Very Happy New Year 2016

FAO: My Blog - simonstevens1974.wheelies@blogger.com

Dear My,

I am delighted to wish you a really Happy New Year and I hope 2016 brings you every success in all your endeavours.

2015 was a fantastic year for myself personally and professionally. I had the opportunity to try many new things and work with many people. I moved home and gave my lifestyle a well deserved upgrade and traded my old and tired electric wheelchair for a NHS one, and the loan of a Quantum Edge super charged chair as one of their ambassadors.

I am very happy to be working closely with Ethos Disability on a number of projects, as well as continuing with my own work and journalist ventures, like writing in the Huffington Post.

An important decision I have made is to revive the term Dysability. The term dysability means difficulty in ability as opposed to disability (lack of ability). I am deliberately not pursuing a campaign to get others to adopt it as an automatic replacement to disability, as this is not quite the case. I only want others to adopt it if they understand its meaning and want to use it, although I have no ownership of the term.

My values remain the same despite the fact this makes me unpopular to those who often try to over-simplify the issues surrounding dysability. I believe everyone has a contribution they can make to society if properly nurtured and supported, and I will fight to ensure everyone is properly included in society without labels or exceptions, as opposed to written off in the name of medical model fairness and compassion.

I enter 2016 with good foundations to make a difference to others, as well as getting paid a good income, which has to always be the intention. Breaking the mould and making significant changes in how society sees people with additional or changing needs takes time and a great deal of effort, especially when it is still seen as heresy by many activists in the field.

I hope 2016 is going to as great for you as I plan it will be for myself. I would love to hear your news and if we have been out of touch for a while, I hope we have the opportunity to meet up sometime. I would also be delighted if you follow me on Twitter (@simonstevens74) if you have not already done so.

Very best wishes, Simon

PS: I should say this is a mail merged email sent to all my friends and colleagues as each one of you is special to me in our own unique way. Can I also apologise for everyone who has already received this email, I had some technical issues.
--
Simon Stevens
…Making the Impossible Possible
Independent Dysability Issues Consultant, Trainer, Controversial Inclusion Activist and Social Change Agent
with Cerebral Palsy living in Coventry. Star of I'm Spazticus. Owner of Wheelies

"Simon Stevens, winner of a 2004 Enterprising Young Brit award and a 2008 UK Catalyst Award, hasn't let cerebral palsy get in the way of running a successful business or two" Enterprise UK

21 Stoney Stanton Road, Coventry, CV1 4FF (UK) <(Click for Map)
Voice: +44 (0)7825 149227
Text: +44 (0)7825 149227
Email: simon@simonstevens.com
Web: www.simonstevens.com
Twitter: @simonstevens74