NAIDEX and other disability expos

[LDAutie]

hi everyone, ive wanted to go to the worlds largest disability expo- NAIDEX since 2000 but i wasnt able to cope with being in any sensory overloading or people heavy enviroment until a few years ago and i coudnt cope due to having extremely challenging behaviors up until 2016.

i managed it this year though,for the first time.

i went with one support staff, and i bought a couple of t shirts-a funny disability activism one & a cool looking disability pride one,and a velcro friendly mini table called the trabasac mini that is atached round my wheelchair so my ipad (my AAC device) sticks to it-my ipad has a tough rubbery otterbox case on it and ive stuck lots of velcro to it so it will now stick to the table no problem.

heres a photo of the badges they make you wear when you go in:

emlyn-artist.com/piwigo/pic... we didnt haev to cue up as we had got tickets early in the year.parking was easy for us as i have a blue badge and the blue badge parking is on the other side of the road at the NEC arena. a driver slammed into my door when she got out of her car though as she coudnt wait any longer for me to open it,i am only a bit slow at opening the door as i get a lot of pain and have not much strength in my arms from my physical disability. i did wonder how she thought it was ok behaving like that at an expo which attracts a huge number of disabled people.she was a support worker supporting someone who was physicaly disabled.

the organisation? who invented the sunflower lanyards was there and the lovely lady gave me handfuls of lanyards (two), sweets and sunflower seeds foer staff to put in our sensory garden,and i wanted to buy a teddy they had at their stall but it was a competition, so my staff put my name/his name down and when we got home she rang the staff office to say we had won and my staff is giving me everything-a teddy with sunflowers all over it and a lego set of some kind? how cool is that? when i got home i added my non verbal badge to it as my thomas the tank engine lanyard had broke,its very helpful as a lot of people dont realise i am non verbal not just ignoring them. emlyn-artist.com/piwigo/pic...

i bought two t shirts:

emlyn-artist.com/piwigo/pic... and emlyn-artist.com/piwigo/pic...

i bought the trebesac mini table to use for my AAC/ipad when im out in the wheel chair,but i also was using it for when in my lie down chair but i didnt get the chance to put my ipad on it,this naughty boy-Mr Shadow took over it instead- emlyn-artist.com/piwigo/pic... this morning the cheeky boy did a big scratch on the material then went and ate some biscuits, he thinks he owns it!

i cant wait for NAIDEX next year and i may just may,go to next years autism show and kidz 2 adultz north,theyre pretty good expos to find out things and buy equipment at.

so i dont know if its possible but is anyone interested in a mencap HU group meet up at NAIDEX 2023?

[Rupertthebear]

Hi LdAutie good to hear from you is it in Birmingham NEC? This exhibition and when does it finish?

[LDAutie in reply to Rupertthebear]

hiya Rupertthebear sorry i am so bad with answering posts,ive been at my parents a lot,things are very hectic at my service im regulary dropped off here as they dont have the staff to support my needs.

so it is in the maine part of the arena, but from what it looks like,anyone who parks outside of the blue badge car parks can get on the shuttle buses which i think drop people straight off utside the right part of the arena.that may be an issue for anyone who struggles with being on a bus,close to other people,being around lots of sound etc.

COVID had stopped it running for two years,then last year it did a online only NAIDEX which was actualy very cool just not enough orgs or bloggers making videos for it and most of the videos were aimed at social care workers but there was still enough to look at...the pandemic had unnowingly made things like night clubs,concerts or expos even more acesible in a way.

ive just realised i was going on so i am sorry, NAIDEX lasts for 2 days,the tickets are free-its better to get them early than turn up and be in the cue for a long time, there are a ton of people doing talks in squared off areas,quite a feww stalls to buy things but not as many as i expected, they had different areas for doing acesible sports and other things, loads of expensive stuff,and motability adapting companies there advertising the latest WAV cars.

the autism show used to be great-i dont know how it is now, i used to go with my care staff and my great friend who i met from a learning disability group on facebook years ago,but my staff split us up in the end as she wasnt nice to them/or her own care staff as she has had a lot of bad experience with staff like i did and thinks theyre all like that.

kidz to adultz north is good (i think their other locations woud be good shows to) thers always good sensory equipment-for example to buy,and you dont have to be a kid or your disabled loved one, in order to make use of the info or equipment from there, i think this one is free as well,the autism show costs money though.

i hope this is all useful, ive had my P R N diazepam as i have got to go home soon, so i am not sure how much is making sense lol.

otherwise i hope you are ok and making use of the heat today. my dads cat,peppa is spread out at the bottom of the garden.shes not happy. i am not to its way to hot lol.

[Amelia-Jayne in reply to LDAutie]

I found Naidex was a lot smaller this year, I booked to stay at the backpackers on the Wednesday but I went home instead as I went around twice so I thought that it would be better to go home instead.

[Ilovecows]

That’s sounds awesome did you say you won a teddy that is great 👍 🙂