Anxiety, stress and pressure:

Anxiety, stress and pressure aren't new to people, we manage the best we can but when it comes to dynamic disabilities and pain conditions, added stress, anxiety or pressure can lead to more pain flare ups and being able to do a LOT less.

I wrote to my online college Friday to get an extension, one wasn't granted and instead they asked why I couldn't submit it that specific day, I explained I work around a disability and due to the uncertainty and added stress I've not got anymore done and I've even missed my daily meds a few times.

With the way the course is set up it's completely inflexible and unfair to people like me who have a basic human right to additional support.

The online college (Lincoln college) is very specific when stating that funding and the government only allow for three weeks per unit.

This means if you get behind, due to their not being any flexibility as to when you can start and stop the units and no space or downtime in-between, that you have even less time to do the next unit and the one after that.

I sent this in an email today:

"Since you haven't given me a new deadline I'm not sure where to go from here and anxiety leads to pain flare ups which is what caused me to get behind in the first place. There is literally no flexibility on this course.

No time to process before moving onto the next unit and people have complicated lives, three weeks is not enough time for anyone managing a disability, especially if it's a chronic pain one.

This has been more of a lesson for me about the way the system is made lacking in support than it's been a blessing.

Here I am trying to better myself in a world and system that's already against me and now I have to go to war to try and get the space and time I need to do my studies.

Perhaps the government (if that's who you are saying is the cause) needs to do this course and dynamic disabilities courses as well as accessibility education.

I am still fighting the system in other ways on the daily and just managed to get an X ray, I have SPD still and two femeral neck fractures and I'm happy to share my personal X ray too.

I have appointments all over the place to which I need to recover from and as a disability advocate this course was a personal choice because of how useful it will be, but it won't be useful at all if the system keeps showing its lack of capacity to include and support diverse or disabled students.

I am behind on this and again there's no space so I've had less time to do unit 2 and will have even lesser time to do unit 3 and I find this unacceptable.

As a college there should be more that you can do to support disabled students and the government need to read their disabled rights legislation again and take note if they are going to be this inflexible around learning support that's a necessity not something I should be begging for.

I will complete this course. But around my disability, not to be a burden, or awkward or cause I feel like it, but because I literally have to manage a few disabilities at once and my reality can't be changed.

I also went through a difficult break up and lots of other life obstacles are always thrown my way, just like everything else I will keep going, sometimes in tears, but I won't quit.

Fail me if you must but I won't quit.

Sarah Wingfield 

Disability Advocate/Artist/Author

@KawaiiDollDecora ♡

www.magnoliaphotography.co.uk ♡"

I can't do anything more and I refuse to allow this system to continue to cause me anxiety and stress and make my life more difficult simply because I choose to educate myself and better myself to be a better advocate for those around me.

No!

Fail me if you must but I will do this course and I will do it around my disability.

Thanks for reading as always and let's hope life gets a little easier.

Sarah. Xx