Photos of standing frame

To the left are 5 photos of me and the standing frame that TAD made me. The two in the wheelchair were taken about 1 or 2 days out of hospital between christmas 2008 and new year 2009 and the 3 ones of me standing were taken straight after it was made in about september 2008.

driving

We take driving for granted we just do, you don't know what you have until you lose it!!

Around february-March 2009 I asked my neuro-physio whether she thought I would ever be able to drive a car again She said YES!!! Maybe not right away she said but she thought it would be possible. I left it another couple of months and asked her again (i really hadn't improved but I was very keen to get the ball rolling with driving again thought would be simple) BOY was I WRONG!!!! She said to me that she thought it would be the best idea to have an assessment done by a driver clinic OT (Occupational therapist) So she wrote the referral and I rang up to find out what I had to do. First there was a 3 month wait. Second we had to go to the repatriation hospital which is over an hours drive TWICE as it was the only place we could do the assessment because of the type of disability I have!! The first part of the assessment was at the clinic they ask a bucket load of questions about your medical conditions find everything that could possibly be wrong or hard with driving and then find a way to solve all these problems. Trouble is the treating dr HAS to fill in a form to the department of transport and there is no option on this form for this kind of assessment it is dumb the OTs are trying to change it. They even got me to write a letter to the Member of Parliament involved to try and change the form. Also the final decision is not made my the OT doing the assessment but by the dr this is also dumb as the dr has had nothing to do with the assessment the OT has. In other states of Australia the OTs do get a say in what the final decision is. In SA they can only recommend. Anyway so they decided that I had to go back to the eye specialist something was wrong in the assessment they thought could interfere with driving so that was another appointment the tests came back fine! The second part of the assessment was with a driving instructor with the OT in the back. This was difficult as the instructor made a big deal out of a minor thing that I did wrong and did not explain how I could fix this issue. Anyway it was decided that I would need 3 1 hour lessons with a driving instructor trained in rehab and this was done over 4 lessons 2 half hour and 2 1 hour lessons. All in all these assessments cost over $700 AUS with no rebate or anything (something else I put in the letter). It also was recommended that the only way I could drive was with the use of a WYMO. Basically a hydraulic lifting device that puts the wheelchair on the roof of car at the touch of a button at the cost of about $4000AUS. There were a couple other minor recommendations.

Well I knew we could not afford a WYMO so I asked my service provider who gives me personal care twice a week and various equipment and they said NO. Then for reasons I wont go into a few months later (after our trip to Tasmania for the choral festival) I asked to have a new service coordinator and in the meantime I spoke to the supervisor about all the difficulties I was having. Well she told me that my origial service coordinator apologises because he made a mistake the WYMO WAS available since the equipment service is for ALL PWD in two different agencies!!!! So a WYMO was once NOT available to domicilary Care clients but now was. The way this service works is that it is totally funded by the government and is serviced and maintained by the equipment service so you dont pay when it breaks down!! BUT the downside is that they often don't have enough money and I believe the main reason why they managed to get me this equipment was because a they made a mistake originally and b I complained about needing it. People who ask and ask often recieve. I had to go through an assessment to see if I qualified and I did and a few weeks later it was approved and installed before christmas. Fantastic!!! I was able to drive independently for the first time in 18 months. Downside is that I can only drive when I am not too tired and only short distances like 10-15 km at a time and only once or twice a week BUT it is starting point and one can assume it will only get better. The second advantage was that my husband did no longer have to haul the wheelchair in and out the car and its 25kg!!!

Unfortunately my husband had a little accident with the WYMO about a week ago it was not all the way down and he backed out the driveway and hit the downpipe causing the arm of the WYMO to bend thus tripping the switch too soon and also dislodging the roof rack it sits on making it a little unsafe and totally unusuable. Because it was between christmas and new year the equipment service that the repairs have to go through and the place that fixes them were both closed and luckily the guy who put it on the car has a mobile ph we just smsed him and set up the date to be fixed as the 6th January and rang the equipment service so I am excited that it will be fixed soon!

TAFE qualifications in disability

As I said in an earlier post I originally was working as a support worker for PWD but had to resign as a consequence of that work and because the Australian Government brought in legislation stating that all support workers had to have min qualifications (certificate 3 in disability studies) to do that work I decided to study through TAFE to get this qualification. This was started in 2007, I decided to do it externally because the nearest campus offering the course was an hours drive and although I could drive that distance it wasn't easy to even at that point. So Mt Gambier a regional campus in SE of SA became my campus of TAFE. I orignally went to videoconferences but also did some subjects completely from home. They send a workbook for each subject with basic information and practice questions which you can do only if you want to because they are not marked then there are short answer questions and usually a longer "project" or 2 to complete. Now this study got put on hold for 18 months and I kept in contact with my lecturer she told me once that the course was changing and that if I wanted to complete the current course of which I have about 3 subjects plus a first aid course to complete then I would have to do it by the end of June 2010. Otherwise I would be forced to redo about 14/16 subjects again AND I would have to pay again as well (about $2000AUS) and thats the concessions rate. Anyway so we started discussions about how TAFE would be able to accomodate my numerous disabilities and whether it would be possible in the first semester of 2010 to complete the certificate. I have had contact with an amazing lady who runs senior first aid courses who has offered to do it at my own home with just me and one other person. She has been fantastic and we are hoping to find a way of completing the course the biggest prob is CPR. I have since discovered that TAFE will allow me to have a modified assessment where I am allowed to do the CPR with the manikin on a table which is rather helpful and prob the only way CPR would be possible. TAFE shut down before all this was completely sorted out and my guess is that they will reopen while I am interstate but that being said the plan has been written to make sure that everything in TAFES power is done for me to get my parchment in 6 months time!!!!

Now obviously since I resigned from a support working job and because of my own disabilities I wont be able to shower and dress other people but once I did resign I talked to my lecturer and it was her idea to go to tutti and from there I worked on the idea of teaching viola and violin to PWD and setting up an ensemble to play in together so this is what I will use this certificate for which although not what its usually meant for what people use for is not set in concrete!!!

The only downside is that first aid is compulsory for this certificate but for the new certificate 3 in disability it is a requirement for a job but not part of the actual certificate this would make completing the certificate tons easier and I know with the ensemble I would need "able bodied" support worker or two involved who would have first aid anyway.

Will keep you up to date with progress with TAFE

Viola lessons

For the seven months between July 08 and Feb 09 I was unable to go to viola lessons it was so heartbreaking not being able to play for any length of time during this period let alone go to a viola lesson. So once TAD had built the stand for me (and I returned home from a month of hospitalisation between november 08 and december 24th 08) and school resumed because the lessons ran on school terms I was able to once again return to my viola lessons. This actually presented me with a number of problems. First I had to be able to play for around half an hour (prior to getting sick in July 08 my lessons were longer 45 mins once a week AND I was able to play for much longer than that with breaks if I wanted to), I had to travel about 10km to my teachers house in an access taxi and then return home this way too. I decided that fortnightly was best because at least it was having SOME viola lessons even though if I wasn't as sick I would have preferred once a week. Well probably the hardest thing was dealing with the taxis (and not only to viola lessons) I was once able to jump in the car and drive pretty much as far as I needed to. I mean I went to Brighton once a week and that was a 70 min drive participated in Tutti from 2pm-730pm and then drove home. It was hard but I managed. When I started lessons again a whole year ago now, I had to start using taxis even going to my GP or dentist 3km from my house. This caused SO many problems I mean they dont turn up they come late occasionally they come early too. Since you have to book them well in advance in case they come late if they then come earlier than the booked time you have to wait even longer. But the problem with viola lessons unlike a drs appointment is that it interrupts the students before your lesson and after your lesson which is embarrasing for me and a bit annoying too but theres nothing we can do about it. My teacher has been extroidinarily supportive and kind and also understanding because there's nothing either of us can do.

Despite the difficulties with the taxis once I got there I thoroughly enjoyed my lessons as always and learned quite a few new pieces of music. In July when we went to Hobart for a choral festival at the revue (basically a talent show within the festival) I managed to perform with a pianist who was at the choral festival too two movements from the Eccels viola sonata. This was amazing as it was the first performance I had done since becoming ill in July 08. I also intend to perform in January 2010 at the choral festival in Canberra in a couple weeks.

It has taken a number of months but because of my viola lessons I have been able to get used to using my standing frame that TAD made me. Recently a ball and socket part of the frame has broken and so it is in for repairs as we speak in the hope it will be ready to take to Canberra or it will be fixed when we get back.

Thats all for this post..