Tropical Butterfly House (Sheffield)

Our trip to the Tropical Butterfly House in North Anston, Sheffield, was a wet one. It RAINED! The rain didn't spoil our day though.

We arrived by bus which stops just outside the centre. Access is via a road with no walk ways so you do have to take extra care, especially on busy days. It wasn't too busy when we went because we chose to go in term time but the Dude was off because of the teacher strikes.

Entrance is accessible and 1 carer is admitted free with each paying disabled person. You can buy various animal feeds at the ticket office. We decided to buy a bundle of all the different types. I didn't find any of the centre inaccessible. All paths were easy for the wheelchair to be push over. Dude was able to see all the animals except the Meercats which where in their outside enclosure. He found it hard to get the meal worm feed over the wall to them too.

Finding a dry place to eat was at bit hard. I'm not sure if there was an indoor picnic area. We didn't find one and there wasn't signs that I could see. We opted to eat under the covered bit outside the toilet block by the play park and eating area. Good job I carry a camping stool and Dude owns a Trabasack which he was able to eat his lunch off. It also came in handy with balancing his animal feed whilst he fed the animals and again when he got the opportunity to hold a snake in the Butterfly House.

Getting around inside the Butterfly House was pretty easy. The staff were great too. Dude collared one when we were looking at the bugs and snakes and asked a million and one questions. He then brought a snake out for Dude to hold which I thought was very kind.

Unfortunately we didn't stay for very long because of the rain. There's only so much standing around in barns and going round the inside of the Butterfly House that you can take, so we opted to go home earlier than planned.

It was a great afternoon out though and we look forward to visiting again.

London Eye

I've always told Dude that 'the big wheel' was broken when we've been in London. I have seen the queues and knew trying to wait in them with the Dude would be a nightmare. He doesn't 'do' queuing for very long as he doesn't understand what he's waiting for because of his Autism. Checking their website London Eye I found that I could cut down the majority of the waiting time as he had a disability. I thought I'd chance it to see how he coped now that he was abit older.

Getting to the Eye you need to walk past the steps to the south side of Westminster Bridge and take the first left. This takes you the step free way.

I found it quite stressful for both of us trying to get our tickets from the ticket office. Staff directed us to the fast track ticket desk but with the amount of people and the narrow walkways it became an adventure to get to the desk. Then leaving was just as difficult.

Taking our tickets to the fast track entrance a staff member took us to join the queue at the bottom of the ramp. We still queued for a while and Dude only got a little stressy. Once we reached the front of the queue the staff we're lovely to Dude and they radioed to say that a wheelchair was boarding. The wheel was stopped briefly and a ramp was put down for us to get on. I was able to position Dude at the edge facing towards Big Ben and Buckingham Palace. He spent most of the time looking for the rubbish boats ferrying London's rubbish up the river.

The view's pretty good and you see allot of the sights from up there.

Getting off was the same as getting on. Wheel was stopped and ramp laid down.

I think they do pretty good for disabilities but think the fast track desk should be moved to an area that's easier to get to with the amount of people going through there.

Lyceum Theatre London

We had been to a theatre show once before. Last time was in the Sheffield Lyceum and to see a small scale show aimed at young children. I was desperate to take Dude to a London musical and knew he would love The Lion King at London's Lyceum Theatre and I wasn't wrong!

Most people can manage to get tickets from the box office on the day or for the next couple of days but as there are only a few wheelchair spaces it is advisable to pre-book. The spaces for wheelchairs and their companions are in the stalls, thus making them the most expensive tickets but you do get the wheelchair user and one carer at a reduced rate. It does mean, however, that if you have a large party, you will have to pay the top price if you want to sit together. For The Lion King show, the stalls are the place you want to be though. The cast run down past the seats in full costume and Dude thought it was fantastic that an Elephant walked past him.

If you do want to buy or pick up your tickets from the box office there are allot of stairs at the entrance and no disabled access. I wasn't told this when booking my tickets and when I went to collect them before our performance the staff member at the door had first asked me to leave my 5yr old Dude outside and join the queue inside to pick up my tickets. I refused to leave him and so he did then ask me for my reference number and went and got them for me.

The entrance into the Lyceum is also stepped but if you make yourself known to the door staff they will open the step free access doors to the stalls. There are disabled toilets as you walk down the corridor which are locked at the beginning and end of the performance but staff will open them for you if you require them. There are lots of staff members around so you shouldn't find it difficult to get access to them. During the performance these are they only toilets open as the cast need to use the other areas and so the area is not accessible to anyone until the interval. I'm not sure if the other toilets are open during the interval.

We used the disabled toilet before the performance and a staff member took us and waited outside. I hadn't realised that the seat was raised (as i don't often come across that whilst using toilets when out). The Dude managed to pee under the seat and soaked all his lower clothing including splints and shoes. As he hasn't been dry in the day long I carry spares but not socks and we only have one set of splints and boots. I quickly cleaned up the Dude and changed him to his spare clothes. Opening the door I asked the staff member (I wish I'd got her name) if it was possible to get a bag to put his wet clothes in. She apologised (which she didn't need to as it was totally my fault we had the accident) and asked me if he could still wear his splints and boots. As I hadn't any spare socks I told her he couldn't so she asked me to give her my bag of wet clothes.
We found our seats and enjoyed the first half of the performance. Dude was loving it so much that he asked to sit and wait for it to start again and not go anywhere. Whilst sat waiting another staff member approached us with a bag. Inside was Dudes clothes, splints and boots all washed, dried and ready to wear. Never have I come across this before. No-one has helped us when we've had an accident of this nature in the past. All I can say is wow! I'm so thankful to the staff at the Lyceum Theatre London.

I can't wait to take Dude to see another musical. I hope we have just as good an experience as we did here!

Rainforest Cafe, UK

Rainforest Cafe

This place is so awesome! Not only is there moving animals WITH sound (the fish are real) there is even a thunder storm ever 30 minuets minus the rain. AND the food is yummy!

To enter the cafe you walk through the shop which is level access. There are quite allot of stairs to the restaurant but if you book in advance the staff will take you through the Trocadero to use the staff lifts to the lowest floor.

We arrive well before our booked slot and Dude did great at waiting for our staff helper to take us round to the lift. The talking tree and moving snake helped to entertain him. The fact he had bought a Lion hat also kept him entertained. He did however keep asking random people if they wanted their photo taken with him. All declined thankfully but all interacted with him great.

Once we were at our table the manager asked me if I wanted him to send people down to sit in the same area so we wasn't alone down there. I wasn't bothered but appreciated the consideration. Our waiter was very good and our food arrived swiftly. We was asked a couple of time whether everything was OK which it was.

Our table had a chimp hanging from a tree above us and Dude had a lovely conversation with him (the chimp didn't move nor make sounds but we'll humour the child wont we? *wink* ) Apparently the monkey called me a naana.

The disabled toilet was on the same floor. It was kept clean and tidy with allot of room.

Overall we absolutely LOVE the Rainforest Cafe and plan to visit again very soon!

Sealife London Aquarium

Dude and I took a trip to Sea Life London Aquarium.
Joining the queue a staff member directed me to the fast-track queue as I was there with a wheelchair. The queues are separated by those posts with the fabric strips that spring back if you unhook them. Going round them was tight at points and I had to move some over to get through. We had arrived early as I knew Dude wouldn't queue for long and I was expecting to be in the regular, none fast track queue. We ended up queue for approximately 10mins and I went in free as a carer.

There are lifts to all floors but Dude did find getting to see the fish hard as there were allot of people and some tanks were positioned either too high up or at an angle so all he could see was water. He did however have a great view of the penguins and I had to make him leave.

The staff were all very kind and helpful. Some were stopped by Dude and asked if the knew about fish and all responded appropriately to him. He had his photo done at the green screen and tried to charm the lady into letting him keep the coat they'd put on him for the photo. She also was able to reply to him without causing major meltdowns, though I did help her with that one too :)

The shop was easy to navigate but then I got abit lost as when I exited the shop I was met by steps and had to ask for directions to get out. I was directed towards the cafe as there was a step free exit there. The staff member however, in her bid to be helpful, sent us down the corridor for the Fright Club exhibition and subsequently the Dude did get frightened.

Despite the tanks Dude couldn't see in and the episode of fright, we did have an awesome day. Staff were kind and helpful and we didn't have any problems with access. We didn't get to check out the toilets but there are disabled toilets present.

Regents Park, London

We've been to London :)
Really this blog post should be about transport but I'll save that one for later.
We decided to go see some flowers as Dude likes to smell them and look at all the different types so headed off to Regents Park. Dudes never been before so was a nice change from our normal activities when we visit London.

We took one of the many accessible buses into London itself. We stayed in North London and luckily there is a bus that runs right from where we stay to Trafalgar square, going through Camden Town (Handy for London zoo) Russel Street (British Museum) and Warren Street where we got off to get to Regents Park.

The paths in the park are all hard surfaced and was really easy to push him around. Mostly flat. I think there's a slight hill in some parts but must of been easy to manage the wheelchair or I'd have remembered.

Dude loved looking at (and taking tons of pictures of) the flowers. We stopped off at The Honest Sausage cafe where the food was pretty good. They used, what we call, proper sausages and bacon in their sandwiches/rolls and we all enjoyed them. They even gave us free hot drinks with our food which was a bonus. Prices are around £4-£5 a sandwich, which is to be expected in central London, but in my opinion it was worth it. Obviously eating outside you do have to keep an eye out for thieving pigeons as one family found out! The wooden tables don't allow for wheelchair access to them but there are some metal table and chairs under their sheltered area which you could get a wheelchair too. The entrance to the shop is level, though with lots of people in may become difficult to turn and exit, I do suspect that people will move though.

We decided we'd take dude on the boats before he gets to big and heavy to lift. There are steps down at the entrance for the boating lake but the staff directed us to a gate abit further down which made it step free. Getting on to the boats isn't step free and they don't have any accessible boats, but the staff were very helpful and even lifted Dude to and from the boats. They wasn't even bothered when he decided it would be fun to blow their whistle and flap like mad whilst they were lifting him.
All children are required to wear life jackets and the staff make sure the children are seated whilst they prepare the boats for them. There's an option between pedal or rowing boats. Since I have bad knees and it would be impossible to hold Dude up and pedal we opted for the rowing boats. He loved his half hour on the lake and we have now got very special memories. We're unlikely to do anything like it again (unless we find an accessible boat) as he's just getting too big.

We ended the day by taking a walk to the rose gardens.

Regents Park - thumbs up to the boating lake staff for there awareness to disabilities.
Park and Gardens - lovely accessible walk with lots of benches around to take a rest.
The Honest Sausage - accessible and good food, though watch out for the pigeons

Choosing a school

Choosing a school for your child can be a stressful time. For most parents of the non-SN variety choice is based on location and OFSTED reports. For SN families we have the added stresses of, can the school cope with our child? can our child cope with the school? what provisions does the school have for special educational needs? And is the school accessible?

When the time came to chose a school for Dude I had no idea where to start. I'd always imagined my son to go to the local school but when i was told there where quite a few sets of stairs I panicked. I wasn't even sure if mainstream was the right choice for him. So, I enlisted the help from the education welfare lady at the CDC unit Dude was under for his disabilities.

At first we had a look around the Special School that served our area. Taking Dude with us, we looked at the early years class.  I thought it was great. All accessible for his special buggy and his walking frame. Changing facilities and on site physio, occupational therapist and speech and language therapist. He could access EVERYTHING in the classroom. Then the staff told me that they felt that as he got bigger they wouldn't be able to keep up with him academically. 'He is too clever' I was told.

You'd probably think GREAT! But no, i felt like he didn't 'belong' anywhere. That feeling was made bigger when I went to see the local mainstream school. The foundation unit (nursery and reception classes) were built separate to the rest of the school with no corridor between the classrooms. It was a real struggle for Dude to get around the classroom. No changing facilities and to get through to the hall was a complete nightmare. Once we fought our way through to the rest of the school I could see that the classrooms where bigger and set out better. But Dude had 2 yrs before he was to be in them classes. There were stairs with one having a platform lift and the other avoided via the playground and ramps. The Headmistress and Nursery Teacher did seem like they wanted Dude though and we're willing to try out whatever so that he could access the school.

We had one more school to look at. The local CofE school. It had much better access and tons of space to move around the classrooms. There wasn't any changing facilities in this school either. But there were no stairs to contend with and unlike all the other schools, once he had a place we didn't have to apply again for him to have a place in the main school. I really liked this school. We found out that his name was down as the 31st place and there was only 30 places in the class. Head had said that they don't normally get all 30 places taken as people change their minds or they move away so he should be ok to get in. I wouldn't know untill April if he got his place.

Meanwhile the first mainstream school had said they'd hold a place there until April as well. They changed their minds. They wanted to know if I wanted the place NOW! I couldn't give them an answer. It's not that easy with a kid like Dude to just say YES! I needed to know he was at the right school. I wanted to know if he'd got into the CofE with the no stairs and the added extra of a CORRIDOR!

Alas, he didn't get the place at the CofE. All 30 places were accepted and so I had to accept the place at the local mainstream. It didn't turn out as bad as I thought it would. We had a transition meeting where the education welfare lady said Dude didn't require any extra support. Erm, the boy is unable to stand or walk unaided, was doubly incontinent, was under going assessments for autism and epilepsy and has dysphagia. He needed full 1:1 support for his safety, well being and to access all aspects of his education. Fortunately the school agreed with me and employed a 1:1 for him.

We had a few teething problems, but who doesn't, and hes loving school. We still have little wobbles with access regarding his frame or wheelchair every now and then but after some trial and error we get there.

We'll always come across challenges whilst at school. I'm abit apprehensive about next year. He's going to have to deal with the first lot of steps to access dinner hall, assembly hall and playground. These are the steps with the platform lift so we'll see how it goes.

School, they try hard to be accessible!