Ouch: Disability Talk

Only last year, 28-year-old Ben Robinson's alcohol dependency was so severe he was days away from death. Following a stint in rehab and months of hard work rebuilding his life, he felt his recovery had gone backwards when the world went into lockdown. With limited access to his support network and temptation growing by the day, Ben describes the mental and physical challenges he’s faced over the past three months and why he created his blog, Beyond the Bottle. Produced and presented by Amy Elizabeth. Subscribe to Ouch's podcast on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker.

Alex Brooker was born with impairments in all four limbs and has been cracking jokes about it on Channel Four’s The Last Leg since 2012. But becoming a dad and losing his own father has prompted Alex to take a more serious direction, and to ask some hard questions about his disability in a BBC Two documentary. How did his parents react when he was born with multiple limb impairments? Do his children mind having a disabled father? And should he really have quit going to hospital appointments as soon as he reached 18? Alex tells Emma Tracey how his kids capitalise on his need to don a prosthetic, about the surgery that went wrong, and the extremely competitive streak which recently got him in trouble at home. Alex Brooker: Disability and Me is available on BBC iPlayer. Presented and produced by Emma Tracey. Subscribe to this podcast on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" on your smart speaker.

What happens when, as a high risk family, you've been shielding for months and your daughter needs to go to A&E?That’s the dilemma faced by Kate when three-year-old Scout falls over in the paddling pool. Kate has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and is isolating with her kidney transplant recipient wife Holly. Holly takes immunosuppressants, meaning the whole family must shield because she falls within the 'high risk' category.Kate gives a raw and honest account of lockdown frustrations, fears and Frozen re-runs!Produced by Amy Elizabeth - email amy.elizabeth@bbc.co.uk to get a message to Kate and Holly.Subscribe to this podcast on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" on your smartphone speaker.

Namel and Rick, aka American rap-duo 4 Wheel City, were shot and paralysed as teenagers 20 years ago. Since then, their Hip Hop tracks about gun violence and disability discrimination have taken them all over the world, from the White House to the 2012 London Paralympics. Now stuck at home due to coronavirus, the New Yorkers have turned their unique brand of protest to the Black Lives Matter movement, focusing on how it affects disabled people. 4 Wheel City spoke to Emma Tracey, on a slightly dodgy internet connection, about learning to rap again after a high level injury, pressure sores and how Stevie Wonder played a part in their success.Subscribe to this podcast on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker.

Finally, a day out is on the cards as one of the family has to have a blood test.Kate, Holly and their three-year-old daughter Scout have been isolating for 12 weeks because Holly has to take immunosuppressants. Now she's been offered a test to see if she's built up resistance to Covid-19 - will it give the gift of freedom she's so desperately hoping for? In addition to Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Kate has endometriosis which turns up the volume on her pain levels. Pre-lockdown her doctors decided to artificially put 36-year-old Kate through the menopause to address the problem but is this still the plan? Produced by Amy Elizabeth - email amy.elizabeth@bbc.co.uk to get a message to Kate and Holly.Subscribe to this podcast on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker.

Jamie Hale is a trans and disabled performer who uses ‘they’ and ‘them’ pronouns. They have been on stage at the Barbican, worked with Netflix and are currently writing a play about lockdown. In the second episode of Meet the Vulnerables, BBC journalist Octavia Woodward talks to them about the V-word (that’s ‘vulnerable’) and how widely it has been used during this pandemic. Jamie also explains how they deal with stage fright, the challenges of navigating the creative industries as a disabled person and how they’re coping with isolation. Octavia has spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and both she and Jamie are facing months of shielding at home in accordance with government guidelines.Produced by Sam Judah.Subscribe to Ouch on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker.

Ten weeks into isolation and Kate's painful impairment, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, is exhausting her. A virtual food lesson from her Mum on how to make toad-in-the-hole doesn't quite go to plan and three-year-old Scout has found a fascination with cleaning the house - now that the vacuum cleaner is a robot. Produced by Amy Elizabeth - email amy.elizabeth@bbc.co.uk to get a message to Kate and Holly. Subscribe to this podcast on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker.

Ouch favourites Mark Brown and Seaneen Molloy have dealt with mental health difficulties for a long time, but when the coronavirus pandemic hit, things changed. Seaneen felt liberated. After years of panic attacks she suddenly felt calm now a crisis had arrived and the rest of the world could finally see how scary the place could be.Mark felt unwell at the beginning and has had dilemmas to deal with. Most recently he met a stranger in the park who confided her mother had recently died and no one had been in touch. How do you offer comfort in a world of social distancing?There’s also a tonne of fun stuff in this episode too from escaped bras to Zoom personalities and talk of a zombie apocalypse. Produced by Emma Tracey Subscribe to Ouch on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker.

In a new mini-series, Meet The ‘Vulnerables’, Octavia Woodward sets out to find the real people dubbed “vulnerable”during the coronavirus pandemic, and turn the V-word on its head. First up is Baroness Jane Campbell - who ranks as “the most influential disabled person in Britain” according to the Shaw Trust. She is considered a legendary figure within the disabled community for her ongoing fight for disabled rights. Both Jane and Octavia have Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), a serious genetic condition that weakens muscles and can cause difficulty with breathing. Jane, who sits in the House of Lords, talks about her pushy parents, her brushes with the law during political protests, multiple marriages and how she struggled to like disabled people until she graduated from university. Presented by Octavia Woodward. Produced by Sam Judah.Subscribe to this podcast on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker.

After eight long weeks of isolation with wife Holly and three-year-old daughter Scout, Kate is finding her patience being tested. She has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and is gaining a little bit of weight thanks to comfort eating. It's putting a strain on her already inflamed joints but should she start being disciplined or stop feeling guilty as we are in a pandemic after all! Worst of all, Holly, who is on immunosuppressants - suddenly feels poorly. Is she showing Covid-19 symptoms? Produced by Amy Elizabeth - email amy.elizabeth@bbc.co.uk to get a message to Kate and Holly. Subscribe to this podcast on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker.

Robyn Steward and Jamie Knight, presenters of the podcast 1800 Seconds on Autism, join the Cabin Fever team to reveal what’s been going on in their lives during lockdown. From the pasta dish Jamie has eaten every day for five years no longer being available at the supermarket, through to Robyn’s solo trip to hospital, a notoriously noisy and discombobulating place.What do you do if you need a solid routine but everything has changed or stopped? Featuring Emma Tracey, and produced by Emma Tracey and Beth Rose.Subscribe to Ouch Cabin Fever on BBC Sounds, or say "ask the BBC for Ouch" to play the latest episode on your smart speaker.

Kate's Elhers-Danlos syndrome is causing her great pain this week, to the point she can't sleep or dress herself. Seven weeks in and she's finding her joints and mental health are suffering from the lack of movement due to isolating. Kate's wife Holly is on immunosuppressants and shielding for 12 weeks, but, together as a family, they make the decision to finally go for a social distanced walk. Was it the right choice? Produced by Amy Elizabeth - email amy.elizabeth@bbc.co.uk to get a message to Kate and Holly. Subscribe to this podcast on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker.

Hannah McDonald was sectioned before starting a nursing shift in 2008, with her uniform in her bag.Diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, she believes she suppressed the grief she felt for three friends who died suddenly when she was a child.It caught up with her years later when she was working as a nurse - she stopped sleeping, eating, started to self -harm, and had suicidal thoughts. She spent nearly 10 years in acute mental health units and a therapeutic community. At times she felt she’d lost everything but Hannah always knew she wanted to return to nursing.Twelve years on she has successfully returned to work as a hospice nurse. But no one could have predicted her first day would be the day the World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 a global pandemic.It’s not just caring that Hannah has a talent for, as a keen embroiderer she also got a call-up to work on the Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding dress. But when she revealed to a nurse what she’d been doing, they presumed she was delusional! Hann

Kate has spent over six weeks in isolation and is trying to manage the symptoms of Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and raise three-year-old daughter Scout. Her wife Holly is on immunosuppressants and has to shield for 12 weeks but is now going stir-crazy while Scout is becoming clingy and eating significantly less since lockdown started. Kate weighs up all their mental and physical needs. Produced by Amy Elizabeth - email amy.elizabeth@bbc.co.uk to get a message to Kate and Holly. Subscribe to this podcast on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker.

Award-winning screenwriter Charlie Swinbourne has plenty to keep him busy during lockdown as he develops storylines for deaf characters with EastEnders and Casualty.He reveals what it's like to be deaf at a time when everyone is social-distancing and where mouths are covered by masks, making lip-reading impossible.The writer and journalist also talks about the hashtag #WhereIsTheInterpreter which raised awareness of the fact sign language interpreters do not appear at the daily British government briefings. The hashtag has now morphed into a crowdfunding project to take the government to court using equality laws but Number 10 says it provides signers via the BBC News Channel.Beyond politics we head to soap-land to get the scoop on Charlie's TV projects and, if you're thinking of giving writing a try, he has some top tips to get you started and keep you going.Presented by Simon Minty and Beth Rose.Subscribe on BBC Sounds or say “Ask the BBC for Ouch” to your smart speaker.

Five weeks into isolation, Kate and Holly embark on something more daunting than tracking down a supermarket delivery slot - their first amateur home haircut. Kate's discomfort from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome intensifies due to her endometriosis, but any hope of alone time is impossible when isolating with a three-year-old. Holly is on immunosuppressants and admits she hasn't packed a hospital bag, as recommended by the NHS, for fear of 'tempting fate'. Can Kate persuade her otherwise? Produced by Amy Elizabeth. Email amy.elizabeth@bbc.co.uk to get a message to Kate and Holly. Subscribe to this podcast on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker.

Coronavirus is making itself known globally, so Cabin Fever thought it too would hot-foot it around the world to see how disabled people are managing.Lee Kumatat left the UK on 2 January for a brand new life in San Francisco, USA. Three months later we find her trying to live in lockdown in an unfamiliar city with a guide dog....and Pip, the cat she adopted a week ago. Holly Lane in Perth, Australia is doing her best not to touch anything but says that's surprisingly hard when she's "stumbling" about all day on the sticks she uses. Being a person with cerebral palsy, she has to hold onto things around her to keep her balance. She's also cashing in on newly-discovered energy stores after cutting out her three hour commute by working from home.Presented by Emma Tracey. Produced by Beth Rose.Subscribe on BBC Sounds or say “Ask the BBC for Ouch” to your smart speaker.

Week four in isolation is proving frustrating for Kate and her family - Kate has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome whilst wife Holly is on immunosuppressants, and so is classed as high risk. Kate is disappointed with a lack of empathy towards disabled people during the COVID-19 crisis. Mummy guilts are setting in with worries that three-year-old daughter Scout may be picking up on household anxiety, whilst Holly is frustrated with Kate and her untidy Lego obsession. The community finds innovative ways to stay connected, but is anyone else going a little bit mad trying to sign in to all these online play dates and group activities? Email producer amy.elizabeth@bbc.co.uk to get a message to Kate and Holly. Subscribe to this podcast on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker.

Beth and Ellen had been enjoying their moment in the spotlight as the Diabetic Duo when coronavirus came along.The type 1 diabetics had become known for their videos on the social media platform TikTok and dispelled myths around the condition, but the current pandemic and self-isolation has meant they’ve had to get creative with how they make their content.In this episode of Cabin Fever the duo reveal why diabetes is classed as High Risk in relation to Covid-19, how their emotions affect their blood sugar levels and their recent obsession with tie-dye loungewear. This week's presenters are having quite different quarantine issues. Simon Minty is a little person and says that had a stranger turned away from him in the street he would have taken it badly a few weeks ago - now it's positively welcome! And Emma feels liberated by lockdown. As a blind mum she says her house and garden are her “castle” and being at the home she knows so well means she can run about and play with her young boys independently. Produc

As a recipient of a kidney transplant, Kate's wife Holly falls within the high risk category, so together they are spending their third week in strict isolation. Kate, who has mobility difficulties, admits to feeling guilty she can't do more to help her community or to entertain their daughter Scout. This week's highlight is The Food Delivery which creates both euphoria and a bit of a household debate. Is anyone else disinfecting every single item before allowing them into the kitchen? Plus Kate and Holly introduce a new podcast feature they call Isolation Issues - a game which will unite (or divide) households across Britain. Produced by Amy Elizabeth Subscribe to this podcast on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker.