Talking about Disabilities

If You Can't See It, It Doesn't Mean It's Not There!

I have no shame in coming out and saying that I have a disability. My disability is Joint Hypermobility Syndrome. This basically means my joints move beyond the normal range of movement (basically severely double jointed). Some symptoms that come with Joint Hypermobility is pain on a daily basis, clumsiness and my joints can dislocate but thankfully this hasn't happened yet! (click here to see my post about living with Joint Hypermobility)

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Unfortunately for me, all my hospital appointments and scans started when I was in year 12 whilst taking my A-levels. I was studying Media, Sociology, Art and Design Technology which became a struggle as I was doing a lot of writing for sociology and drawing and 'DIY' for both Art and Design Technology. So as you can imagine some teachers thought I would struggle and I proved them wrong and made it to university studying Football Business and Media.

This isn't a post that'll just be me going on and on about myself, but here is the reason for sharing my story.

Firstly, I will start by saying if you have a disability you can't let it hold you back. Don't let your disability be the reason for not trying new things and sounds cheesy but following your dreams. I was afraid I wouldn't make it to university due to my disability but I just had to change a few things to get there like the course I was doing and it's been the best decision of my life. Don't let your disability control you, control it instead.

Statistics I found show that in England, there are 9.4 million disabled population which is 18% of the population. 17% of people are born with their disabilities along with 1 in 20 children and 1 in 5 working adults.

Whereas some other statistics I found which disappoint and anger me are:

• 38% of people believe disabled people are a burden on society
• 27% of people believe disabled people are treated differently and this is because lack of knowledge around the topic of disabilities
• 180 disability hate crimes are committed everyday which results in victims losing their confidence

Most importantly 52% of people believe disabilities are physical. This statistic really shocked me, which makes me question what if somebody's disability isn't obvious to you? Like disabilities you cannot see which is why I used mine as an example.

It's important to recognise that just because you can't see someone's disability doesn't mean it isn't there.

If you'd like to share your story please comment below or email me on agirlwithablog16@gmail.com I would love to hear from everyone and anyone! Thanks so much for reading.

Sam x

Talking about Body Image

Before I even thought about discussing body image as my first ever topic, I had to look up what it actually meant. What is body image? And what I found was that body image is the way you see and feel about yourself but I always thought it was mainly based on how you actually looked rather then your feelings towards your appearance.

Now you can either feel positive or negative about the way you look but it's very common for anyone and everyone to struggle with body image. There is NO such thing as a perfect body or appearance. Everyone is different and not many people can understand that we are ALL different shapes or sizes, unlike what the media portrays as the 'perfect' body image.

If you had asked me when I was younger (aged 16) I would have said I hated my body and why can't I look like that TV star or that model. Truth is, I will never look like a model and honestly I don't want too anymore. Now (aged 21) I feel more positive about my body, even though there are still some things I'd like to change.

Another point that needs to be made is if you are a certain size you are then seen by the media to be overweight, lazy and unhealthy. What actually gives anybody including the media the right to judge anybody on their appearance and size? They make teenagers feel like they have to be the 'perfect' size making them feel ashamed of their body and lowering their self esteem.

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For some people appearance is everything and it is rather important to celebrities. In the case of Liam Payne I can't help but remember the time in the media when they were saying that he had put on some 'weight'.... If he is happy with his body, then why does the media have the right to bring it up? The problem is for the media that Liam Payne can look and feel however he wants, it doesn't matter if the media thinks he has put on some 'weight', he is happy with the way he is and that is all that matters.

I could rant on about body image for ages, but the whole point of this post is that it is difficult to accept and feel positive about your body.

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Especially when society and the media judges you and the way you look. This then creates the negativity you feel towards yourself. This cycle has to be broken. I know it's easier said then done but try and overpower the negative thoughts.

Accept yourself and accept your body.

Please let me know your opinions on body image below in the comments or if you'd rather email me
agirlwithablog16@gmail.com.

Thanks so much for reading.

Sam x

Reference: https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/what-body-image