I was delighted to be recently nominated for a Blogger Recognition Award! Having not been blogging for long and always feeling guilty because my health doesn’t always allow me to write as often as I would like, it’s nice to have a little recognition, so thanks! 😊 I am taking the opportunity here to nominate other bloggers whose work I find engaging.

Rules for Participating in Blogger Recognition Award

• Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
• Write a post to show your award.
• Attach the award to your post.
• Give a brief story of how your blog started.
• Give a piece of advice or two to new bloggers.
• Select 15 other blogs you want to give the award to.
• Comment on each blog and let them know you have nominated them and provide a link to the award post you created.

Firstly thanks to…..

My blog was nominated for a Blogger Recognition Award by Char of London who always wanted to write. She found the perfect time when she was in between jobs and blogged as a way to motivate herself. Here’s her nomination of my blog;

With the availability of information on just about anything via google, It is becoming more difficult to filter through good, informed advice and bad advice. Everyone becomes an expert and it is probably frustrating. I admire that you are using this platform to raise awareness on autoimmune diseases. I have nominated you for a blogger recognition award and included a link to your page as one of my favourites https://charoflondon.com/2016/07/07/blogger-recognition-award/ . looking forward to seeing more

How my blog started….

As a result of disability discrimination I experienced when I went to see The Last Leg at the ITV Studios earlier this year. We (disabled people) encounter discrimination regularly but this time the irony lay in the very show I went to see, a show that arose from the 2012 Paralympics and is hosted by people with disabilities. Screened on Channel 4 (which again, ironically has claimed 2016 ‘The Year of Disability’) and filmed at ITV Studios who systematically failed to comply with the Equality Act 2010 in every reference to this incident. The series of blogs went viral which you can catch here. I have continued to write on disability discrimination ever since with a growing online network especially on Twitter.

Advice for new bloggers…

I’m very new so I am sure I could do with some advice myself! However I think I would say to write from the heart about some you are passionate about – whatever that may be! It’s a great way to meet like minded people or others in the same boat as well as creating new networks – be they fun, work or support.

My Nominees (in no particular order, not quite 15 but quality rather than quantity!)

1. https://feministfrequency.com
   Blogs to deconstructing the stereotypes and tropes associated with women in popular culture as well as highlighting issues surrounding the targeted harassment of women in online and gaming spaces.
2. http://www.conversationswithhank.com/2016/07/08/black-lives-matter/
   Charts a narrative of Joy Hanford’s discussions with her 8 yr old son Hank. They discuss her having RA as well as harrowing news stories.
3. http://hannah-thompson.blogspot.co.uk
   Maps her place as a partially-blind academic in a resolutely sighted world
4. https://hannahbarhambrown.wordpress.com/2016/03/16/junior-doctors-burnt-out-before-we-begin/
   A newly qualified doctor in the UK Hannah Brown and disability activist writing about issues across both subjects
5. https://theinvisibledisabilityandme.wordpress.com
   Laura talks about the challenges she faces with Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss. She also bakes amazing cakes to order!
6. http://www.hotwheelsgoes.com/
   Writes a travel blog from a disabled persons perspective regaling you with the (sometimes ridiculous) stories of travelling with a disability
7. https://makemeasammich.org
   Is a ranty, sometimes funny, sometimes dead-serious blog largely about being a girl and a woman in the US. Topics include feminism, racism, rape culture, trans issues, the games industry
8. https://disabledidentity.wordpress.com
   Mike Mort is a disabled activist with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, he also designs awesome shirts with unique graphics portraying some of our most loved DC superheroes in wheelchairs
9. http://vickysrheumatoidstory.blogspot.co.uk
   Described a touching and frank description of life with Rheumatoid Arthritis.
10. https://fempeacock.wordpress.com
    AJ uses pronouns; they, them, and their, rather than he and she. Identifying as a panromantic, asexual, agenderflux person. AJ hopes one day to gain personal acceptance as well as that of family and the wider community

Thanks again Char of London for the nomination and to you all for finding the time to follow and support my little blog! Much love 😘