Finding a Voice: Uplifting Memoir Chronicles Man’s Journey to Thriving with Developmental Learning Disorder

Posted on October 26, 2020 by Catherine Balavage

Damian Quinn is just like anyone else. His mind races with ideas; he’s intelligent and has the potential to achieve great things. But Damian has spent his life contending with one thing most don’t – the inability to form words and communicate properly.

In his new memoir, ‘Finding a Voice’, Damian takes readers from his early years when the only word he could say was “mimmy”, through to adulthood where he thrives as a successful disability advocate and Vice President of Afasic. This charity has saved his livelihood.

Synopsis:

The power of communication is essential; some say a necessity. We all do it, humans, insects, birds, cats, dogs, etc. No matter which species we belong to, we all communicate. Unfortunately, some people struggle to do so. Damian was one of them.

Developmental Learning Disorder, a speech and language disability, which Damian has had from birth, causes sentences to come out muddled and slow, even though all Damian’s ideas are there. Here Damian talks about how DLD has affected his life, and how the charity Afasic has been there to support him throughout.

Find the struggles that Damian had to go through in his life for him to speak.

Finding a Voice recounts the journey Damian has taken. From the early years, he was struggling to be diagnosed and have the disability recognized, to being heard as Vice President of Afasic.

Finding a Voice recounts the journey Damian has taken. From the early years, struggling to be diagnosed and have the disability recognized, to being heard as Vice President of Afasic.

“My pronunciations, semantics and discourse have been profoundly affected by DLD,” says the author, who has moved back to his hometown of Leighton Buzzard. “As you can imagine, this caused many issues growing up and going through the education system, particularly back in the 1980s when disability wasn’t understood or dignified as it is today. However, I have used my experiences in adulthood to carve out my own success; one that embraces the challenges I face. Unfortunately, DLD affects about two children in every classroom in primary school and sadly that it is more common in boys than girls.”

Continuing, “I wrote this book to share one man’s honest account of disability, both to help raise awareness and understanding among non-suffers, and help those who struggle with conditions like mine to understand they are not defined by it. Their success is not connected to it. I want everyone to understand the odds are always stacked in our favour, no matter the challenges we face in life.”

Reviews have been glowing. Chelsea writes, “I received my book this afternoon and finished it this evening. It was a fascinating read and very informative about DLD and the struggles Damo has faced growing up. It’s an emotional read at times, especially when Damo talks about his feelings behind feeling like he failed his parents. Damo is an absolute delight to know, and I know his parents would be very proud of who he is today! I urge people to read this book and educate themselves on this – fantastic job!”

Justin adds, “This is the heartwarming story of Damian who has grown up with a Developmental Learning Disorder. Damian at an early age, was diagnosed with a Speech and Language Disorder. Damian shares his experiences of living with a disability from his early childhood to his adult life, showing how having a disability has not stopped him from achieving great things in life and helping others with Speech and Language Disorders through the charity called Afasic. This is a most enjoyable and informative read.”

‘Finding a Voice’ is published on November 9th and available from all good bookshops as well as all online book retailers, including Amazon- https://amzn.to/37yTafq

You can find his website at https://www.dysphasia.co.uk/

Nap times, politics and radical feminism? New book explores Mumsnet today.

Posted on October 26, 2020 by Catherine Balavage

The Politicization of Mumsnet

By Sarah Pedersen

Publication: 15^th October 2020

PB, £16.99, ISBN: 9781839094712

I have to be honest. My feminism has dulled at the edges the past six months. Two children under five and numerous work commitments have left me with a lethargy towards feminism and politics in general. Well consider me awake now. I forgot about the feminism threads on Mumsnet. I also forgot at how much snark Mumsnet gets because of its perceived anti-trans reputation and middle class readership. Personally I think that everyone who attacks Mumsnet for being middle class, and for assuming it is so, rude. I also note that Reddit and 4Chan have users with controversial views and no one gangs up on them quite as much.

The Politicization of Mumsnet is a brilliant book that is well thought out and researched within an inch of its life. It had so many facts it blew my mind. Mumsnet is a huge achievement and it has saved countless women lives. Women generally becoming Mumsnet users during the most vulnerable, and isolating time of their lives. Men and Women are relatively equal until women have babies. Women’s biological clocks also put them at an unfair disadvantage. Read this book and you will want to level the playing field. An absolute triumph for Sarah Pedersen.

You can listen to Sarah Pedersen on Women’s Hour here.

‘This book dispels two myths about Mumsnet: that it is heaving with entitled, middle-class yummy mummies, or drowning in hate and bigotry… This book is informative, amusing and a call to feminist action.’ – Julie Bindel, writer and activist

Whether you love it, loath it or are totally baffled by it, Mumsnet is a social-media phenomenon. It now has 14 million users and over the past two decades it has grown to become the largest parenting website in the UK.

As the site developed, Mumsnet discussion topics evolved beyond traditional ‘mothering’ subjects to encompass politics, feminism and current affairs. In fact, it now bills itself as a ‘site for grown ups’ with limited moderation and a commitment to free speech. Brands swarm to it and it is a ‘go to’ source for journalists seeking a female viewpoint.

In The Politicization of Mumsnet, Sarah Pedersen from Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, explores Mumsnet’s role as a powerful and influential forum, including its use by politicians to try and secure the votes of middle-class women in the UK. The 2010 General Election was even dubbed “the Mumsnetelection” highlighting a growing awareness that women discuss politics online in places that have been traditionally perceived as non-political.

Its active community of users has led to high profile campaigns about rape awareness, miscarriage care and the premature sexualisation of children. The type of campaigns that Mumsnet supports is driven by the interests of its members, but also the realities that the site itself has had to face relating to libel. Mumsnet has become part of the establishment in its contributions to government inquiries and as a place for ministers to air policies for families and children.

However, in recent years, Mumsnet has also become a central part of a resurgent women’s rights movement in the UK. Understood as a safe space for gender-critical voices, the site has spawned real-life activism and continues to be both praised and attacked for its support of free speech on controversial subjects. Pedersen argues that its openness to these discussions has allowed the site to function as a subaltern counter-public. This development has led to both praise and bitter criticism of the site and a positioning within a resurgent grass-roots radical feminist movement in the UK.

Sarah Pedersen asks where does Mumsnet go from here? While there is no doubt that the site will continue its campaigning on issues that concern its members, it must also continue to offer a space for women to discuss issues that are important to them, and to share and receive support and comradeship.

Fans and critics alike would do well to remember the quote from Robert Campbell after Mumsnetters had caused his agency’s advertising campaign to collapse within 48 hours……. “Don’t mess with Mumsnet”

About the Author:

Sarah Pedersen is Professor of Communication and Media at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen. Her research focuses on women’s use of media, particularly for political purposes, using both contemporary and historical sources.

The Politicization of Mumsnet By Sarah Pedersen is available here.

Vahdam Teas Releases New Range of Sustainable Adaptogenic Turmeric Teas

Posted on October 26, 2020 by Catherine Balavage

I have become obsessed with turmeric and putting it in things. I even add it to my tea. I had my inflammation makers tested by Thriva recently and I had little to low inflammation in my body. I think this is thanks to all of the turmeric I consume. I have been reading a lot about nutrition and I have recently done a Harvard course in nutrition. The evidence that turmeric is good for you is pretty solid. I decided to go all out and try actual turmeric teas and turmeric latte.

I tried the Turmeric Ginger teabags and the latte mix. Both are easy to use and I think they taste great. Granted, not everyone likes turmeric, but I find that if you persevere with it, it grows on you. Even if you were not a fan to begin with. I am a fan of Vaham teas.

Award-winning family-run ethical and sustainable luxury tea brand VAHDAM Teas has launched a new range of certified organic and vegan turmeric teas and latte mixes.

Blending premium-quality immune-boosting Indian turmeric with ingredients and superfoods including ginger, ashwagandha and moringa, the range is 100% natural and caffeine-free and packed with powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

VAHDAM Teas brings India’s finest teas and superfoods to conscious consumers around the world – as endorsed by Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey, Martha Stewart and more. VAHDAM Teas is also a certified ‘Climate Neutral’ and ‘Plastic Neutral’ brand, and donates 1% of its revenue to educating its tea growers’ children under its social initiative,‘TEAch Me’.

Vaham Teas are available here.

SISTER SCRIBES’ READING ROUND UP: OCTOBER

Posted on October 26, 2020 by Jane Cable

Jane

The most incredible thing about Joe Heap’s When The Music Stops is the way it mixes the ordinary with the extraordinary. In one way it’s a version of David Nicholls’ One Day, but set over a longer period (the protagonists meet in childhood) and in the world of jazz music; the parts of the book that happen in the present day are very surreal indeed.

The clever structure gives the book rhythm. It’s very much tied to the music, so rhythm seems like the right word. It makes for very long chapters (sections, really) but that’s fine, because I didn’t want to put it down. At first you wonder what’s happening in the present day but then it begins to make sense and you expect each section to have a certain chain of events. You even know what will happen in the end. But that’s comforting when the boundaries of your imagination are being stretched in other ways.

The love story running through the book is compelling too and each decade incredibly well researched so you feel each period, rather than words being wasted describing it. Ella and Robert meet as children in pre-war Glasgow and have so many near misses you wonder if they will ever get together. I would have enjoyed it on its own, and have appreciated the quality of the writing, but adding the extra dimension makes this a standout book.

Kitty

Anne O’Brien – The Queen’s Rival

I have long been fascinated with the Neville sisters and Cicely in particular so I was excited to read this book. Anne O’Brien is reliably one of my favourite writers of historical fiction and took the brave decision to write the story of Cecily through letters sent largely to family members but also to some of the major players in the turbulent story of her life, Margaret of Anjou for example, who literally held the life of Cecily’s family in her hands. This form must have been so hard to write but I really enjoyed it. It reinforced how hard life must have been without the immediacy of contact we are so used to nowadays. Writing letters to children and a husband that may or may not be alive or dead, knowing that your words could be the ones that help carry them to the scaffold. It reinforced the dangers and uncertainties of the times and all through the mouthpiece of a woman underrated for the role she and her family had to play in the development of Plantagenet England. Very well done.

Kirsten

What with publicity for Book One, final proofs of Book Two and starting to bash out the first draft of Book Three (and a fab new idea – I hope! – for Book Four) I haven’t had much time to read this month. But one book I have finished and really enjoyed is People Like Us by Louise Fein. This is the coming of age story – I’ve learned this month that this this can be called a Bildungsroman – of Hetty who is brought up in a Nazi household in Leipzig in the years building up to the second war and who falls in love with a Jewish boy. It’s beautifully written and is – by turns – fascinating, poignant and heart-breaking with, I think, a lesson for the times we find ourselves in today. Highly recommended.

Interestingly, I’ve just been sent an ARC of a love story set in lockdown. It’s the first story I’ll have read with Covid-19 as a backdrop and I’m not sure how I feel about reading it. Having had quite a difficult year personally, the jury is out on whether it just too soon to read a story set in the time of Covid. I’ll keep you posted.

INTRODUCING SELF-STYLED ART LABOURER, ANGELA LOWETH

Posted on October 24, 2020 by Jane Cable

When it come to my art work terms I don’t see myself as skilled worker more as a labourer!!

I paint rocks, glasses, jars and of course pictures.

All my life I have loved art – most of my work is bright and bold that is why I find acrylics so wonderful to use, the colours, you can get fine details, but also build it up to create a texture if needed., but I also enjoy pen and ink. We moved to Cornwall over 12 years ago and I find it is the landscape, sea … well basically everything around me that inspires me to paint it. Art is my passion, my escapism but also my therapy. I take my watch off, sit and paint forgetting all about time, but just being in that moment putting brush to canvas, glass or rocks.

I put my emotions and be emotional into whatever I am working on at the time.

When it comes to painting it is the sea that I turn to, trying to capture the power of the waves and in my more abstract painting it is that power trying to be tamed and utilised by man (hence the surfboards).

When it comes to pen and ink it is to nature I mainly look, trying to create reality and beauty from just one colour, but different thickness of pen.

I shall never be famous nor do I care if people don’t like my work, I do it because it’s what I love to do and what pleases me and yet when I do ask an opinion and you get that one person who finds a fault yes it hurts, especially when you have put your heart and soul into a picture and then I think to myself its only their view “it’s my work and if they should be grateful I showed it to them!! “

I am my own critic and I have may unfinished canvases to prove it, but art whatever I do, it lifts me up when I am down and helps me concentrate on being me and brightens my day when it is dark.

Find more of Angela’s art here: https://folksy.com/shops/angelaloweth

Redruth clocktower, pebbles and paint

Has Your Child Regressed Academically? Try The LeapFrog LeapStart

Posted on October 21, 2020 by Catherine Balavage

As millions of children return to full time education this month, a new poll of parents suggests the extent to which the nation’s children have regressed academically, following months of being at home.

Despite the best efforts of hard pushed parents to homeschool, 45 percent said their child had lost out on their overall education, with 44 percent saying they found it hard to keep their child concentrating on school work in the home environment.

In fact, 45 percent say their child’s handwriting has deteriorated and a further 44 percent claiming their child’s spelling had got worse, according to the findings.

I was excited to review the Leapfrog LeapStart. I am always looking for ways to educate my children and help them learn. I find teaching children is about sparking their imagination. They get bored easily and you always have to come up with new ways and angles to keep them learning.

The Leapfrog LeapStart is a brilliant interactive learning system. There are different books you can buy to put in the LeapStart and help your child learn. The books click in easily and the system is easy to use. It supports your child from preschool to primary school. The stylus is perfectly designed for children to grip.

The system comes with a preschool sampler book but there are plenty more books to buy. There are over fifty key school and life skills it teaches your child. From maths, music, and reading. The LeapStart really engages your child. This is a innovative system and I cannot recommend it enough.

According to the survey, of 1,000 parents with children between the ages of two and seven, commissioned by educational toy brand LeapFrog, as many as 49 percent fear their child’s social skills have suffered following six months without nursery or school.

A further 39 percent said they had not managed to get their children to regularly read, with 34 percent claiming their child had lost all interest in reading since schools shut – and 33 percent admitting their child had barely picked up a book this year.

In fact other important skills have suffered too, as 40 percent of parents said their child’s maths had deteriorated, causing them concerns about how they will understand basic number work this term.

Overall, 41 percent of parents have major concerns that their child is currently academically behind where they need to be during this term.

Worryingly, more than one in ten (12 percent) said their child had completely lost interest in learning. And following almost six months without attending nursery and school, it’s no surprise that both parents and children are struggling to maintain focus and find new ways of engaging in the curriculum.

For parents who are concerned their children may be behind in their development, there are plenty of resources available, including the LeapFrog LeapStart, an interactive learning system for children from 2-7 years.

The interactive LeapStart is recommended by 97% of teachers ^[1]^[1] and can help provide learning for children at home. With over 30 activity books available, children can learn a variety of subjects including maths, science, reading and writing, making learning at home both educational and fun.

Mike Lynch, Senior Brand Manager at LeapFrog, who commissioned the survey commented: “It is unsurprising to see that our research indicates the majority of parents surveyed feel their children may have regressed academically during the closure of nurseries, pre-schools and primary schools this year. Despite parents’ best efforts, home schooling can be challenging.

At LeapFrog, we are passionate about supporting children’s learning and development in the early years. Our LeapStart interactive learning system engages children through colourful, imaginative activity books, complete with a magic stylus that triggers audio. Designed to build key skills such as counting, problem solving, reading and writing, the LeapStart is an essential home learning tool.”

Research by leading educational toy brand, LeapFrog, has revealed that six in ten parents believe their child has regressed academically this year due to schools closing because of COVID-19.

Recommended by 97% of teachers, the interactive LeapStart is great way to combat this, boosting learning through play at home, while supporting the national curriculum in the early years. With over 30 activity books available, children can choose from a variety of subjects, including science, reading, writing, problem solving and more. Add to this little ones’ favourite characters, including Mickey Mouse, Elsa, Peppa Pig and Paw Patrol’s Chase, learning at home has never been such fun!

Annabelle Boto, KS1 and KS2 teacher, commented:

“The LeapStart is a fantastic way to spark curiosity and love of learning in children throughout the primary age phase. The technology is simple yet stimulating, capturing children’s attention, and then allowing them to use their intuition to access a plethora of entertaining and educational resources. The stylus is useful for the development of fine motor skills, and is an excellent tool allowing the child to navigate through the books.

Each book provides a different experience, LeapStart is successful in finding the correct balance between entertaining the children, and educating them. Several options of tasks means there is something on offer for everyone. The activities help children to work on their problem solving abilities, as well as building their confidence in an educational situation, and increasing their ability to concentrate on the task in hand.

The books largely reflect the KS1 curriculum, therefore providing an excellent way for children to prepare and consolidate what they are learning in school. Early years children love the LeapStart, it provides a fantastic opportunity for children to familiarise themselves with problems over all different subjects, inspiring them to give things a go and recognise how fun and exciting learning can be.”

The LeapFrog LeapStart is available here.

The books that have changed me by Margaret Graham (aka Milly Adams and Annie Clarke)

Posted on October 21, 2020 by Catherine Balavage

The books that changed me, or should I say perhaps, developed my understanding… Heavens, so many, but let me take a stab at it.

As a child I read The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett in which an obnoxious orphan Mary Lennox arrives to live with her uncle at Misselthwaite Manor in Yorkshire. Archibald Craven locked the door leading to his wife’s beloved garden on her death. He also secreted his son, with crooked legs and back , in his own quarters for his own safety, and went about his business elsewhere, leaving the kindly servants to care for this disparate household.

The children find the secret garden, and slowly as they work within it, and as the seasons roll on, the healing of both begins. This book introduced me to a love of gardening, to the relentless rhythm of the seasons which has given me solace and a sense of something ‘bigger’. It grounds me.

Then as a teenager I read I Never Promised you a Rose Garden by Joanne Greenberg. This is the story of a schizophrenic young woman, who spends some years receiving therapy ina residential centre. As the young woman recovers she is devastated to realise that the world is not perfect, that happiness is not a given. That there are ups and downs, and one must find a ‘centre’. But as the psychiatrist says: I helped you heal, but I never promised a rose garden, I promised you a life.

I found this profound, and it stabilized the angst of a teenager, and was a great guide as an adult.

As an adult I was struggling to write my first novel – to navigate my way through the muddle of my thoughts, . I read Cinderella to my children one evening, and realised that it is the clearest example of the common structural form. It enabled me to write my first novel, and create almost 30 other books. It also allowed me to teach aspiring authors, perhaps the most rewarding part of my writing life, apart from editing Frost Magazine.

Basically, there is one protagonist, Cinderella, she has helpers ( mentors) and enemies (antagonists). Cinderella is on a journey, which is the plot, in order to resolved the theme, which for me was her quest to find love. Fourth must be Reginald Hill’s Dalziel and Pascoe novels. Erudite, immaculately structured with characters in complete balance, and scattered with laugh-aloud humour. They freed something in me, and made me brave enough to be myself, and allow the humour I inherited from my parents free rein.

Fourth are the Reginald Hill Dalziel and Pascoe novels, beautifully structured and written, with a superb balance of characters. Erudite, fascinating, and laugh-aloud funny. They gave me the courage to allow myself to use my own sense of humour, inherited from Mum and Dad.

Fifth and perhaps most importantly From Both Ends of the Stethoscope by award winning author Dr Kathleen Thompson

Dr Thompson is ‘the doctor who knows’ what it is to face the chilling cancer diagnosis, and then find your way through the maze of information and treatment. The book is set out in an extraordinarily accessible way for the patient, and also for those like me who have friends with this illness, it gives me a way of helping, of listening, of supporting. It is life enhancing, and invaluable.

If I can sneak in a sixth, The Variety Girls series by Tracy Baines made me realise I should have been on the stage, not stuck in a study writing. You see, I could have ‘hoofed’ with the best of them, and hugged the spotlight, and showed off, and my mum would have been shocked, then proud, as I received a standing ovation – just me, not the rest of the chorus, of course. Ah, well, I can dream.

LastRound: Resuable Cotton Swabs, Tissues & Cotton Rounds Review

Posted on October 21, 2020 by Catherine Balavage

As England’s ban on single-use plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds finally came into effect this month LastSwab has come into its own.

By now there are plenty of reusable options out there to replace plastic straws, not to mention stirrers, but less so for cotton buds.

LastSwab is the first-ever sanitary, reusable Q-tip. In England an estimated 1.8 billion plastic-stemmed cotton buds are used and thrown out each year after just one use, these are one of the most significant ocean pollutants today. Each LastSwab lasts up to 1,000 uses and comes in a biodegradable case that keeps it protected and makes it easy to carry on the go. It comes in two styles, one for cleaning and one for makeup.

Danish eco-startup LastObject have a few different products and each one is brilliant. Frost loves LastObject and the work they are doing. We all need to do as much as we can for the environment, and swapping our tissues, cotton buds and tissues for the reusable ones that LastObject make is a significant step. We have to all stop saying it is ‘just one’. Read this great piece on LastObject’s site. The products are easy to clean and are high quality.

What problem does LastTissue solve?
Every year around 8,000,000 trees are cut down to make facial tissues for the US alone. As individuals we can make a difference by changing our own habits. Every time you blow your nose with a LastTissue, you save 2 liters of water.

What problem does LastSwab solve?
Every day 1.5 billion single-use swabs are created. A vast amount of these end up in our oceans and landfills. By using a reusable swab, you prevent around 1000 single-use swabs from being used and discarded.

LastRound is a reusable cotton round made from 100% renewable raw materials – 70% wood fiber and 30% organic cotton, making it more sustainable than a 100% cotton option. Unlike other reusable cotton pads on the market that are cloth, LastRound feels and looks like single-use rounds used for makeup removal and applying serums. LastRound comes in a case with seven rounds and can be washed and reused over and over again.

Single-use cotton rounds made with non-organic cotton use vast amounts of chemicals, pesticides and fertilizers. According to the WWF (World Wildlife Fund), cotton production is the largest use of water among all agricultural commodities; It takes 2,640 gallons of clean drinking water to produce 1,000 regular cotton rounds.

You can buy these great products here. I highly recommend that you do.