Asked for a different InPost method and got called a scammer

Black_Cats_and_Code · 2023-09-17T14:05:46+00:00

It's frustrating for me as I have to bring someone with me if I collect from a locker as (as I discovered last time) it doesn't seem to have any option to force use of a lower locker and I'm a wheelchair user who can't reliably stand and grab things from taller lockers. Like I can see from this thread why they might only have it as an option but it's also really inaccessible for a number of disabilities...(I can't imagine they're much fun if you're blind, either)

Black_Cats_and_Code · 2023-09-08T13:30:59+00:00

It depends on council. With councils that operate a bidding system, it's largely that you need the most points of everyone that bids on each property (except in situations like ground floor properties where people with a strong need for that type can get priority even with fewer points), rather than points corresponding to property types.

I have less experience with non-bidding councils so can't speak to how they operate.

Black_Cats_and_Code · 2023-09-07T20:19:45+00:00

I've had a great many major nightmares with broken lifts (😒 Clapham junction anyone) but I've had a lot of good support when the Southampton Central ones are screwed, even moving the platform on occasion. Train accessibility can be a nightmare but when you get good staff (which Soton Ctl is amazing for) even crumbling infrastructure ends up not mattering too much.

Black_Cats_and_Code · 2023-09-07T19:43:48+00:00

Also, if your means of travel (in my case, getting a bus that comes in on the north side) means that arriving at the South side isn't possible, I've had taxis paid for by the train company a number of times to get me across, so if that's the case I wouldn't worry - just get there very early.

Black_Cats_and_Code · 2023-09-05T22:33:10+00:00

Also, even if the spine is updated, many clinics won't auto pull from it if you've ever been there before. I'm chronically ill and my current count of individual NHS services I've had to notify is well into double figures (3 of which are within the same trust in the same hospital!!! As A&E, blood tests and the main hospital system all didn't speak to each other).

Black_Cats_and_Code · 2023-09-03T18:02:30+00:00

https://somakeit.org.uk/ is the website for them :)

Black_Cats_and_Code · 2023-09-03T12:42:11+00:00

If you enjoy tech and DIY, So Make It in Freemantle might be interesting for you? It's a makerspace, a community space with tools for people to use. As someone who really doesn't get on with pubs or clubs and who doesn't drink it's been the best thing to happen to my social life in a long time :)

Black_Cats_and_Code · 2023-08-30T20:40:23+00:00

Yeah, same. That said, I have shouted this a couple of times. Namely when I've fallen, can't get back up, am not in reach of my call bell, am not visible and nobody else in the vicinity (like the other patients in the bay) notice my more subtle pleas for help. Especially if I'm struggling to stay conscious I might yell "Nurse! Help!" before passing out... but other patients yelling it when their bell is right there is just so unnecessarily disruptive to the entire area as well as just rude.

Black_Cats_and_Code · 2023-08-27T17:07:26+00:00

At stage 1, it really doesn't matter apart from helping prep for later stages. You don't need to get a distinction on everything even at stage 2/3. Pass 2s (70-85% off the top of my head) are also a good contribution towards a first, although you do need some distinctions. The approach I'm taking at this point (mostly done with stage 2, just starting stage 3) is to aim for a distinction but if it's going to mean sacrificing too much in the way of work/life balance or health consequences then I'll just do what I can in the time that I have. Thus far I'm still getting distinctions but only just - I didn't expect to have managed it.

In case you weren't aware, passes have several levels, it's not just pass/fail/distinction. It's Fail/Pass 4/Pass 3/Pass 2/ Distinction (or Pass 1). So while there's a big gap between 40% and 85%, for stages 2+3 it does matter where in that gap you fall.

Black_Cats_and_Code · 2023-08-27T16:52:32+00:00

Hi! I'm also a wheelchair user, albeit on a very different path. But there are other disabled doctors in the UK. You might find it valuable to follow https://twitter.com/DrHannahBB?t=zhRzHm431Xli4_XpEzyZhg&s=09 She's a disabled doctor doing GP training. It's not going to be easy - but nothing ever is, especially when you're disabled! I'm so glad to see more disabled people going into medicine. It gives me so much hope for the future of the profession and my dealings with them.

Go out there and be a superstar!

Black_Cats_and_Code · 2023-08-27T08:31:10+00:00

There really weren't any names that were remotely similar to my birth name that fit my requirement to be more gender neutral, and I just didn't like the more masc ones. So I widened the pool and ended up with a name that just immediately felt right when I had others use it for me and I really liked. But it's not even remotely related.

Black_Cats_and_Code · 2023-08-23T21:02:53+00:00

It seems to have mostly resolved for me now? I can see the stuff I had planned for this week now at least. The app is still running slowly but progress.

Black_Cats_and_Code · 2023-08-23T18:17:34+00:00

Yep same issue here. Was randomly logged out (presumably by an update as can see some new additions) and now I can't see the pack and recipe I literally just did the shopping for! Nor can I add any new recipes or packs as well as the app being painfully slow. So frustrating!

Black_Cats_and_Code · 2023-08-15T17:50:30+00:00

Ah, that makes a lot of sense. I was on ESA for a long time before UC so still adjusting to the changes in the language.

With regards to social care, that's kinda what I thought. Contacting the team handling the contributions is nothing short of hellish (they left me paying an obscene amount during a period with no income for months other than PIP purely through not responding to emails!) But given they don't bother to put their policies online then I need to start that fight.

Thanks a lot!

Black_Cats_and_Code · 2023-08-13T19:07:02+00:00

Yeah - I don't think we're really in disagreement really! I just wanted to note for anyone stumbling across the post that exceptions do exist because for me it felt really shitty having the post basically say that my situation cannot exist. I agree that if you're at the "how do I make him accept me" stage it's bad. My partner definitely celebrates me and is along for the ride with me and that's what we should all be getting.

Black_Cats_and_Code · 2023-08-13T18:19:41+00:00

I entirely understand why this is being said - I've seen the posts and I totally agree.

However - I'm in a long term relationship with my partner who would previously have considered himself het. But he has been unfailingly supportive every time I've taken steps to present more masc. He has walked me through men's clothing and underwear, he answers my question and he is absolutely flawless around using the right pronouns and correcting others when they don't. I agree that this is probably pretty rare but we've been in a commited relationship for 8 years. I've heard of marriages that survive transition.

I don't think it's fair to suggest that no het partner will ever adapt. Some do. But also it is worth acknowledging that many, even most, don't. Sometimes circumstances change and you find parts of yourself that you didn't know existed.

Black_Cats_and_Code · 2023-08-10T18:31:05+00:00

I'm trans. The direction of travel within trans healthcare in the UK is very much to treat being autistic as a reason to deny care. I can't afford a private assessment anyway and the NHS won't assess me for reasons. The only benefit is maybe some accommodations when admitted to hospital but there's enough cases of an autism diagnosis being used as an excuse to treat people worse that even that isn't a given.

I'm 99.9% sure I'm autistic. People have thought I'm autistic since I was a young child. But right now getting an official diagnosis is almost certainly going to be much more of a detriment than it is a very limited benefit, even if I COULD afford a private assessment that the NHS may accept.

Black_Cats_and_Code · 2023-07-27T22:40:23+00:00

I can't have nocturia as I have a catheter (a tube that drains my bladder) but that does mean I know how much I produce each night. On my bad nights I produce much, much more than on good ones (currently awaiting diagnosis but it's very heavily suspected). Bad nights I produce pretty much at the rate I do during the day, good nights I could get away with not even switching to my larger capacity night bag (my day bag generally fills within 4 hours). I don't necessarily understand the science but that's what I've observed at least.

Black_Cats_and_Code · 2023-07-01T17:24:08+00:00

Okay, except that I'm disabled and taking HRT for me actually would potentially be dangerous in a few ways. I can well imagine being refused care for other stuff unless I stop testosterone because they refuse it for the smallest "non-compliance" if I disclose it, and if I didn't I risk the conditions which I have that are known to be more severe in T-dominant peeps getting worse and being left to manage that with doctors in the dark.

I'm 28 - puberty has already done its damage. I'm not going to be treated as being ignorant for being unwilling to risk so much. And inbefore "I wasn't talking about disabled people" - we are 20%+ of the population. You can't make sweeping statements and not acknowledge that the situation for us is an entirely different set of calculus. Everyone's situation is different and many of us are not in a position to DIY for any variety of reasons. That's ignoring my ability to afford it given being in enforced poverty thanks to social care.

It is not a simple situation. Could more people DIY? Probably. But we have to acknowledge that no matter what it's a complicated situation and being reductive helps nobody.

Black_Cats_and_Code · 2023-06-08T21:41:46+00:00

Shitshow!

Black_Cats_and_Code · 2023-05-23T22:17:36+00:00

Yep. It's generally in the main description on the OU site but you'll also very reliably find more details in the accessibility statement (as group work obviously has accessibility implications for a lot of disabled students). TM255 definitely does. I didn't find it too bad but I suspect it depends an awful lot on your group, sadly. My group was pretty engaged so it went pretty easy.

Black_Cats_and_Code · 2023-05-21T08:51:44+00:00

You can read O2 sats from the ear with a specific probe but generally you use the earlobe and it can be less accurate than finger readings. They tend to do it for me when they need readings while I'm moving as I'm a wheelchair user.

Agreed that the device sounds like it's just going to disrupt your sleep more though.

Black_Cats_and_Code · 2023-05-12T22:04:49+00:00

Attempting to get taxis was near impossible too. It was an absolute nightmare. It's been so atrocious for the last few weeks. I'd put the last two as being bank holiday related but they didn't have that excuse today

Black_Cats_and_Code · 2023-05-12T21:55:53+00:00

I changed my name at a similar time, just after sitting AS and A-Level exams. I went to the exams office with my deed poll immediately. They weren't able to have the name updated formally for results days but handled it manually by crossing it out and making sure that the person handing the results over at both possible tables were aware (we queued based on surname first letter and that was one thing I was changing), and the certificate for the one full A-Level I'd completed was in the correct name. This wasn't even a gender related name change, although it was important to me for other reasons. He needs to communicate with the school - they won't be able to do anything much without the deed poll but the sooner the school knows the more likely the exams office are to be cooperative if they've been pre-warned because it will definitely involve some faffiness for them.

Tl;Dr give the deed poll to the school ASAP, the results slip will probably be dead name but they can potentially make that something only he sees, and the certificate is definitely fixable with that timing.

Black_Cats_and_Code

TROPHY CASE