Can one merely post a thank you here....

For that is what I would like to do...

Thank you .....

For through this forum I have discovered a wonderful reminder as to why I "play" this game...

THANK YOU.....

I would love to see a forum on how gentles with disabilities and/or mobility aids deal with encampments and general play. This has been a tough issue for us for a while.

EXACTLY.... My 'troll" (that is what he prefers to be called).... Suffers from severe untreated scoliosis.... and as such "fighting" is out for him.... However in a matter of about 2 hours... He made 4 of the most magnificent bone needles a dressmaker and weaver could ask for.... I have 2 and a dear friend who is the most awesome of weavers has 2... Mine are thin and actually go through todays tightly woven fabrics and animal hides...

Now how does one with these sort of talents feel appreciated and wanted when....

So I agree....

Sybilla of Blackwater wrote:


^ I would like to second this.

Ealasaid von Tartalome wrote:



Maybe I'm an idealist, but it seems to me that his work should speak for itself. Eventually people will notice his skills and recognize him for that... his craftsmanship will be recognized and people will seek him out (actually, can you private message me, if he sells these?)... none of that should have anything to do with any disability.

Ealasaid von Tartalome wrote:



Oh, and there are ways around this too! IF he is interested (is he on this site?), I'd be happy to talk more about the various options (i.e., share what little knowledge I have and then direct you to others who know a lot more). It wasn't that long ago that a gentle in this kingdom who uses a wheelchair was authorized. Hurdles can be overcome.

Mistress Ariel de Courtenay wrote:


That is a great idea! Please send me a private message so we can discuss this further!

Ealasaid von Tartalome wrote:


You are so welcome! As I tell everyone who thanks us, the best thanks you can give us is to spread the word. The more members we have that participate on our site the more successful it will be for everyone.

Sybilla of Blackwater wrote:


Sybilla, we would LOVE to add a forum to get this word out, Lord Christoph has a tender place in is heart for this subject as both of his parents were disabled before they passed on last year. Any suggestions for the category name and what subcategories should be included?

Please forward our deepest regards and heartfelt support to Lord Christoph. Should he ever need a shoulder there are at least 4 here.
I hadn't thought of a name, nor subcategories. I will say that the issues we have experienced are accessible sites, events which allow generators for charging my lord husbands scooter and powering my oxygen concentrator, and very sadly to a degree the ignorance of not-so-gentles (NSG's) who insist that disabled persons did not mingle in civilized company in the middle ages (and for the record, that was more in the Victorian era ) or that we cannot use our modern equipment as it is OOP...but that is another topic entirely! Sorry.
Encampment equipment/gear modifications would be a good topic or subtopic now that I think of it. And I think a place for general discussion of able-bodied-ness or ill health experiences in the SCA is not out of ourder completely, as we have had many supportive and good experiences as well. (Am I being lucid here? ) And perhaps sources of disability friendly gear and impliments?
I'll discuss this with Yvan and add more when I can. Thank you so much for the overwhelming response to my suggestion.

Lady Nicolosa del Dolce wrote:


Here here! Erm, I mean, Huzzah! My partner and I both have chronic illnesses that requiring canes, and I am often in a manual wheelchair. She is very sun sensitive (burns in less than half an hour), susceptible to cold, and varies in how well she can move around. I'm temperature sensitive though to a lesser degree, and have an interesting assortment of joint problems. We're both in pain all the time, and we both have auto-immune conditions. (No, it's not catching, though we seem to catch everything ELSE that floats past us.)

I'm hoping to be able to fight once I've done more PT again, and we're both trying to figure out how to best manage at events and such. Close ones for daytripping aren't as much of a problem, depending on the site, but we're both a bit intimidated by the whole camping part. (Particularly since she's -never- been one for the whole outdoors sleeping bag thing, and the last time I slept on the ground, even well bundled, attempts at moving the next morning were slow and tear-inducing.) It doesn't help that neither of us can lift or carry much. We -are- both interested in a variety of the Arts and Sciences as well.

The local group has been quite kind, but being able to talk with a wider group of people would be a ton of help. I can't ask a question until I know the right one to ask!

For sections.. you could divide it by problem I suppose? Or make it a general forum, and encourage topic-specific posts to be made in the created forums (like rapier, scribing, etc) with perhaps a master link post for the overall sections in the Disabled section. I'll try to think on forum name suggestions too.

My husband and I are working on modifications that will allow us to camp and still be off the ground. Mind you this is mostly on his part due to the fact that at the last camping event we went to our tent site was directly over a spicers nest/hole/abode/thingy and I woke up with so many bites I ended up in the ER...not a good morning for me. (They were so bad the doctor thought I'd been beaten!)
As soon as we can some up with designs that are both strong and lightweight, we'll let you know. As far as set up goes, we just ask for help if we're not at an event with friends.
I totally understand being unable to pack-and-haul. It's been one of the things that I have so much trouble adapting to (the other being there are many fabric arts I can no longer do as I have trouble gripping and threading needles and so on).
And I'm going to stop now; I've just realised how self-pitying I sound.