Born 16 June 1947

Educated John Greenwood Hospital School; St Margaret’s School, Croydon; Thomas Delarue, Tonbridge

Born in Northampton General Hospital on 16 June 1947 three months premature, weighing less than 2lbs. Post-war care of premature babies. Stayed in hospital till August 1947 when 5 lbs, 5 oz. Home in Wellingborough. Father served in RAF, then started his own men’s hairdressers and tobacconist shop and became a local councillor. Mother was a tailor in Wellingborough clothes factory and served in Air Raid Precautions. Dorcas taken to London to see consultant surgeon Mr Bonham Carter who diagnosed cerebral palsy and told parents to put her away and forget her. Special high chair. Father joined the Spastics Society (now Scope). Dorcas had physiotherapy at Northampton Hospital. Parents tried to adopt but agency refused because they had a disabled child.

 

Parents joined Spastics Society. Dorcas never walked and was given standard issue waist-high callipers, hinged at hip and knee. Dorcas feels suffering with back today was due to callipers. Physiotherapy at St Margaret’s School and Delarue. Memories of holidays in Devon or Cornwall. Memory of watching the Coronation on TV at age 5. Playing cricket in an easy chair. Father was committee member with Spastics Society. Regular Sunday social evenings. Dorcas describes her father’s relationship with her and the origin of her name. Father’s mother was deaf. This may have influenced his attitude to disability. Father rented shop, selling tobacco, toiletries and men’s hairdressing from 8am to 9pm. Only one week’s holiday per year, with relatives in their Wolsey car. Father didn’t drive.

 

Dorcas compares her different types of education as a child. She lived in Wellingborough, Northampton. First, she had a home teacher, Gertie Jordon. Dorcas describes the isolation of being taught at home. After 2 years, she went to the John Greenwood Hospital School as a boarder for one year. Dorcas describes the different types of wheelchairs used by the children at the school.

 

Dorcas describes her second school, St Margaret’s School, Croydon, Surrey. Dorcas praises the Guide and Scout movement. The children never went out of school to the shops - sweets were sent to them. They spent their pocket money on subs at their meetings and collection for church. Dorcas describes in painful detail the callipers nearly all the children wore. They were only taken off at night to go to bed.

 

Problems of head and eye control made reading difficult but Dorcas mastered this and reading was a godsend. St Margaret’s School. Wearing callipers during the day. Growing awareness of being disabled. Aged 12 went to Thomas Delarue School. Occasionally had someone to write for her; at other times Dorcas held the pencil in her mouth. Donation of electric typewriters. Enjoyed the Beatles. Read every book in library. Difficulties with eating.

Little contact with outside world. Pocket money mostly spent in tuck shop on tissues for colds. Elizabeth Oliver, speech therapist, taught her to breathe properly to help speech.

 

Science teacher at Delarue taught practical things, like taking an iron to bits to show how it worked. Art teacher showed pictures and posters to give an understanding of art. Went to church on Sundays, a mile from school. Attitude of rest of congregation. Basic wheelchairs. Annual party. Visit to Gilbert and Sullivan production in London. Prize day. Remembers being scared when sent to local hospital in Maidstone by ambulance, unaccompanied, after a bad asthma attack. Dorcas won a medal for swimming a width. Once or twice Dorcas was forgotten and left in toilet. Attending PHAB club changed Dorcas’s life. She has written a book.

 

Being a loner at school. In 1964 Dorcas left school at 15, very depressed. Work assessment – IQ and pattern recognition. Some former pupils had done ‘O’ and ‘A’ Levels but still couldn’t get a job. Attitude of teachers. Electric typewriters. Parents’ influence. Home tutoring.  

 

Experiences at Thomas Delarue School, Tonbridge. Visits from Richard Hearne (‘Mr Pastry’, who opened early hydrotherapy pool) and Michael Bentine (cut ribbon on electronic door operated by pressure signal from mat).

Speech days. Damaging effect of remarks by consultant that pupils would always have to ‘think disabled’. Dorcas’s feelings on leaving school. Positives and negatives of boarding school. Involvement with Wellingborough Youth Council. Value of work of Community Volunteers in Schools. Help from PHAB (physically handicapped and able-bodied) club. Wheelchair problems caused by poor design. Reactions of public to disabled people.                                                            

                           

Dorcas’s talks to young people about her relationships and feelings, and not having had a job. Changes in language associated with disability; problems of being too ‘PC’. DM’s attendance on PHAB courses and Treasure Trove courses run by Northamptonshire Association of Youth Clubs at Grendon Hall. Activities included art, music, drama, photography, dance and local history. Courses organised by Revd Harry Whittaker, Mary Robinson and Lady Jean McKenzie at Avon Tyrrell. Origin of PHAB’s name. Organisation of courses with help of Round Table, Rotary and Westminster School. Meetings of Wellingborough PHAB with speakers, quizzes, parties and art. Committee fundraising.

 

PHAB versus other youth clubs. Attended first course in 1964. Members included many in wheelchairs and people with speech difficulties. PHAB’s aim: bridging with able-bodied world. Difficulty getting outside organisations involved; some able-bodied people nervous of disabled people. Dorcas’s involvement began in late teens. Decision not to do paid work - got access grant in 1980s for work with CSV at Wellingborough. Relationships with men.

Friends in Wellingborough. Camping for 43 years at Woodlarks, Farnham, which was donated by Strover family who are still involved in running weekly camps from May to September. Workshop for disabled people to make things to sell. Dorcas goes with Pathfinders group (many from Manchester).

1970s and 1980s - with Mobility International and Radar World Conferences, Dorcas visited Edinburgh, Lisbon, Japan, and Florida. Support for disabled people in other countries. Japan’s bus access. When her mother became ill, she suggested that Dorcas go into a home. Dorcas became a carer for her. Around ten years after leaving school, Dorcas first began talking to school students about being disabled. 

 

In late 60’s Dorcas became a member of SEQUAL (Special Equipment and Aids for Living), providing communication equipment for disabled people. SEQUAL aims to provide anything from a computer adaptation to a page turner. Equipment costs from £5 to £6,000. Technological advances. Trustee for Ability Northampton, previously called Council for the Disabled. Dorcas voted to change the name. DDA (Disability Discrimination Act). Access problems and architects. Aged 18-20, Dorcas won the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award at Buckingham Palace. Involvement with Wellingborough Youth Council and Community Service Volunteers. For 19 years she ran a PHAB group. Now there are more chances for disabled people to join in.

 

Fundraising walks for PHAB. Dorcas researched an access guide for Wellingborough, including shops, public buildings, churches and as many roads as possible. Dropped kerbs. Funding from CSV (Community Service Volunteers). Involvement with Northampton County Council for the Disabled. Dorcas became chairman of Wellingborough branch. Voluntary work on access issues. Questions asked by students: if she had a boyfriend; has she had sex; did she regret being disabled, what was the worst thing that could happen. Communication via computers and e-mails. She helps with the local strategic plan for Wellingborough for health, well-being, quality and sustainability.

 

Computer has enabled Dorcas to communicate with others, find information and do shopping. She types with a plastic knitting needle in her mouth. Writing booklets to help others understand disability. Discussion of her faith.

Having her own transport. Why Dorcas uses male carers. Means testing for care was very difficult. Discussion of MBE which she received in 1999.

 

MBE for services to disabled people. Prince Charles. Memories of ceremony and earlier trip to Buckingham Palace with parents to receive Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award. Enjoyment and benefits of Speaking for Ourselves oral history project. Disagrees with perception of disability as ‘sad’. Meeting celebrities Cliff Richard, Rolf Harris, Angus Ogilvy. Recognition in community.

Memories of Bill Hargreaves, who she met at Delarue. Impact of her disability. Speech day at school. Support from speech therapists, occupational therapists and teachers. Experiences of discrimination. Description of incident when asked to leave pub as upsetting other customers. Description of incident on trip to the Holy Land. Worries about Disability Discrimination Act. Parents set up trust for Dorcas for after their deaths. Incident on day out to 

Meeting Margaret Morgan, employment officer of the Spastics Society, at Delarue School. Toc H, a community-based charity, took students for walks. Meeting able-bodied people. Camping at Woodlarks. Visits to Paris and Rome. National Gallery. A Picture of Britain with David Dimbleby. Dan Cruickshank’s Eighty Great Treasures. Trips to southern Ireland, St Ives and Canada. People patting Dorcas on the head. Patronising attitude of a restaurant manager. Access and dropped kerbs. Ability Northants access audits. Disability Discrimination Act. Lack of understanding of disability. How the computer has changed Dorcas’s life. Broadband.

Difficulty finding volunteers as carers. Dorcas applied for the Independent Living Fund. When her mother died and left her some money, Dorcas paid for her own care for a while. When she tried to get back on to the Independent Living Fund, she was refused as she needed 24-hour care. Direct Payments: Dorcas was paid monthly and was responsible for employing her help. £9 per hour is allowed, which includes tax and NI for the carers. Difficulty finding carers. ‘Caring’ is not thought of as a profession although it is as much so as teaching.

                                                                                                           

Since the introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act there has been a difference in access for disabled people. Dorcas was asked to leave a pub because other customers objected to her disability. The impact of the video age on Dorcas’s talks. Disability awareness in schools. Disability Rights Commission. Support networks for disabled people. Many of her fellow pupils at the Thomas Delarue School went to university. She did not want to go.

 

Dorcas’s father was a member of the local Spastics Society (now Scope). Dorcas had a Victorian pram, made of wicker on wheels. Dorcas wasn’t diagnosed with cerebral palsy until the age of 2. Support came mostly from family, a great-aunt in particular. At 12 years, her parents tried to adopt a child. They were refused because of Dorcas, which made her very upset and guilty. Before going away to boarding school, the Health Service provided an ambulance to take her to day school. Parents had no car. Disabled people’s increasing involvement in organisations. Improved access. High costs of care. Dorcas is a board member of local theatre. Attitude and lack of understanding make people feel more disabled. Download transcript of tape 13