Kicking off my December posting challenge with a highlight from last week’s brilliant Occupational Therapy Show at the NEC in Birmingham.

OpenRoadAccess provided fully accessible transport from my home in Cambridgeshire, which meant I arrived ready for a the day with the ORA team on their stand. They met so many inspiring occupational therapists and industry colleagues throughout the show, all passionate about improving mobility, independence and quality of life.

I also managed to catch part of a powerful session by Evenbreak on accessibility and inclusion in employment. Always great to hear their insight.

Then it was over to Theatre 1, where I joined Catherine Marris from OpenRoadAccess. Catherine opened with a brilliant overview of why transport is such a critical piece of rehabilitation and shared some eye-opening macro-level data.

She then hosted a fireside conversation with me, where I spoke about accessible transport from every angle, including

• my own lived experience, the good, the bad, the ugly and the funny

• community stories gathered through my work at Scope, Disability Horizons community and general network

• and the wider political, economic and cultural forces shaping disabled people’s mobility today

It was a rich, honest discussion and a privilege to share the stage.

To wrap it all up, the wheelchair accessible vehicle and ORA driver got me and my personal care assistant safely home after a fun and productive day in Birmingham.

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And I’ll see you tomorrow

#OpenRoadAccess #OccupationalTherapyShow #Inclusion #Accessibility #DisabledVoices #UncagingTalent #TransportMatters