die before it will happen, because the country they live in does not have the money to pay for a shunt operation, or they have to import it from another country. I can remember that Alfredo told me that back in Peru, he practically saw a little girl dying because she did not get her shunt not in time.

The spina  bifida I have is spina bifida occulta, which means  that some of the vertebrae in my soine did not form properly. http://www.shinecharity.org.uk/spinabifida/information-publications/spina-bifida-occulta

I chose to spread Hydrocephalus  and spina bifida awareness awareness not only because I have the conditions as well as cerebral palsy,  but because there are a lot of things that people do not realise about it. Just because it is invisible does not mean it is not there. My Hydrocephalus is very much still there, and I dread to think what my life would be like without my shunt. As you read this, please spare some time to think about people with Hydrocephalus and spina bifida today. 

For more  information on both conditions, visit http://www.shinecharity.org.uk

30 Day Blogging Challenge Day 26: What I Like and Don't Like About IOS 8.1 So Far

YRecently, I downloaded iOS 8.1 as I wanted to keep my iPad up-to-date up-to-date, and when I update it, I prefer to update as soon as possible. I had to wait a while for the software to update, so I was catching up on my reading while my iPad was updating. 

The first thing I noticed was that on the menu screen, there are now buttons for podcasts and also tips for helping you to use your iPad better and getting the most out of it.

New  applications additions to the iPad desktop

The biggest change I notice about the new operating system for the iPad is that the browsing history is in the same large lettering as my emails and comes up right next to the  favourites  menu screen  which means it is very easy to locate, whereas before I had to activate the history button before I could see it. To hide it, you just press the history icon (highlighted in blue below). 

Large lettering used on iPad history (same size as configured for emails) 

The other great advantage is that notifications and alerts are now shown in bigger lettering than before. Before this update came out, I had real trouble seeing the updates. I knew that there was an update because I had my sound on on my iPad, but I could not read the update at all. Now, the updates stay down longer and the type is bigger. This still does not make them really easy to read for me, but it is more obvious for me when I get a notification. What I notice is that the history is now in the same size type as I chose for my emails, which for me is the largest one on the iPad. That makes that much easier to see than before, as beforehand the lettering was much too small for me to be able to read my history. I refer back to my history a lot if I visit a page I do not use often , and can't remember the name of it, but sometimes I happen to remember the date and roughly what the page was about, so I look on my history, find the date and then I am able to find the page.

Another improvement I have noticed with iOS 8.1 is that the photos within my iPad are better organised, and they also organised in a section called Moments  which clearly shows the photos I have taken or saved to my iPad in chronological order (by day), so if I want to share the photos that I have recently taken/saved to my iPad, then my easiest option is to look within this category, as, as  I said in my last post, the action of scrolling is very difficult and painful for me because of the tightness in my muscles in my hands, fingers and arms. Is also very time-consuming too, so it is best for me to use this moments category to be able to go straight to the photo that I want.

What the photo Moments subcategory looks like 

If it does not appear there , I will just go into my camera on the iPad desktop and select it from there, but using the moments option in the photos menu section is much easier  even than this. The menu for inserting photos into Blogger is now colour-coded, which makes it a lot easier to see: 

Colour-coded photo options menu in Dragon dictation 

The moments submenu opens out to look like this- to select a photo, just touch the one you want, and then select where to insert it. 

What the Moments photo submenu looks like when open 

 One thing that I have got used to now, but that was a bit confusing at first, was that now on the main menu, the two squares that are one behind the other like a copy sign does not actually copy what is on the webpage, but it actually minimises the webpage so that you have a menu to be able to see the, page, or pages, that you have visited. Therefore, the only way I can see to copy the web page address (for example, which is something that I do when I want to share images to Pinterest, or if I want to share a link in my blog) is to highlight the page address cut or copy and then paste it where I want it.

Minimize icon 

on the keyboard in general, and also when you in fDragon dictation, there are suggestions for words so that if you want a word, you just have to touch it and it appears on the screen.

Suggested words on the keyboard itself, even in Dragon dictation ! 

Keyboard with suggested words in Blogger app 

Keyboard with suggested words in Dagon dictation! 

I did notice that the icons on some apps (such as Paint Gallery for iPad) were smaller than before. This is not a problem for me, as I remember the order they are in on the screen. I use this app a lot to annotate pictures like I have in this and other blog posts throughout the challenge, and also to experiment with different designs and lettering when creating my novel cover ideas so I can get an idea of what the final product will look like. 

Small icons in PaintGallery app after IOS 8.1 update 

That is just a brief outline of the changes I have noticed, and how I use my iPad now that it has the new software, but if I think of any more things than I will add them into this blog post in the future.

 If you have an iPad, I hope that you enjoy using it as much as I do, and also enjoy the new updates that come out every so often.

30 day blogging challenge day 25: What I Like About my iPad

I am always using my iPad. I have an iPad2 , and have had it for over two years now, and going on three, but it has really changed the way I am able to access computers. The touchscreen makes it easy to use, and I love the amount of accessibility features and applications on it.  I use zoom, VoiceOver and sometimes invert  the colours on the screen. As I can't pinch my fingers together or drag my hand or fingers over the screen, so  I use assistive touch, where I have created gestures  I can do: for example, when reading an ebook, instead of using a draggimg motion to turn the page, I touch the side of the page I want to turn once.  

   The downside I find is that not all of the pages on the Internet are easy to use from an iPad, because not all of them react when you want to change the zoom. To  solve this, I use the iPad's ReadAloud  feature which literally reads the text back to me I  also set the iPad to read items on the screen such as the names of icons ,  the time on the clock and the  battery charge level  

 I  would recommend an iPad to anybody!  

Below are screen shots of some of the accessabiility settings I use . 

NOTE: if VoiceOver is activated, you can't share blog posts and it can affect other settings on your iPad, for example I found I could not copy and paste a sentence or insert a photo properly, so I had to turn this feature off to be able to do these things. 

Take a look at the iPad user manual for more information . 

Outline buttons- the buttons  and parts of menus are outlined in black, making them easier to see 

How to find the accessibility settings within the iPad2 menus 

Zoom options 

Lettering size for emails and notes