Interview with Valerie Lang MBE
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"I’d never met these people before lunch. All the time they’d treated me like a rather clever four-year-old. With a beaming smile, the wife said to me, ‘You must come and see us in the summer, with your mummy and your daddy,’ and at the time, I suppose I was about 40. I was halfway through rather a good career, and they knew I’d been to university."
Interview with Valerie Lang MBE
Retired senior research officer, honorary life member of Scope, London
Born 29 August 1939
Educated St Margaret’s, Croydon; Welburn Hall, Kirbymoorside; Beckenham Technical Institute; NW Kent College of Advanced Technology, Dartford; London School of Economics and Political Science; University College London; Open University
Tape 1, Side 1 (1939-43)
Born 29 August 1939 in Sale, Cheshire, four days before World War 2 was declared. Mother’s doctor was on holiday at time of Valerie’s birth. Long labour and forceps delivery, resulting in brain damage. First child. Assumption that Valerie would be mentally disabled. Doctor offered parents a place for Valerie in a long-stay hospital. Valerie’s mother refused, teaching VL to feed herself, talk (3 years old) and walk (6 years old). Valerie’s father, the only son of a doctor, was journalist on Manchester Evening News. On outbreak of war, he joined Auxiliary Fire Service, then volunteered for RAF. Mother stopped work (shorthand typist) when she was married. VL’s parents met and lived in Leeds, then moved to Timperly in Cheshire. Lack of encouragement from professionals towards Valerie. Valerie and her mother moved about, staying with various relatives, including a Grandmother in the Lake District to get away from war bombing. Spent a few months in North Wales, where a physiotherapist was working with children with cp.
Tape 1, Side 2 (1943-47)
Valerie’s parents had to pay privately for physiotherapy and Valerie’s mother was not happy in Wales. . Turbulent time for family. Very little known about cerebral palsy. Commonly thought it was not worth doing much. Valerie and her mother stayed with Valerie’s aunt in a coastal village ‘Beadnell Harbour’, near ‘Seahouses’ in Northumberland. Her aunt owned a café which was turned into a NAAFI Café [‘NAAFI’: Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes] for service personnel. Valerie’s father RAF navigator. Transport was difficult. Aged four, Valerie went into hospital for three weeks to learn to walk. Valerie’s parents not allowed to visit. Callipers. Spasticity. Valerie’s maternal grandfather heard of a new school near Croydon specialising in cerebral palsy. At age of 7 and a half, Valerie went as a boarder. Upset to be left by her parents. Four terms, no weekends. Parents sacrificed a quarter of their income driving to school from Manchester 12 times a year. Eighteen children at school at first: 6 day pupils, 12 boarders, from all over. 36 pupils at its height. St Margaret’s was established in 1946 in a house in Croydon, let for a peppercorn rent by the Garwood family. The school was set up by Jean Garwood and four parents (Alex Moira, Ian Dawson-Shepherd, Eric Hodgson, and a Mr Green), who had intelligent girls with cerebral palsy. They later created what became the Spastics Society. Learning to read at 8. The 1944 Education Act stated that all children with IQs above 70, including disabled children, must be educated to the level of their ability. Cheshire County Council funded Valerie’s education. Fees at St Margaret’s were equivalent to Eton.
Tape 2, Side 1 (1947-53)
Discussion of special schools. In 1946 Valerie’s father left RAF and was home permanently. First day at St Margaret’s daunting. Joan Edwards was Valerie’s
housemother. Children over 6 were taught in one big room. Valerie was allowed only one hour out of her wheelchair. Teaching pupils to walk. No records, radio or TV. Occasional film show. Watching the coronation of Queen Elizabeth at the Garwoods’ house. Television. Visitors to school.
Download transcript of tape 2
Tape 3, Side 1 (1953-56)
Parents refused to transfer Valerie to secondary school for children with cerebral palsy at Puckle Hill. Education in morning, afternoon devoted to horticulture and other practical subjects. Dr Marjorie Wilson, Her Majesty’s Inspector for Special Schools recommended North Yorkshire school of headmaster, J. Hywell Williams. Valerie started at Welburn Hall in north Yorkshire in January, 1954, at age 14 and stayed until 17. School had 2 groups for secondary school aged pupils: 'S1' for general education and Valerie was in the ‘S2’ ‘Grammar School’ group. No allowance made for Valerie in one set of end of year exams. She was one of the least physically able pupils. At 16 she and 2 others (1 with asthma, 1 with polio) were put in a separate class to study English Language, English Literature and History ‘O’ Levels.
Tape 3, Side 2 (1954-57)
70 pupils at Welburn Hall. Classroom was a converted stable block. Valerie allowed to watch TV two evenings a week. Saturday afternoon film shows. Sunday School and church. Confirmation at 15. Anglican Church and how it has changed. At school, Valerie shared a bedroom with Judy. Not given extra time for ‘O’ levels in 1956 so failed. Valerie left the school at 17. Valerie visited the Bobath Clinic in London in early 1957 for intensive physiotherapy and speech training. Valerie stayed in a Roman Catholic convent and became friends with a physiotherapist there. Hearing her voice on tape precipitated Valerie’s first depression. Travelling by bus to Anglican Communion at 8am and later Evensong at St John’s Church. Levels of friendliness in Yorkshire and London.
Tape 4, Side 1 (1955-60)
Bertie [Berta] Bobath was Jewish and lived in Austria. Report of rumour that first husband was a Nazi and he had to choose between the Nazi party and his wife. She left for England and later married Dr Karl Bobath. The Bobaths set up physiotherapy unit. Description of Mrs Bobath’s personality. Valerie’s father moved from Manchester to London with the Daily Express, and Valerie met him once a week for lunch. Family bought a detached, new house in Beckenham. Valerie went to local technical institute two days per week for English Language, English Literature and French, and she studied Geography at evening class. Valerie passed all her ‘O’ levels with extra time. ‘A’ levels at Dartford College of Advanced Technology. Help from fellow students l
ed to Valerie’s decision to accept help. This was a decision which she feels has altered the course of her life.
Tape 4, Side 2 (1959-60)
‘A’ levels in Economic History, British Constitution and Economics completed in one year. Decided to apply for university. Writer’s cramp. Valerie’s class friend Fred gave her carbon copy of his notes. Valerie’s mother typed up notes and essays. Valerie took exams in a separate room with her typist and invigilator. Exam technique described. She passed all three A-levels. The London School of Economics offered Valerie an interview and a place to read Economics. LSE was not very accessible.
Download transcript of tape 4
Tape 5, Side 1 (1959-61)
Studying at Dartford College. Friendships. Entering the London School of Economics at the age of 21. Friends including Christine Whitehead, now a professor at the LSE. Living at home in Beckenham. Methods of studying. In 1960, the head porter Len Keary, who had a daughter with cp, greeted her on her first day at LSE and provided very practical help all the time she was there. Friendships at LSE.
Download transcript of tape 5
Tape 6, Side 1 (1962-63)
Third year of BSc Economics at LSE. Chess club. Anglican Society. The lasting importance of friendships made at LSE. Moving into Canterbury Hall of Residence. Changes in ways of coping. Using a tape recorder and an electric typewriter. Needed to invent her own way of working. Valerie decided that she would need a fourth year to complete her degree. Tutor persuaded her to try for a career in Librarianship.
Tape 6, Side 2 (1964-64)
Life in Canterbury Hall. Valerie’s discovery that she needed more help than she had realised. Favourable attitudes of fellow students. She felt accepted. Brief discussion of jealously encountered in later years. Mary Wright who had typed VL’s A-levels, came up to LSE to type her final exams. Discussion of exam techniques and conditions. Lower Second Degree.
Download transcript of tape 6
Tape 7, Side 1 (1964-65)
Valerie’s feelings about her degree. Graduation ceremony in the Albert Hall attended by Queen Mother. VL interviewed by a writer from The Daily Express. September ’64 to September ’65 VL working as a student assistant in the British Library of Political and Economic Science. Interview at NOP. Living in Beckenham. Commuting. October 1965 at University College London. Return to Canterbury Hall of Residence.
Tape 7, Side 2 (1965-66)
One-year graduate diploma in librarianship at UCL (the Henry Morley Building). Describes study methods, friendships made, and considerable assistance received, particularly from Austen. Tape recorders. Increased number of falls.
Download transcript of tape 7 Tape 8, Side 1 (1966-67)
Final details about the UCL course in Librarianship. Dinner at Post Office Tower. Harder to find paid work than university places. Job at Senate House Library in Russell Square. Cataloguing Harry Price’s library on conjuring and magic, ghosts and mediumship. Typewriters and computers. London Graduate School of Business Studies. Research Assistant to Librarian Ken Vernon.
Tape 8, Side 2 (1967-1969)
Faceted classification of business studies at the London Business School. Methods of working. At Polytechnic of North London, VL became a research assistant to one of the readers. Moved into first flat in August 1969. First time Valerie had lived alone. Ground-floor, self-contained flat in Drayton Park. Cooking for One and Delia Smith book How to Cheat at Cooking. Shopping with Austen Still attending St Mark’s Church, Myddleton Square.
Tape 9, Side 1 (1969-70)
Occupational Therapy department of The London Hospital helped with cooking meals. Mellaware crockery. Bobath Clinic. Hearing a recording of her voice triggered worst depression to date. The progression of VL’s intermittent depression, its causes, and how she was helped to overcome it.
Tape 9, Side 2 (1970-93)(1964-90)
Tavistock Clinic. Visited Miss Pat Hinton in Isleworth once a week for psychotherapy. Ways of coping with increasing effects of disability included having a ‘home-sharer’, and the use of pavement scooters and stair-lifts.
Download transcript of tape 9 Tape 10, Side 1 (1964-90)
Friendship with Matthew, a university friend from LSE. Followed by reminiscences of father’s and mother’s lives and sister’s early years. Describes being offered an MBE.
Tape 10, Side 2 (1990, then back to 1970-74)
Describes the awarding of an MBE in June 1990 when VL was 51, and the ceremony at Buckingham Palace in November 1990. Chronology of temporary posts 1970-74: the Polytechnic of North London, the International Publishing Corporation and the Department of Employment. Also discusses living in the YWCA Alexandra Club, 1970-1977.
Tape 11, Side 1 (1970s)
Discusses the difficulties of finding work in the early years of career, and the attitudes of employers.
Tape 12, Side 1 (1972-74)
Description of life in the YWCA Alexandra Club. Lists the mix of consultancies and temporary posts held 1972-74: Institute of Personnel Management, the London Business School, the International Publishing Corporation’s Press Cuttings Library and the Department of Employment. Discusses the difficulties involved in trying to obtain a permanent position as a qualified librarian. Speech impairment. Gained permanent post as an Assistant Librarian at the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) – eight years after qualifying.
Tape 12, Side 2 (1982-83)
Work in the CAA Library. Travelling to and from work on Routemaster buses – and occasionally falling off. The problem of how to deal with the shock experienced after falls. Learning to drive aged 43 in Central London. Learning to use a computer.
Download transcript of tape 12
Tape 13, Side 1 (1976-1990s)
Work much improved by the introduction of computers c1985. Open University course “The Handicapped Person in the Community” 1976. Attempts to gain promotion ending in success in 1979. Problems and successes working in the Economics Division of the CAA.
Download transcript of tape 13 Tape 14, Side 1 (1983-1997)
Describes work in CAA’s Economics Division, monitoring deregulation in America and Europe. Recounts instances of jealousy among a few colleagues. Describes the difficulty of making coffee as an instance of the mundane problems involved in everyday life and practical solutions found.
Tape 14, Side 2 (1983-1997)
Discusses her view that librarianship was not suitable for a person with speech problems. Lead up to early retirement. Download transcript of tape 14
Tape 15, Sides 1 and 2 (1974-1997)
Begins with Valerie’s retirement party, and the reasons for taking early retirement at the age of 58. Looks back over her 23 years at CAA, concluding that the CAA had been a good employer, and had provided necessary equipment when asked to do so. Valerie felt her life at the CAA compared favourably to those of disabled Civil Servants she met at a conference.Download transcript of tape 15
Tape 16, Side A (1969-1985)
Valerie’s accommodation. Coming from a happy family home, and having spent her school years at boarding school and her later university career in a hall of residence, she wanted her own home by the time she was 30. She describes in some detail living in a succession of flats, the first two rented, the third and fourth she was able to buy. Discusses the difficulty in finding a level ground floor flat in Islington.
Tape 16, Side B (1985-2006)
Practicalities of living with a disability after the age of 50. For 20 years Valerie had lived alone (with help from friends) and had adopted a clothing style that was practical. At 50 she began to need more help, and decided to share first her flat, and then a house, with people who would assist her. She moved into a house because she needed more room to accommodate someone to help her. Discusses the reasons choosing her particular house, and for living in Islington. Comments on access in various places. Download transcript of tape 16
Tape 17, Side A (1970-1993)
Valerie’s committee work, which she began long before she retired. She was first introduced to committee work at the Association of ’62 Clubs by Bill Hargreaves of the Spastics Society (which later changed its name to Scope). She describes some of the activities of the ’62 Clubs. Growing involvement with the Spastics Society. To qualify herself to speak on the Society’s committees, she took a Post Experience course at the Open University in 1976. In the early ‘70s she became a member of the PCC (Parochial Church Council) at her Church. She explains her involvement with various local tiers of government in the Church of England: PCC, Deanery Synod and Area Synod.
Tape 17, Side B (1976-94)
Open University exam. The work of the Resources Committee, which was Valerie’s introduction to the Spastics Society itself. This led to her election on the governing body of the Spastics Society, the Executive Council in 1979. She counts as achievements the abolition of collecting dolls, and start of the move to change the charity’s name from ‘The Spastics Society’ to ‘Scope’. She is pleased with the name ‘Scope’. Her time on the Executive Council.
Download transcript of tape 17
Tape 18, Side A (1980-93)
Recounts instances of speaking in public, just using notes. In meetings where it can be difficult to catch a Chair’s eye, then Valerie finds it useful to find an ally to help her do so. Describes techniques she has used in public speaking and in several TV appearances. Recounts being appointed to ‘The British Rail Advisory Group on Transport for the Disabled’ (known as ‘BRAG’), its work and successes, and the ‘perk’ that came with it. After British Rail had been privatised, Valerie was invited to join ‘DPTAC’, which is the Disabled Persons’ Advisory Committee on Transport. Download transcript of tape 18
Tape 19, Side A (1993-2001)
Valerie stood down from the Spastics Society’s Executive Council in November 1994, just after it had succeeded in changing the charity’s name to Scope. She felt that 15 years was long enough and at the turning point of a new name, it was a good time to go. Looks back at some great changes in the 15 years. Discussion of DPTAC, and the part Valerie played on it, representing people who walked unsteadily, and those who had speech difficulties. She does not feel ‘oppressed’ as a disabled person, but she thinks that many people lack the imagination to understand the day-to-day implications of disability.
Tape 19, Side B (1986-2005)
Access better in the USA and in New Zealand. Committees including the Islington Patient and Public Forum (which replaced the Community Health Council); Mobility Choice (which runs the Mobility Roadshow); HomeShare (which matches younger and older people together to enable the older people to continue living in their own homes). She also mentions being proud of having been the first Spastics Society Vice Chairman who had cerebral palsy.
Download transcript of tape 19
Tape 20, Side A (2005)
Election to the European Disability Forum (EDF) in 2005, representing CP-ECA, the European arm of the International Cerebral Palsy Society (ICPS). Speeches to ICPS Conferences. Discusses the role of ICPS conferences and seminars. Believes her own role at meetings and conferences is simply to add the perspective of someone who has had the experience of living with cerebral palsy.
Tape 20, Side B (1958-2000 )
Valerie’s religious experiences from the time she first came to London at the age of 17. The very low Church of her late teens, the Christian Union at Technical College, the Anglican Society at University, St Mark’s for 20 years, PCC, Deanery and Area Synods. She felt that she contributed successfully to all, till she got to the London Diocesan Synod - a disaster area. Valerie analyses what she sees as the group dynamics. Letter to the Bishop of London. She decided to stick to groups of no more than 30 in future. Download transcript of tape 20
Tape 21, Side A (1958-2000)
Valerie ponders why she failed to gain acceptance on London Diocesan Synod. Church Action on Disability (CHAD). Effect of the DDA. Move to St James’, Prebend Street for theological reasons. Efforts to reconcile some views of disability with the concept of loving God.
Download transcript of tape 21
Tape 22, Side A (1946-1990)
Holidays. Valerie gained confidence in walking on a sandy beach while on holiday, probably in 1946. First solo trip by air in 1957 to stay with friends in Brussels. In 1975 Valerie flew to Montreal to stay with friends in Canada and the USA. Discusses attitudes and accessibility in America. Experiences, good and bad, of flying. Children’s attitudes to her speech difficulties.
Tape 22, Side B (1990-2004)
Reactions of children to disability. Access in America. Riding on San Francisco’s cable cars. In general Valerie found flying easy, except for two occasions. Visited Syria and Jordan. Saw Petra and Palmera. Attitudes of people in various countries, and of other members of the groups she and Austin travelled with.
Download transcript of tape 22
Tape 23, Side A (1982-2004)
Valerie’s first holiday in Venice with Austin. First use of a buggy – at first reluctant, but Valerie had to agree that it was successful. Coping with lots of steps and bridges, and the helpfulness of the Venetians. Travelling by train in Britain. Holidays in Barbados. Trips to other parts of Italy. Syria and awareness of breaking local social taboos. Trips to Dubrovnik and Portugal. Attitudes. Holidays in the English Lake District, and lastly to New Zealand.
Tape 23, Side B (1982-2004)
Talks about the years when she had confidence to travel alone by train or plane, to stay with friends at her destination. This confidence largely lost in later years after she broke an ankle. Talks about visiting Barbados again, the places that she did not get to see, and her great good fortune in having a travelling companion who enabled her to do so much.
Download transcript of tape 23
Tape 24, Side A (1981-2002)
Valerie found she fell more often in middle age, with more serious consequences. Falls off buses and new fear of escalators. To avoid falling so often, she learned to drive a car, and began to walk with a weighted shopping trolley. Found that she, and others with cerebral palsy, developed problems of ageing earlier than expected. Had less energy then before, which limited some committee work. London Regional Passenger Committee, and a hospital Research Ethics Committee.
Tape 24, Side B (1981-2006)
Continues discussion of problem which developed in her 50s and 60s. Increasing difficulty of picking up things she had dropped. Was able to train her dog to help. Now uses pavement scooters for local trips. Discusses some disadvantages of the scooters. In 2002 broke an ankle. Describes the good treatment she had in University College Hospital London. Need to learn to walk again, and success in doing so. Download transcript of tape 24
Tape 25, Side A (1989-2006)
Continues talking about her broken ankle in 2002, her use of a “gutter frame” and learning again to walk without the frame. Moves on to a discussion of health and increasing disability in middle age and later for people who have cerebral palsy. The difficulties of affording the extra equipment needed. Brief description of HomeSharing.
Tape 25, Side B (1997-2006)
One paragraph only, about coping with older age. Advises people not to be too daunted! Download transcript of tape 25
