Disabled cllr in Wales knits during council meeting. What do people think? meeting

daz2
daz2 CP Network, Scope Member Posts: 137 Empowering
edited January 2023 in Everyday life
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz4lxgn3xwyo

I'd be interested to know what Scope think?

Comments

  • rebel11
    rebel11 Online Community Member Posts: 1,687 Pioneering
    I'm not speaking on behalf of Scope.

    Just my personal opinion. A lot of people knit, it isn't something that you need to look at whilst knitting. It can be therapeutic, ease stress and heighten concentration.

    As long as she was paying attention to the thrust of the meeting. Let's look at the House of Commons, there is all manner of distraction i.e. Twitter etc. 

    Tom Daley (Diver) knits during breaks in competition. 
  • ShirleyW
    ShirleyW Online Community Member Posts: 353 Empowering
    The knitting shown in the article isn't a complicated piece.

    I wouldn't have a problem with someone doing this during a meeting.  It's something you can put down and stop in a second if you need to make a point or listen more closely. 

    I perfectly understand that it helps her mind to focus and distracts her from her pain.   I do the same thing myself.   I make my miniatures and I do petit point embroidery.  Both help me to cope with my arthritis pain and give me something else to focus on.
  • Alex_Alumni
    Alex_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,535 Championing
    Thanks for sharing this article @daz2 and for sharing your opinions @rebel11 and @ShirleyW, I definitely agree that for many, keeping your hands occupied helps to focus the mind and can also calm any anxieties. 

    It's a little unreasonable to expect everyone's attention to be 100% fixed on a meeting over video call, as they can be very draining mentally. The councillor who thinks it's an 'abuse' of hybrid working perhaps lacks a little empathy and understanding of neurodiversity and other long term health conditions.   
  • durhamjaide2001
    durhamjaide2001 Scope Member Posts: 15,455 Championing
    That  sounds awesome 
  • Autism_at_40
    Autism_at_40 Online Community Member Posts: 899 Pioneering
    I have to say that I know in part, how she feels and i think it should be perfectly ok to do this.

    I crochet, sometimes, I cannot focus even on watching the TV without doing something else (like crochet, or something else).  If I am doing an online course, I also like to be doing something else at the same time, it makes it easier to focus.  I don't suffer from the pain this lady mentioned, but it has to do with my concentration.

    So I get it and I think it should be totally acceptable.

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