Morning, how's your day going so far?

Sandy_123

Well done @66Mustang I get anxiety as a passenger on the motorway hate it

66Mustang

@SueHeath @Sandy_123 thank you for the support, it means a lot  

@Sandy_123 sorry to hear you get anxiety as a passenger, I am all right as a passenger. Though I get "phantom brake foot" where I try to press an imaginary brake pedal when I think the driver should be slowing down lol. I don't know if you are a driver or have ever driven, if not you probably don't get it but it's quite a funny experience!

SueHeath

I'm always doing that @66Mustang and i've never drove ha ha hubby calls me a back seat driver, even though i sit in the front  x

66Mustang

Ha ha @SueHeath

Sandy_123

Yeah @66Mustang I do that but I don't drive like sue. I also hold on to the door handle, won't be much use would it, also I'm like watch that or I'm looking to see if it's clear, my son goes mad he's like who is the driver, he once stopped the car and said would u like the drivers seat

66Mustang

@Sandy_123 ha ha as a driver I actually quite like having a 2nd pair of eyes to check that it is clear etc. Though as a passenger I do try to stay quiet  

SueHeath

ha ha sounds like me @Sandy_123 x

Amberpearl

@SueHeath. Yes I had clean and polish and xrays taken
All good 

SueHeath

Ahh great news @Amberpearl x

Sandy_123

I prefer the bus or train feel safer

JoOfVengerberg

Haha the phantom brake foot! That's hilarious @66Mustang. I think even if I was able to drive, I wouldn't. Cars scare me quite a lot. Not because they're cars but because you always have to trust other people on the road and I really dislike the idea of being in control of a vehicle, even if it would be freeing to just be able to go places without planning public transport. I got my disabled coach card though so I am hoping to do more trips

SueHeath

To be fair i still prefer Hubby driving me, haven't been on a bus since i packed up work. x

66Mustang

JoOfVengerberg said:

Haha the phantom brake foot! That's hilarious @66Mustang. I think even if I was able to drive, I wouldn't. Cars scare me quite a lot. Not because they're cars but because you always have to trust other people on the road and I really dislike the idea of being in control of a vehicle, even if it would be freeing to just be able to go places without planning public transport. I got my disabled coach card though so I am hoping to do more trips

A lot of accidents can be prevented by driving defensively. Most accidents are totally avoidable - even if an accident technically wasn't one's fault, they could still have done something to avoid it. That said, I do agree, you totally shouldn't have to compensate for others' mistakes, though sadly you do have to.

I can only imagine being a motorcyclist or cyclist - worse than being in a car as you don't have the protection of a metal shell!

All that said I hope you get to go out and enjoy lots more trips.

JoOfVengerberg

Thank you @66Mustang

66Mustang

@JoOfVengerberg I have been meaning to ask, as I believe you are within a few months of my age. What is university life like as someone who is a little bit older than the age that most people go to university, and also as someone who also has disabilities? Is it welcoming? Are other students friendly or do they tend to stick with people their own age group? Are there any challenges that I wouldn't have thought of? And on the other side of the coin is there any additional help that makes things a bit easier?

It is a very long term goal for me but I am really hoping to go to university when I get a bit better and want to go to a "bricks and mortar" one rather than doing it online if I am at all able to do so!!

I don't mind if you want to PM me rather than write it here, in case I am going off topic for this thread.

Thanks!!

JoOfVengerberg

66Mustang said:

@JoOfVengerberg I have been meaning to ask, as I believe you are within a few months of my age. What is university life like as someone who is a little bit older than the age that most people go to university, and also as someone who also has disabilities? Is it welcoming? Are other students friendly or do they tend to stick with people their own age group? Are there any challenges that I wouldn't have thought of? And on the other side of the coin is there any additional help that makes things a bit easier?

It is a very long term goal for me but I am really hoping to go to university when I get a bit better and want to go to a "bricks and mortar" one rather than doing it online if I am at all able to do so!!

I don't mind if you want to PM me rather than write it here, in case I am going off topic for this thread.

Thanks!!

Hey so I did my BA at 18 like most students, then MA at 24, and I'm doing my PhD now, started at 27. PhD work is a LOT of self-driven, mostly hands off from the tutors work, so there isn't that same relationship with colleagues that you build in previous degrees.

With that said, the university and other students have always been friendly and welcoming to me. I went to uni with several 'mature' students when I started back in 2011, and they were all included and nobody was bullied or singled out.

On the MA, I found that it was much the same even though I was a bit older than most people (as so many go straight from BA to MA.) Still kind and welcoming, etc. My disability (one at the time) was never a problem for them, but then my uni is quite young (founded 1992) and accessible in general.

For the PhD it's been much the same. You'll have access to counselling through the university if you need it and I have used the services a few times. I have taken a year off (Dec 2021-Jan 23) and in that time I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia as a second disability, so I will be going back and informing my PhD advisors of this. I'm hoping I'll be able to tell them of the diagnosis, tell them what that means, and work with them on what my schedule will roughly look like.

I will add that my BA was full time, but MA and PhD are both part time, which enabled me to apply for loans. If I didn't have that option I wouldn't have been able to do either one.

I hope this has helped somewhat! 

JoOfVengerberg

Oh and to add, I know they have a disabled students allowance but I didn't apply previously as I wasn't really 'disabled enough' for assistance, but that's available to you. They will have things like voice to text software, a laptop if you need it, etc.

66Mustang

@JoOfVengerberg

That is a lot of help. Thanks!

I'm glad to hear people were treated well. It didn't occur to me that you are now doing a PhD so probably started the BA when you were "normal uni age" but that makes sense. I am glad to hear that you noticed that the older students were treated the same, though. P.S. It sounds like you have found something you really love doing to want to stay in education for so long. I hope you do really well with the PhD.

Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, depending on how you view it, my closest and only truly accessible uni happens to be Cambridge. I could "commute" there rather than live there. I am thinking that I may be able to use my issues to my advantage in that they may get me into a "good" university, as I have the justification that I would struggle living away from home, so for once my problems may actually come in useful.

I am hoping to study philosophy by the way!

Good luck with the rest of your course.

JoOfVengerberg

Thank you @66Mustang yes I see what you mean. I go to uni in my hometown, for all 3 degrees. Honestly I did want to do a PhD but never thought I would be able to do it because I didn't get the grades for an MA at the end of my BA, but they let me on anyway. I am extremely lucky. In terms of subject I'm doing a creative writing PhD focusing on disability fiction. I am hoping it will open doors for activism and I am still undecided if I want to go the professorship route or not. I suppose we'll see; the idea of it appeals more than the teaching aspect, honestly. 

Philosophy is a really interesting subject, and Cambridge seems like a great university for that sort of thing. I will say I am aware that Oxford and Cambridge are both far more in terms of workload... I have heard Oxford students talk about 2 essays a week and lots and lots of reading. But you sound really passionate about learning and getting stuck in which is exactly what they want. They have a slightly different admissions process to other universities also, so I would suggest having a look at the website, maybe get in touch with them directly so you can talk through any specifics.

Best of luck!

janer1967

Hi all and @SueHeath. Tes still suffering with the bug brain fog hallucinations and sleeping lots.  Got involuntary spasms in my hands making it hard to type 

Hope you all OK I haven't even unpacked my suitcase yet