Necessity has driven humankind to strategise, design, create and innovate (some of these humans are featured in the ‘Australian Of The Year’ monument pillars along Lake Burley-Griffin. See featured pic). This need has resulted in contributions, both beneficial, and at times detrimental because we have always strived for ways to fulfil a real or perceived need.

We live in an ableist world that is slowly recognising that people of all abilities have very similar needs when it comes to the desire for other experiences. People with physical, intellectual and emotional disabilities move around the globe, and this has resulted in significant advancements in the acknowledgement of, and adaptations required to facilitate every traveller.

An experienced wheelchair retailer once told me he believed the older you acquire your disability, the more difficult it is for you to accept the changes that come with it. I saw buying my new wheels as a pragmatic choice, thinking of my safety, the convenience of those around me and my quality of life; but looking back now, I was not in touch with my true emotions and was harbouring a generous amount of resentment and sadness towards my situation.

The independence brought by being in the driver’s seat is generally unspoken and blanketed by the layers of the very real and conscious logistics related stuff: purpose, traffic conditions, time limits, car repairs, kids tantrums, toll costs, car parking and more.

So what happens when the ability to drive is no longer or has never been available to you?

If you have had the time to run over my previous musings you will know that I have a condition called Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy. LGMD is the preferred acronym for those of us (ok most of us) that enjoy brevity in our writing (unlike what is shown in this sentence) and does not enjoy the challenge of verbalising each sound as we plonk away at the keyboard attempting to spell really long and complicated medical words correctly; and/or really don't quite understand what each word means as it's such a new concept and therefore hard to recall the full name.

When I talk to people about my condition the most common questions that I receive are related to confusion between other neurological disorders that symptomatically seem to present similarly, their acronym is very similar and the conditions are, generally, more familiar to more people. The most popular being Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Motor Neurone Disease (MND).

Everyone loves it when the mailman arrives – sometimes more than others

There was a time when If I cried “catch me, I’m falling”, it was not because my company had induced a swoon. This isn’t a pass; it is the unfortunate effect of having LGMD. While my ambulatory skills were diminishing, getting up from the ground was one of the first abilities to disappear along with my butt, hip and thigh muscles.

Back in 2015 I’m sure a local Aussie Post delivery worker was happy to know I wasn’t trying out the damsel in distress routine to gain his attentions when he found me soaking up the rays on my friends front lawn one fine sunny day.