It’s half term this week. When I worked at Oasis, a busy children’s play organisation in Stockwell, the school holidays were always our busiest period. Now that Leftwing Idiot and I work full time for Touretteshero, the pattern’s changed slightly and we’re a bit more in control of how intensively we work.…

This morning there was a buzz at the castle door. My support worker was in the other room so I crawled through to answer it.

It was a delivery driver with a package for one of my neighbours, and I said I was happy to sign for it.…

Years ago, long before Touretteshero and way before getting on stage had even crossed my mind, Leftwing Idiot introduced me to a short play called Not I by Samuel Beckett. I’d never read any of Beckett’s work before, or seen it performed.…

Last night I wrote with nervous excitement about my appointment with NHS Wheelchair Services this morning. We got off to a wobbly start because the taxi I’d booked was 45 minutes late and the longer we waited the tenser I got.…

It’s nearly midnight and I can’t sleep. A weird mixture of pain, excitement and apprehension has left me feeling the sort of nervous excitement you get before the first day at a new school. But it’s not that sort of life change that’s keeping me awake – it’s because in the morning I’m going for a wheelchair assessment.…

I’m incredibly fortunate to own my home. I know that for many people the current crisis in housing makes this impossible, and is likely to do so for future generations. I watch people I care about being held hostage to increasing rents, being made homeless at a moment’s notice, and being priced out of their communities.…

Like all super villains and/or daft comedy characters, Theresa May has a catchphrase. It isn’t “Exterminate!” like the Daleks, although that would fit with her polices, and It certainly isn’t, “I have a cunning plan” like Baldrick in Blackadder.

Theresa’s catchphrase is “Strong and stable”, and she says it an awful lot, probably as much as I say biscuit.…

I can’t remember how old I was when I first heard the term ‘special needs’ or when it was first used to describe me. It’s been a persistent presence throughout my life – from when it was used about me to its use in the professional settings in which I work.…

Fran pulled the covers tightly across my body. She sat next to me on the bed, her hand applying gentle pressure to my head. Exhausted, my body moved erratically, my forceful, regular and rhythmic vocal tics punctuating the quiet darkness of my room.…

One way or another I’ve had quite a few medical appointments recently. Some have been OK, but some have been frustrating.

As someone whose body is noticeably different from what health care professionals are trained to expect, I’m aware that unthinking assumptions can often be made about my life and my needs.…