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, the national charity which offers a range of services to help disabled people access technology and the internet, has a UK network of home testers who have a range of physical, sensory and cognitive impairments, dyslexia and literacy difficulties, and with a range of web surfing experience. However, they are always interested in adding people to this network as their work in this area grows - and right now, they are particularly looking for anyone with dyslexia who might be interested in taking part.

AbilityNet pay their testers £10 an hour for their work, on receipt of their fully written-up findings. A typical job may take up to 2 or 3 hours, including write-up time. The testing is done at home on the tester's own computer, and in their own time.

If you, or someone you know, has an impairment of any kind that (importantly) impacts upon your computer use and you would like to be considered for one of these roles, please email accessibility@abilitynet.org.uk. [Many thanks to for the heads-up about this.]

If you're an Ouch reader who is also a dedicated gamer and techno-geek, you'll want to watch . It shows gamer and freelance technology writer Mike Phillips, who has spinal muscular atrophy, demonstrating his incredible skills at playing games such as World of Warcraft and Unreal Tournament using nothing more than his thumb, a switch, and various access technology kit. I am useless at gaming, so have made a note not to play Mike online any time soon - the man is deadly with a ray gun!

And don't forget that if you want to find out more about the wonderful world of switch gaming, you couldn't pick a better place to start than Ouch's very own guide to the technology.

The hugely popular video-sharing site is everyone's favourite waste of time - and frankly, Monkey is no different.

A clip which did the rounds last year but has now been dug up again for another cringe-inducing outing shows Noel Edmonds - whom we recently told you was involved in a disabled parking bay controversy - digging a big old hole for himself on an episode of Deal Or No Deal when he, um, appears to "take the mickey" out of a child's facial expression in a photo shown to him by one of the contestants. The only problem is that - yep, you guessed it - the boy in the picture is disabled.

But never mind the kid's expression! It's the one on Noel's face when he realises his gaffe that is truly and utterly priceless! It really is a moment of hideous embarrassment worthy of David Brent in The Office:

Note: If you can't see the above video, you can also on the YouTube website. But be warned! Comments left by other YouTube users can sometimes be very offensive and contain strong language.

If, like many Ouch readers, you were fascinated by the series of One eye on China articles by Stephen Hallett, which we ran on the site last year, then you might be interested to know the latest figures that have been published concerning the number of disabled people in the world's most populous nation.

China's National Statistics Bureau conducted the survey in April and May 2006, across all the country's regions and territories, and it revealed that there are close on 83 million disabled people in China, accounting for 6.34 per cent of the country's population. More than 75 per cent of them, or just over 62 million, live in rural areas.

Perhaps the key figures from the survey are those showing that China's disabled people are, by and large, not financially independent, with a lower than average employment rate. In urban areas, only 2.97 million disabled people are employed compared with 4.7 million disabled people of working age who are not in employment. A significant percentage of disabled people across both urban and rural areas were on benefits or had received some form of government relief. The good news, however, is that since the survey was first conducted back in 1987, many more disabled people are getting access to education.

You can find more details in the country's newspaper.

As any long-time Ouch reader will know, each year about this time we start getting unreasonably excited at the possibility that the latest series of will feature a disabled housemate. Last year's seventh series was, of course, infamously won by , who has Tourette's Syndrome. But what does series no. 8, which starts tonight at 9.00pm on Channel 4, have in store?

Well, here's the gossip that the Crippled Monkey has gleaned from around the web. Twenty "wacky pals", as describes them, have been lined up as potential housemates ... and of particular interest to us here at Ouch are someone who self-harms (or, um, to put it in The Sun's terms, "a butch lesbian who allegedly self-harms and boozes" and "the show's first deaf girl". (There's also, according to , "a child prodigy who could read by the age of two" - though Monkey can't confirm or deny, because frankly Monkey has no idea, whether this is one of those ever so popular geniuses with autism that the media are so keen on these days.)

A deaf contestant and someone with mental health problems could certainly be part of an interesting mix of housemates for BB8, at a time when reality TV - and this show in particular - are under particular scrutiny. Channel 4 are due to screen an unprecedented three apologies during this series for their handling of the Celebrity Big Brother that led to more than 54,000 complaints from the general piublic back in January. Endemol, the company who make Big Brother, have just hit the headlines because of the huge outcry surrounding The Big Donor Show, a reality programme on Dutch TV in which a , selects one of three patients to receive her kidneys. And as if all that weren't enough, the of Big Brother made the news last week following a scandal in which the show's producer chose not to inform one contestant that her father had died of cancer.

So does any of this bode well for BB and its housemates dealing with someone who self-harms? Will that simply become - in the worst sense of the term - a "freak show", or will they manage to shed some light on this difficult aspect of mental health and offer some real understanding of it? And what about a deaf contestant? If she is primarily a sign language user, will that lead to her feeling isolated amongst a group of people who will all rely on speaking? Do you think BB would even go as far as to include a housemate whose primary means of communicating is non-verbal? And, whatever your impairment, would you go on the show, given the chance?

Tell us your thoughts by hitting the comment on this entry link below. Plus, if there's any gossip of interest to Ouch-reading fans of Big Brother that you've picked up on the grapevine, let us know! I'll be updating this entry throughout the day if I hear more. This is Crippled Monkey, tracking down the BB gossip for everybody's favourite disability website ...

Update, 02:50 PM: Well, I've been to my top secret sources at the , just to find out whether anyone from Endemol might have contacted them for some all-important Deaf awareness training in preparation for having a deaf contestant and ... nope. Not a thing. Damn, damn and damn again.

Here at Ouch, we like to pride ourselves that on some things, we were so way ahead of the game that it was almost like we were predicting the future. Clever, aren't we?

Way back in the mists of time - September 2002 to be precise, barely three months after your favourite disability website sprang into the world as a bouncing baby - stand-up comedian Francesca Martinez, at that time one of our crack team of columnists, wrote an article called I Love High Heels, all about her love for shoes that, whilst highly feminine and desirable, are slightly impractical for someone with self-confessed wobbling difficulties. Towards the end of her column - which remains one of this site's most popular and often-searched reads to this day, fact fans - Francesca almost pleaded for shoes that "will be designed to have a special retractable heel. This unique mechanism will allow the shoe to be flat when walking but (here's the science part) when Francesca is seated or stationary, a heel will come shooting out and click into place. Once on the move again, the heel will retract and - voila! - balance will be restored ..."

Nearly five years later, what did Monkey find in a recent copy of the Daily Mail but about a inew invention - "a pair of three-and-a-quarter-inch high heels which transform into comfortable one-inch flats in only three seconds".

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Ouch - not only the best disability website in the entire known universe, but also one that can see into the future like a disablified Mystic Meg.

It's a bank holiday weekend, so that means it's going to rain. No, we're not just being sarcastic and needlessly pessimistic. It really is. Bank holiday telly isn't usually much cop, so why not head for the flicks instead?

Audio described and subtitled performances this week include Pirates of the Caribbean 3 (12a), Spiderman 3 (12a), 28 Weeks Later (18) and Zodiac (15).

220 cinemas across the UK now regularly show accessible films, and carries details of screenings in your area. They also have a search facility and a notification service.

To find out more about the yourlocalcinema service, and how it got started, take a look at Access to the Silver Screen for a Q&A with its founder.

Did you know that like just about every blog in the blogosphere (or the blogiverse), the Ouch blog has its very own blogroll listing some of our favourite blog reads? (And is that one too many uses of the word 'blog'?) For this week's round-up of posts worth reading, I thought I'd take a whizz through some highlights from those featured sites.

Teri Adams of Crip Chronicles has had a thought, though she's not sure whether it's a . It's for those disabled people, like herself, whom Teri suspects "make too much money. No, not rolling in dough, wrap it up I'll take it kind of money. Just enough so that we don't qualify for any of the grant programs, social services, etc. that have been created for people with disabilities". You'll have to go on and check out her post to find out if it's an idea that might catch on ...

Seahorse of The Beauty Offensive has, of illness, begun to listen to music again. "... even after all this time it's fair to say that all my senses are still affected, but as a former (well okay, not former but 'resting') musician and lover of music the way my hearing has been damaged is especially difficult. Noise sensitivity has been tackled for the duration with earplugs, a noise reducer and, um, general shrinking from noise. But some noise is healing and I have been encouraged to very carefully seek out healing sounds". Why not get over there and suggest some favourite bands and artists she could be listening to?

The esteemed Lady Bracknell respectfully suggests that disabled people might be more interested than most in submitting nominations for a : "Given that disabled customers have more complicated service needs than the average non-disabled man on the Clapham omnibus, I reckon we're particularly well-placed to comment on customer service. After all, if we're getting good service, I think it's fairly safe to assume that everyone else is too". Couldn't agree more, m'Lady.

And finally, not really disability relevant at all, Timmargh.net has a . The punchline made this Crippled Monkey larf like an absolute drain.

Are you in the London area? Would you like to help test the readiness of the emergency services to respond to a chemical or biological attack?

This may be a rather unusual appeal for Ouch's weblog, but on Friday 8 June from 10.00am to 4.00pm the London Borough of Hackney is running Exercise Springclean on Hackney Marshes, which will comprise a simulated attack on a music festival and how the emergency services would deal with such an event. Volunteers would pretend to be injured or contaminated and may be asked to go through the decontamination process and taken to rest centres elsewhere in the borough.

And this is where you come in. The organisers are keen to get disabled people involved in the exercise to see how the services would deal with us. Could you help? Do you fancy a day out on Hackney Marshes, with free breakfast, lunch, refreshments and transport laid on?

For more information contact Marie Hartley, the Emergency Planning Officer for Hackney, on 020 8356 2186 or email marie.hartley@hackney.gov.uk.

"The boy sitting next to dad had Down Syndrome and he was talking a mile a minute. Dad's face was one of concentration - he was listening. I don't know what the kid was saying but it looked like he was telling an epic story."

Dave Hingsburger from Ontario, who writes the blog , has penned a very moving entry simply entitled about seeing a father out and about with his disabled son, prompting him to ask the question "Has disability become less shameful?" Definitely worth checking out.

Every now and then, we hear of something so unbelievable it's hard to know where to start, but how about this tale of stunning disablism from the kiss-me-quick land of Blackpool?

Now you'd think that getting a tattoo would be easy as pie - apart from the whole pain thing, that is. That's probably what 24-year-old Rachael Monk thought too when she visited the Body Creation parlour while on holiday with her family in the popular seaside resort.

When Rachael, who speaks through a Delta Talker (a portable communication aid) asked to have a fairy tattooed onto her arm, the owner of the establishment, addressing the family instead of Rachael, said "We don't do people like that".

Unsurprisingly, this incident (and the gratuitous insults that apparently followed as the family left the shop), cast a not inconsiderable shadow over the rest of the their holiday. Well, yes. It would, wouldn't it?

After contacting the Disability Rights Commission for advice, Rachael took the owner of the parlour to Preston County Court, where the judge found "no evidence for [his] treatment of Rachael" and awarded her £2,500 in compensation.

District Judge Ashton said : "It was abundantly clear, once one took the trouble to communicate with Rachael, that she knew her own mind, was proud of the small heart (tattoo) already displayed on her right arm and wanted that tattoo she had chosen for her left upper arm."

Judge Aston said that Jordan Dean, the owner of the parlour, "did not attempt to make any assessment of Rachael's vulnerability or capacity. He simply ignored her and made assumptions based upon her physical abilities.

"There are lessons to be learnt from this unfortunate episode and I hope that after witnessing Rachael's performance in court Mr Dean has recognised how badly he misjudged her when she sought his services. It is regrettable that he did not seek to apologise for this."

After the court hearing, Rachael said "It was all really awful for me and my family, but I am feeling great today and am happy it is all over. I got my say in court that was the main thing, and I was able to let the lad know my feelings about the way I was treated. Hopefully this judgement will stop other shops doing the same thing."

We're very pleased to report though that Rachael had her tattoo done at a later date - at a different establishment. Yes. Quite.

So what do you think? Do shopkeepers assume that we don't know our own minds? Can you tell us a tale of more blatant disablism? Let us know - leave a comment using the form below.

Film critic Roger Ebert is a big deal in the USA. Imagine Barry Norman and Mark Kermode combined, then times that by five. That's what you need to know before reading his article entitled . Following cancer of the salivary gland, Ebert has had surgery and a tracheotomy meaning, as he describes it, that he's "wearing a gauze bandage around my neck, and my mouth will be seen to droop".

Because of that, he has received 'helpful advice' that his attendance at various high profile film festivals to carry on his work as a critic would be, well, inappropriate: "I'm told that paparazzi will take unflattering pictures, people will be unkind, etc. I was told photos of me in this condition would attract the gossip papers". Roger, however, is having none of it: "I have been very sick, am getting better and this is how it looks. I still have my brain and my typing fingers ... We spend too much time hiding illness. There is an assumption that I must always look the same. I hope to look better than I look now. But I’m not going to miss my festival".

More power to your elbow, Mr Ebert. The bucket of popcorn is on us. [Link via ]

Here's a fascinating and slightly gobsmacking story from ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ News: a 10-year-old Dorset schoolboy with autism was told by his school that he could not wear a t-shirt containing a positive message about his condition because its design was . The caption emblazoned across the tee read: "Autism - it's no mystery, it's mercury", which refers to the theory that autism is linked to mercury preservatives in vaccines.

The boy, Sam Rodwell, was told that he could not go on a school trip unless he changed the t-shirt.

Now here's the odd thing. This is no mainstream school which issued such an instruction to young Sam. in Poole is run by and caters specifically for children who are on the autistic spectrum. So what was the big problem?

Well, according to Bob Lowndes, the Society's chief executive: "The shirt was changed as the child was due to engage in a public outing with other students ... [it] would have drawn attention to their disability, which was not considered to be in their interest". Sam's parents, however, couldn't disagree more. His father said that not only had his son worn similar t-shirts to school before, but that such items of clothing were "a way of alerting people to his condition", and that the shirt's message was also factually correct because Sam had been found to have mercury toxicity following testing.

So, Ouch'ers - who's in the wrong and who's in the right here? Should Sam have been allowed to wear the t-shirt? Should a mere 10-year-old boy be drawing attention to his impairment in this fairly overt way? Or were the school right and simply looking out for someone in their care on a school trip when he would be mixing with the general public? Tell us in the comments - all you need to do is click on the 'comment on this entry' link, leave your details and speak your mind.

I would also be interested in knowing whether you've worn any shirts or t-shirts featuring references to your disability and got in hot water over it. Here at Ouch, we often get sent links to stores selling tees with a selection of highly irreverent phrases about impairments - which we'd love to feature but unfortunately can't because they're obviously commercial sites. Do you wear items like this, and what have people said about them? Let me know in the comments.

You may remember from previous entries such as this one, featuring the story of a man who falsely claimed 27 grand in disability benefits for claiming he could barely walk whilst he was in fact running marathons, that Crippled Monkey is rather a fan of disability benefit cheats who have more sheer blatant nerve than, er, something that has sheer blatant nerve. Benefit cheats, gotta love them! Except not, of course.

So who is our latest anti-hero? Step forward, Jonathan Stentiford, aged 35, from Cornwall. Back in 2003, he won the title of , an accolade he gained whilst claiming up to £40,000 in disability benefits having not informed the Department of Work and Pensions that his medical condition had improved. Improved considerably, in fact - so much so in fact that in the competition he was able to lift a Mini Metro car, hold 50lb weights at arm's length and carry gas bottles over a course.

Crippled Monkey says: Jonathan, you've got more front than Blackpool. I salute you. In an ironic way, obviously.

If you were lucky enough to have an insomnia attack last night like me, you may have tuned into Five Live and heard an amazing interview with disabled musician .

Listen to the interview (approx 20 minutes) -- as first broadcast on Dotun Adebayo's 'Up All Night' show, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio Five Live, 18 May 2007. I urge you to click and hear this.

You rarely get long radio interviews featuring people with learning difficulties so it was great to hear this.

Paravicini is 27, he's blind and an autistic savant. Dubbed 'The Human iPod' he's something of a musical genius. At the age of 9, he played at the Barbican Halls with the Royal Philharmonic Pops Orchestra, has played Ronnie Scott's Jazz Clubb and has other concerts pending.

You may have seen Derek on Five's Extraordinary People or in other documentaries.

His biography has just been released: In the Key of Genius: The Extraordinary Life of Derek Paravicini by Adam Ockelford - available in hardback RRP pound;17.99 (Hutchinson) and a CD of Derek's work, 'Echoes of the Sounds to Be, is also available.

Any thoughts on the interview welcome below ... it's easy to post, no sign-in or subscription required.

Comes from the, er, Dorset Echo: . Though, of course, they're talking about all those wicked and naughty people who illegally park in disabled parking bays being slapped with huge fines. Good.

It's been announced that Stephen Fry has won this year's award, as awarded by the leading mental health charity , for last year's ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ documentary The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive (check out the official site for lots of accompanying info and short films).

Notably, this was the first time that the awards had been made open to the public, allowing them to nominate, via Mind's website, for the person they thought had made the most significant contribution towards challenging discrimination against people with mental health problems over the past year. Ouch readers on the messageboard seemed, in the majority, to approve of the two-part series as well.

The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Film Network, an important showcase for some of the best in new British filmmaking, has joined forces with the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Online Subtitles Trial to offer a selection of subtitled short movies. To access the subtitles you need to go to 'settings' in the Media Player, when it appears, and click on 'show subtitles'.

So as well as seeing a selection of the latest talent rising up through the ranks of movie-making in the UK - which includes BAFTA award-winners and nominees amongst them - you can test out what's happening in the area of providing online subtitles and let the team know what you think. Please note, however, that the films are aimed predominantly at an audience aged 16 and over, and some contain strong language.

Are you the sort of person who gets emails of jokes that have been sent to a list of people half a page long? I am. There was another one in the Crippled Monkey inbox this morning - some prize examples of disability humour. Or not. Depends on your take on jokes, I guess. So can you improve on these and give me something to send back that'll knock their socks off with laughing?

A man is walking down the street when he meets a friend who happens to have only one arm.
"What are you up to today?" he asks his friend.
"I'm going to change a lightbulb."
"Won't that be difficult with just one arm?"
"Shouldn't think so. I've got the receipt."

Did that tickle the necessary funny bone? Okay, I'll tell you another and then leave it to you to improve on these efforts:

An Englishman is showing two young American girls around London during their holiday. When they reach a Pelican crossing he presses the button, and after a few seconds the pedestrian signal makes the familiar "beep beep beep" sound.
"What's that for?" asks one of the girls.
"Oh, that's just to let blind people know that the lights have changed," replies the Englishman.
"Oh my GAWWWD!" she exclaims, obviously shocked. "In the States, we don't even let them drive!"

Crippled Monkey is having an aimless Wednesday, I'll admit. Send me your disability jokes! Now! Please! Funnier the better (but remember, this is the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ and a public website, so keep them clean)! Go on, you know you want to - stick a joke in the comments of this post!

Are you a Twitterer? No, I don't mean do you like sitting in hedgerows with a pair of binoculars looking for a lesser-spotted bluetit. I mean, are you one of the thousands upon thousands of people who have become addicted to the phenomenon that is ? Do you spend your days answering time and time again that simple question "What are you doing?" - all in 140 characters or less?

If you've got no idea what I'm talking about but want to find out more, let the Twitter guys to you for themselves.

However, if you're already a devoted Twitterer and an Ouch reader to boot, the good news is that you can now add this site as a Twitter friend. Yes, we've gone and got ourselves our own page on there! It'll give you updates about, and links to, all that's new on Ouch as it gets published. And maybe we'll use it for occasional other exciting things and surprises too - who knows?

This is just a little experiment for us at the moment, trying out some of these fashionable new Web 2.0 thingummybobs that everyone's raving about, so give it a go and let us know what you think. The URL you need to get to our Twitter page is - we'll see you there!

is the blogging community's very own 'what not to miss' guide, which each week takes people nominations for the best blog posts and chooses a winner. The current top entry is a wonderfully written insight into what it's like living with Tourette's Syndrome, from a blog called . Definitely worth a few moments of your reading time. Go check it out.

The RNIB is looking for people to participate in new research about how blind and partially sighted people want to navigate digital TV and plan their viewing. Although they have a lot of anecdotal evidence that blind and partially sighted people find it difficult to use digital TV because of the on-screen programme guide, there is no detailed research on this issue, so the RNIB needs evidence to show to government and manufacturers demonstrating that current on-screen programme guides and menus do not allow blind and partially sighted people to use digital TV effectively or easily. They also want to find out precisely what people expect from a talking menu and talking programme guide.

So the RNIB are looking for blind and partially sighted people of all ages, people who have digital TV as well as those who don't, people who watch TV a lot or only occasionally, people who are very familiar with technology and people who aren't. To take part in the research, there's a questionnaire to be filled in before the end of June - this can either be done at the RNIB's website or, if you prefer, over the phone. For the latter option, contact Jill Whitehead on audiodescription@rnib.org.uk, or telephone 020 7391 2398.

Are you a visitor to , the much-talked about 3D virtual reality world where people have been known to spend hours, even days? Crippled Monkey will admit to taking a look at it once, but frankly it scared the pants off me and I never went back. Oh well.

An increasing number of disabled people are becoming hooked on Second Life, it seems. For those with mobility issues, especially, it offers them a chance to roam freely around a world where they are not disabled - another extension of the freedom, though sometimes also the concern, that the net allows you to be whoever you want to be. It's a subject that Paul Crichton recently covered in a post on Ouch's very own Access 2.0 blog.

However, there are also a number of Second Life'rs who do declare their disability in this virtual environment, Simon Stevens amongst them. Back at the end of August last year, the Ouch blog reported on the launch of Wheelies, the world's first virtual disability nightclub, which could be found within Second Life. All was going well with the club until suddenly, one night in December, Wheelies was mysteriously destroyed. Returning to his little empire the next day, Simon found that bits of it had been 'removed', rendering the club useless.

So what happened? Why was Wheelies destroyed in such a way? Simon himself isn't at all certain, though what he does know is that the incident happened almost immediately after he had left this virtual world's own version of Big Brother. Rather than being voted out, he had gone 'over the wall' and left the house of his own choice. So could there be some deeper intrigue here, or is just coincidence? Could someone have objected to Simon - a wheelchair user with CP - being such a visible presence in the high profile BB competition within this Second Life? Crippled Monkey scents a case for his detective skills, and may have to step back into the immersive 3D landscape to find out more. Wish me luck.

In the meantime, though, we're pleased to tell you that Wheelies has risen from its digital ashes and is heading for a grand reopening on Friday 18 May. Situated on its very own island called Second Ability, it's now bigger and better than before, and features a picture gallery, chill out area, rooftop garden and pool. Wow. With all that on offer, I need never leave the house again ...

Check out yesterday's edition of the New York Times and what's this?! Disability? In the Fashion & Style section? Whatever next?

It's true, though. Check out the article entitled , which features cool cats (no, I have no idea what I'm going on about either) like stand-up comic Josh Blue, who has CP; Robert David Hall, a double amputee who plays a coroner in CSI; Kylee Haddad, a 40-year-old mother of two who decorates her prosthetic leg with palm trees, fish and the American flag; and Jillian Weise who this year published a poetry collection called The Amputee's Guide to Sex.

The message would seem to be: it's cool to be a Crip. Mind you, since you're reading Ouch, you've known that for years, right?

Newspaper column inches and web pages aplenty were given over this morning to yesterday's retirement of - and Crippled Monkey ain't gonna mince his words here - sporting legend Tanni Grey-Thompson following her . Tanni scooped a silver medal as she took second place in the 200m at the Paralympic World Cup. Whilst it would have been great to see Tanni go out with a gold, on a rain-lashed afternoon in Manchester she herself was philosophical, not to mention rather relieved: "I never have to do a sprint start again and I'm really, really happy to finally call it a day".

Tanni fans needn't worry, however, as despite leaving the track we're going to be seeing plenty more of her. She's heavily involved in plans for the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics in London, there are TV presenting jobs on the horizon, and she's coaching a couple of young athletes who are aiming for success in Beijing next year and hopefully London. Perhaps most importantly though, she has been invited to as a non-executive member, with immediate effect. UK Athletics is the body that governs the sport in the United Kingdom, and Tanni will offer an all-important athlete's perspective on the board.

Crippled Monkey has denied all rumours that I am planning to start training to become the country's next hugely successful wheelchair athlete. It all looks a bit tiring to me, frankly. And I've got chips for lunch, too.

If you're out and about in our nation's great capital today, keep a look-out for Sharon (also known as The Girl) as she attempts the , a t7-mile sponsored walk around, er, London (yeah, I think I might have mentioned London already). It's aims are to raise awareness both of Fibromyalgia and accessibility, since The Girl's walk goes along the District Line route of the London Underground, which is largely inaccessible for disabled people. Sharon's partner in crime is Naomi (also known as lilwatchergirl - are you following all this?) who will be joining Sharon for a couple of miles of the walk in her electric wheelchair, and will be writing the live progress reports on the Great London Trek blog.

Crippled Monkey wishes 'em well, and hopes that there are no tricky kerbs or other obstacles along the way. Which of course there will be if London is anything to go by. Oops.

On Tuesday, we posted up a blog entry about how, in Afghanistan, the Taliban seem to be recruiting disabled suicide bombers. Now, Canada's globeandmail.com, who published that story, have put out a new report on the plight of disabled people in the war-torn country, which makes for equally powerful reading.

In , reporter Sonya Fatah looks at how war-related injuries account for about 17 per cent of Afghanistan's disabled population, which figures put at somewhere between 747,000 to 867,000. Yet disabled people who have not been impaired due to the war receive not even the meagre pension offered by the Ministry of Social Labour, Martyrs and Disabled (a name that presumably loses something in the translation) because it is generally thought that they have been disabled because God does not approve of them.

Check out the report, containing some shocking personal stories, on the website.

Did you hear it? Did you? If, like Monkey, you've spent all morning glued to the news coverage of the Prime Minister announcing the worst-kept secret in politics - his - then you may have heard the brief mention of disability in his speech. Yep, we get in everywhere, don't we? Here's what Mr Blair said:

"And people say to me [that being Prime Minister is] a tough job. Not really. A tough life is the life led by the young severely disabled children and their parents who visited me in Parliament the other week."

Yes, it is kind of 'blink and you'd miss it', but I suppose he had a lot of other things to get through ...

Sometimes, when I'm browsing the net looking for disability-related titbits for this 'ere blog, I think to myself: "Monkey, be honest - what you'd really like is to find a story that features disability, nuns and labyrinths, wouldn't you?" Well, it's true, I would. And here it is: . Brilliant. [Link via ]

The Disability Rights Commission today launches the first nationwide campaign aimed at increasing young people's confidence using public transport. GOJO is aimed at the thousands of young people between the ages of 16 and 25 who have difficulties or fears using buses, trams or trains because of their impairment. According to the DRC, twice as many young disabled people say they lack confidence using public transport than their non-disabled peers.

At the heart of the campaign is the GOJO website - it's at - which will provide practical tips to increase young people's confidence travelling on public transport and information on special leisure deals and how to travel there. Plus there will also be info on rights and how to make a complaint if you feel you've been discriminated against under the DDA.

From now until the longest weekend in June - which is the Summer Solstice from Thursday 21 June to Sunday 24 June - young people, their friends and families are being encouraged to take trips on public transport, so as to find out the benefits of using the services and then share their experiences on the GOJO website.

The campaign is being launched in five cities across the UK - Newcastle, Sheffield, Nottingham. Manchester and Exeter - between 8 May and 14 May, with gigs by disabled comedians from the group.

We get so many emails and messageboard posts about transport here on Ouch, and this sounds like a cool campaign to get involved in. So go check out the right now, and get moving on public transport.

A few days ago, we blogged about your chance to ask Tanni Grey-Thompson some probing sporting questions as she retired from competition. If you head on over to the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Disability Sport site, you can now .

If that whetted your appetite for questioning some of Britain's leading Paralympic stars, then the good news is that it's now the turn of basketball ace and familiar ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Television personality to take to the hotseat. So if there's something you've always wanted to ask him, get over to the Disability Sport website and send in your question now!

In the continuing coverage of the War Against Terror in both Iraq and Afghanistan, it's the former that seems to grab most of the headlines. Information about activities in Afghanistan, and in particular the ongoing battle against Taliban insurgents, seems harder to come by. Yet a shocking news story that involves disabled Afghans is beginning to emerge. According to a truly shocking report from globeandmail.com in Canada, .

The bodies of suicide bombers who strike in the Afghan capital, Kabul, are taken to a morgue where the senior doctor has noted the presence of people with impairments such as muscular dystrophy, amputations, blindness, skin conditions and signs of mental health problems. It seems that in the disrupted and fractured society of Afghanistan, the Taliban insurgents seek out disabled people because they are on the margins of the country's society. Being disabled, possibly ending up living on the streets and with an inability to support one's family are equated with great shame. The Taliban offer money to the families of suicide bombers, and if these disabled men have not been able to earn very much - as is usually the case - the option of helping one's family financially whilst also seemingly dying for a noble cause can appear an attractive one.

An important report to read about a hitherto little known but very disturbing aspect of the continuing conflict in Afghanistan.

Remember, the Ouch blog is always looking for priceless disability-related gems you've spotted on the ever popular video-sharing site and Suzy Byrne from Dublin has sent us a superb example.

Boys on Wheels, from Norway, are a singing trio like no other. They are all wheelchair users, their singing is not especially at home to Mr Harmony, their taste in humour is, um, a little dubious, and their adaptation of lyrics to well-known pop songs has to be heard to be believed.

In the clip below they can be heard covering Bryan Adams' power ballad Heaven - "Baby you're all that I want / But you're living on the fifth floor / I'm finding it hard to get there / In my wheelchair" - and Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer - "Oh oh, the hunk is here / Oh oh, he's living in a wheelchair". Only A-ha's classic '80s hit Take On Me - "I'm rolling away / Because my legs are ... not okay / I think every day / There are guys with bigger problems" - strikes a completely wrong tone, as it degenerates into some frankly horrible homophobia that they could really do without. Cut that out, guys, and you could be a hit. You have been warned ...

Note: If you can't see the above video, you can also on the YouTube website. But be warned! Comments left by other YouTube users can sometimes be offensive and contain strong language.

So, did YOU on 1 May?

The day after the night before, as this Crippled Monkey blearily wakes up from reading such an overwhelming range of posts, it looks this year's BADD (as all the cool blogging kids are calling it) was an even greater success than last year's inaugural event.

I spoke with Blogging Against Disablism's tireless organiser, , to get the lowdown on how the day went, as well as some recommendations for posts to look out for. But first, I asked her what the running total of participants currently stood at.

"As far as participating blogs is concerned, there were ... I don't know, it must be pushing 180 by now, who did it. Thanks in part to BADD '06, but perhaps more importantly the that Penny at set up, there's much more of a cohesive disabled blogging community this year, which probably helped the numbers as well as the traffic. There are more people blogging about disability and we're all much more connected."

But it's not just disabled bloggers who took part, either. Many non-disabled people leapt on the passing and highly accessible BADD express train, according to The Goldfish.

"Part of the great thing about Blogging Against Disablism Day was that many people who never usually write about disability issues took the time out to lend their voices to our cause. For example, we had several technology bloggers writing about web accessibility."

Crippled Monkey then put Ms Goldfish firmly on the spot and asked her to name some particularly noteworthy BADD posts from across the blogosphere. Obviously with so many entries coming in to be listed at BADD HQ, it was impossible for her to read every contrbution, but these are a few she noticed in amongst the deluge.

Éù : The Politics of Gratitude - about why we shouldn't be humbled by the help we receive.

Éù : Are you or have you ever been insane? - about depression and why it isn't caused by having a disabled child.

Éù : Blog Against Disaphobia / Disablism - about the value of being listened to.

Éù : There's no elevator to the top of the Ivory Tower - about the interaction of racism, sexism and homophobia with disablism in higher education.

Éù : Horton Doesn't Hear a Who - Dr Seuss against Disablism ;-)

Éù : From where I'm sitting - Seahorse writes about her first experiences on four wheels.

Éù : The BADD Entry 2007 - about 'benevolent discrimination' in the media.

And finally, one from the pile marked 'not particularly serious':

Éù : Disabled - providing irrefutable proof that someone learnt something this 1 May!

Thanks to The Goldfish for putting off her well-earned rest for a few more minutes to chat to me. Same time, same place next year, then?

There are a lot of great sites out there in the disability blogosphere, and the number has grown hugely over the past couple of years. Here on Ouch, we've recruited some of the brightest and best of these bloggers to post regular entries about themselves, their lives and their thoughts.

Donimo

"I'm a cripster and a visual artist, with chronic pain from head to toe and a lot of fatigue. You could say I put the 'ill' in disability. I have a whole collection of 'impairments' (as you Brits say) that make daily life a challenge, and blogging and creating art essential.

In the blogosphere, I'm part of a crew of folks exploring life with chronic pain. I try to embrace this difficult body and examine how pain impacts my relationship with myself and the world around me. Through blogging and creating I've come to a deeper understanding of the art and reality of living with disabling pain. Pain Clinics like to tell people not to focus on their pain, but some of us are doing it differently.

So, I focus on it and blog about my adventures with ardent advice-givers; doctors with Arrogant Specialist Syndrome; gimp life in the slow lane in a driven, modern city; weird medical tests; pain in my head and back and legs, and anything else I want to spotlight. It works for me."

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Jenny, AKA Giraffe-a-licious

"I’m Jenny and I’m a 23 year old aspiring writer who blogs as Giraffe-a-licious. Journalistic writing rather than creative; I can’t write stories or poetry for toffee. Mmmm ... toffee.

I live in the East Midlands with my parents and younger sister. I’ve had M.E. for 10 years and am eager to grasp every little bit of independence I can get, even if that just means getting myself to the local shop to buy a Wispa!

I have a great interest in both film and sport (frustratingly spectating, rather than participating). I’m a Christian and I also have a slightly irrational love of giraffes - hence my chosen blogging name. I’ve only been blogging for a few months but very much enjoy holding forth on any subject that takes my fancy."

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Mark Siegel

"I'm a 34-year-old attorney and policy consultant living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I work for a state agency which focuses primarily on issues related to health care and employment for people with disabilities. I have spinal muscular atrophy, a congenital neuromuscular condition.

I have been blogging at The 19th Floor for nearly five years. My preferred topics include progressive politics, disability issues, and my many geek obsessions. However, I promise to keep my Ouch! blogging on-topic and respectable (i.e. no extended critiques of the latest Lost episode and very few mentions of my fondness for fishnet stockings). I would also ask my new ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ readers to forgive me when I use exotic, foreign words like 'apartment' and 'gasoline'. I am an American and, well, I just don't know any better."

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Bipolar Works

"I’m a thirtysomething woman who has experienced bipolar disorder (manic depression) all of my working life. I have held down several jobs in two careers and gained three higher education qualifications, but it has not been easy. I have climbed up the career ladder only to be eaten by a few snakes, but I have learnt to become a master of reinvention and quickly bounce back.

Whenever I encounter a problem in the workplace, I use my knowledge and creativity to rise from the waters like a lotus flower and nudge my employer gently back onto the right track. My mission is to empower others with a mental health condition with advice and support in order to survive the workplace jungle."

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Wheelchair Dancer

"I am a dancer in the second year of my professional career. I dance with a physically integrated company on the West Coast and spend the rest of my time in New York City. Dance is my third career, but I have just about got it right, now. Dance is more than work; it is my passion. The feeling of freedom, of just pure movement, of dance ... is, well, indescribable. I nonetheless try very hard to write about it (and other disability issues, including intersections with race, gender, and class) on my blog."

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Jemma Brown

"hello I'm jemma and I'm very new to blogging. I only stared my blog at the begining of July, so im fairly new to it all. I'm from Gospot, in Hampshire, in south England. I'm a full time student studieng for A levals. in my spare time I'm really in to camping, hikeing, and I'm a guide leader. I also do Duke of Edinbrough. My disability? I'll leave you in suspence about that one for the minute. oh and one last thing - I cant spell to save my life so please forgive me!"

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Elizabeth McClung

"Who am I; that is the question? I'm seven months into the nationalized health service shuffle for an undiagnosed degenerative heart and neurological condition/disease which keeps me in a wheelchair and mostly housebound. Most of the panhandlers call me 'Red' (the hair), while people in my building call me 'plucky' or run away (it's not contagious!). I've lived and completed degrees equally in Canada, the US and the UK. Right now I live in the Canadian city which prides itself on being 'British'. I miss Terry Wogan. And I haven't had a decent gyro/doner since I moved.

Last year I fenced epee at a competitive level. There were only guys to train against. I kept hitting their groin in training (an accident but a legal target). They like seeing me more now that I'm no longer fencing. I took up boxing when I found a coach who had taught people in wheelchairs. My boxing coach calls me Liz. Please don't call me Liz. I want my coach to get me an amateur match. He says that I could end up 'pissing blood' and brain damaged. That would sound scarier if it didn't already describe my not so great days.

Right now I spend a lot of time taking medical tests and shopping online for corsets. I am not sure why those two things seem connected. You are never too old to decide to be a goth; plus skull hairbands are really useful for keeping hair out of your face when you wheel. Besides fashion and shopping therapy, disability blogs and bloggers have been my greatest support. They've helped me understand everything from why public transit leaves me in the rain to what to expect from home care workers. Blogs matter."

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Dave Hingsburger

"I would best be described as fat, fifty and four wheeled. I have worked for over thirty years in support of people with intellectual disabilities, and as a result of surgery I became a wheelchair user a year and a half ago. While I still hobble around short distances on foot, my chair is my primary means of getting around.

I have written over thirty books on disability issues, as well as for disabiliy zines like Mouth Magazine in the US. As a Canadian, I travel internationally speaking on disability issues ranging from sexual rights to privacy rights and beyond.

I live in Ontario with Joe, my lover of thirty-eight years, and the relationship is kept strong by a combination of good food and sex."

[Drawing of Dave by Jamie Hamm, an artist with Down's Syndrome.]

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Lady Bracknell's Editor

"I am - in no particular order - a passionate advocate of the social model of disability; multiply-impaired; a disability rights activist; a public-sector employee; an irritable old bat; the proud possessor of a variety of very funky walking sticks; and a blogger. Oh, and an MBE. Which would explain the hat. In case you were wondering.

I am not brave, tragic or an inspiration to all who meet me. Really."

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Nicola

"I hail from darkest Berkshire but am slowly edging my way north in search of the right to say ‘aye’ without sounding stupid. I am a student in the sense that I have a library card and buy gel pens with considerable frequency. Happiness is, quite clearly, instant mochacino and The Politics Show on a Sunday. I’m disabled. Obviously."

The Goldfish

"The Goldfish is a struggling novellist who blogs about the arts and culture, disability, feminism, philosophy and psychology. Her blog, Diary of a Goldfish, also hosted Blogging Against Disablism Day in 2006 and 2007."

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Zephyr

"I'm 28 years old and I've had arthritis for 22 years. I was diagnosed at age 6 with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JRA). I've had both hips replaced and I'm on a wait list for ankle replacement surgery or foot fusion surgery. My doctors have classified me as severely and permanently disabled. In between flare-ups, I work part-time from home. Since I'm unable to work full-time, my leisure activities and interests define who I am moreso than my career status.

I'm a Gemini with Aquarius rising, so I blame the stars for my flightiness. Actually, I blame the stars for all my faults. I love karaoke, music, reading, writing, and gardening.

I'm a very community-oriented social butterfly, and I belong to many different communities in Vancouver: the pagan community, the LGBT community, the polyamory community, the BDSM community, and various sex-positive groups. I am trying my darnedest to be an activist for the Disability Movement, but ironically, it's difficult and challenging due to my health problems. For the moment, all I can do is use my words to educate people on the internet, so I'm looking forward to becoming an Ouch! blogger."

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Seahorse

"I am a 34-year-old writer, who didn't write for quite some time after becoming disabled.

Following a long period of not insignificant meltdown, I took the plunge and started a blog. I have also recently embarked on single motherhood.

I seek out beauty as 'an antidote to ugliness in everyday life'. Photography, writing and art are all helping me accept life with a disability and move away from 'interventions' that have been not so helpful.

Inspired by other bloggers and Ouch regulars I am increasingly finding my voice as I do battle with health and social care buffoonery.

'This is a campaign. It will have good days and bad days. And it is written by a seahorse, which is a challenge in itself I can tell you'."

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