So what is this all about?
Team Ethan is a platform for building awareness about a day in the life of a person with a physical disability, and how having a really good team of people helps me lead the best quality of life possible.
Having a physical disability (Cerebral Palsy and Spastic Quadriplegia), I will always need support workers to help me with certain tasks that I am unable to do myself. Whilst my Mum has been my main support during my life, I am a 24 year old man who is working on becoming more independent in different areas of my life. My only form of independent mobility is when I am driving my power wheelchair.
I’ve spent my whole life being encouraged to be as independent as possible, but I have discovered many obstacles to my independence whilst out and about in the community, especially on my own. The main ones being going to the toilet, eating alone, and obstacles on footpaths!
Whilst I can order food and eat by myself, I do get a bit messy and need help to clean myself and my wheelchair tray up. Toileting is a whole other blog I will talk about another day. As for obstacles on footpaths, I especially find it challenging when shopping trolleys and e-scooters are left in the middle of the pathway. That will be another rant for another day…
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, I faced even more challenges to my independence. For example, I was unable to check in to shops by myself when required, or put on a mask. Some people were very judgemental and uninformed regarding disabled people being exempt from mask wearing. Many people are unaware that you are legally exempt from wearing a mask if you are unable to put on and remove it yourself. Some people would even get angry.
It was during this time, I accepted that I do need help in many situations and always will, so the idea of having a great team of support workers I had chosen for myself became my focus. It eventually led me to start Team Ethan.
I will be writing blogs and making videos, showing challenges that I face, and explaining different situations and how I manage them with my team. I’ll talk about some solutions I’ve found along the way, and also some areas that we’re (frustratingly) still trying to find solutions to.
Follow me on Facebook or Instagram to keep updated.
Cheers,
Ethan