Writing Before I Could Read

For people who have only known me for a relatively short time, my enjoyment of books and my determination to write, have been slightly difficult to explain. It is true that my eyesight and visual perception only improved enough to make reading a pleasure, or even particularly useful, as the most remarkable ongoing part of My Serrapeptase Adventure, which began in 2006. Books and writing have been part of my life for many years and I was determined to write, despite doing so being physically difficult and often painful, before I learnt about voice recognition in the early 1990s.

Fortunately, I grew up with a family and friends who enjoyed reading, and many of whom were happy to read to me. Perhaps it would be fair to say that what I think of as an enjoyment of books could be more accurately described as enjoyment of the spoken word. As a child, I was fascinated by radio drama, without my eyesight being a problem.

As a very young child, I enjoyed the stories of Thomas the Tank Engine and several years later, I met Rev. W.V. Awdry, the author of the original stories. Although I was still too young, at that time, to have meaningful discussions about ‘being a writer’, I am sure that it was at about this time that I first formed the idea that writers were ordinary people who enjoyed sharing their stories, and that ordinary people, like myself, could be writers too.

Later, the stories of Laura Ingalls Wilder, known as The “Little House” Books, were read to me. I think my parents thought that they would give me an idea of my American heritage. I am not sure that they taught me much about my own history, but the books are filled with simple but evocative descriptions, which provide a springboard for the imagination, which was sadly lacking from the television films.

When Laura Ingalls Wilder started writing her classic “Little House” book series in 1932, she had no idea of creating fame for herself or the places where she had lived. She wrote simply to preserve tales of a lost era in American history, the pioneer period she vividly recalled from her growing-up years on the midwestern frontier in the 1870′s and 1880′s. When Laura completed her eight-volume series in 1943, she had achieved a lasting and substantial literary picture of pioneer life as she had experienced it in Wisconsin, Kansas, Minnesota, and South Dakota.

Quoted from www.lauraingallswilder.com

In the ten years from my early teens, I enjoyed writing poetry. Although none of my poems was formally published at the time, I was honoured to be invited to take part in a number of local poetry festivals workshops and recitals. At one of these workshops, I met, one of the UK’s best-known performance poets, Benjamin Zephaniah, of whom it is said:

Young writers have said that the accessibility of his work has inspired them to take up writing, many record sleeves bare witness to the fact that he has inspired many of the new generation of rappers, and of all the performance poets that emerged in the late seventies/early eighties he is one of the few that is still going strong. He has thirteen honorary doctorates in recognition of his work and a wing in a west London hospital has been named after him. Zephaniah believes that working with human rights groups, animal rights groups and other political organisations means that he will never lack subject matter. He now spends much of his time in China, but he continues working throughout Asia, South America and Africa, and is as passionate about politics and poetry now as he has ever been.

Quoted from www.benjaminzephaniah.com

Although Benjamin’s style is, of course, very different from mine, I learnt a great deal from him and his encouragement, which is among the inspirations, to return to writing poetry in the future.

When studying for examinations at the end of secondary school (high school), I was honoured to meet one of England’s best-loved writers. The poet and novelist Laurie Lee, who was best known for his novel, Cider with Rosie, which was one of the books I was studying at the time. It was my privilege to meet Laurie on a number of occasions and to have the opportunity to talk with him about both the process of writing and about the places and the people, who inspired him.

Once he discovered that I was studying Cider with Rosie, and that reading was difficult for me, Laurie gave me the gift of an audio recording of him reading it. When I met him again sometime later I bought a copy of the book, which he autographed for me, including a comment that I had heard it already. Perhaps, like my more recent friends, Laurie also found it surprising that I wanted the printed book, despite both of us knowing, at that time, I could not have hoped to read it.

Like so many people who met him, I will always remember Laurie as an immensely gentle and kind man, with a great sense of humour and a tremendous appreciation of beauty.

In the early 1990s, my own writing took a new direction, when I started to research and to write the series of books, which now have the working title: The Disability Maze Books. Reasonably quickly, I learnt that many of the good people who work within the education, social-care, and health systems feel as trapped by them as do those of us who rely on their services. In this wide-ranging series of books, I will explore how elements of each of these systems could be refocused, reformed and, if necessary, replaced.

By the late 1990s, cerebral palsy was ready to remind me that it often has a sting in its tail, about which very few people are told until it strikes. It is true that the underlying brain damage which caused it had not changed, but the cumulative effect of the wear and tear caused to every system of the body simply by living with cerebral palsy, combined with years of toxicity from prescription medication had begun to overpower me and to send my health into a relentless downward spiral. I had to stop writing and concentrate on simple survival. In December 2005, I had finally accepted that this would be my lot for as much time as I had left and that there might not be very much of it.

Just before Christmas, 2005, my life was about to change again. One of my friends told me about an amazing food supplement; the miracle enzyme, called Serrapeptase. My research at the time showed that this might be a useful natural painkiller and I definitely needed one.

January 3 2006, was to mark the first day of My Serrapeptase Adventure. With my sceptic’s hat firmly on my head, I took Serrapeptase for the first time, sat back and waited for the results. I did not have to wait for long. Within just 48 hours, my lungs began to clear and over the following few days my lung capacity improved and stabilised. In the following weeks, my heart rate returned to normal and stabilised and my digestive system returned to normal. Before the end of February 2006, I was able safely to stop taking all my prescription medications and the improvements were maintained. The progress continues to this day.

By February 2006, I was writing again, but The Disability Maze Books were not the focus of my attention. Since no one, least of all me, or my doctors, had ever expected my health to improve in such a dramatic and sustained way, it soon became clear that I was embarking upon “a great health adventure”. To read the full and continuing story, you are welcome to visit My Serrapeptase Adventure website.

By November 2006, my eyesight and visual perception, which were damaged as a direct result, and integral part, of cerebral palsy, had also begun to improve. My eyesight is now within normal range and the improvement continues to this day. Does this mean that the remarkable enzyme, Serrapeptase, can overcome the impact of congenital brain damage? I do not have a complete medical answer to this, but I am enjoying the challenge of finding one.

Now that my health is stable and my continuing progress suggests that the future is one to which I can look forward with confidence, I am, at last, able to concentrate, more fully, upon the writing I had intended to do, so many years ago. I will, of course, enjoy continuing to share My Serrapeptase Adventure on the website and via radio. I am very pleased to be able to return to the research and writing of The Disability Maze Books, and to sharing my progress with you. It has been most exciting to learn how much easier it is to research information now that my eyesight and visual perception have both improved enough to make independent reading a practical option. I still need to work very hard to improve my fluency, but it is already better than ever. I like a challenge and life is good.