Access All: Disability News and Mental Health

If you are disabled and believe that a product to solve your problem doesn’t exist yet, listen up. A network of volunteer engineers are on-hand to help. When Sarah Stones realised leaning heavily on her left arm was taking its toll but couldn’t find a device to help, she reached out to Remap, a charity that makes bespoke solutions for disabled people. Engineer Akshaya Ahuja made her an armband with a pressure-sensitive alarm that would make her straighten up. About to go to market is an accessible toy kitchen which is suitable both for kids who use wheelchairs, and those who stand. Designer Bex French works for Demand, a similar charity to Remap which creates cool stuff for disabled people. We put Bex and Akshaya on the spot with challenges from listeners, the presenters, and blind geek extraordinaire Robin Christopherson. Will Kate get a new skin to stop her joints from moving out of place? Why was Simon admiring Sarah’s seat? And what’s all the hype about buckwheat pillows? Presented by Kate Monaghan and Simon Minty. Produced by Emma Tracey.Subscribe now to BBC Ouch in BBC Sounds or ask for us on your smart speaker by saying "play Ouch disability talk from the BBC"

Living your best life when death is closer than you'd like it to be - that's what we're talking about on this month's long podcast. It's a very upbeat show about tricky disability stuff. Doctors told Lucy Watts she wouldn't make it to the age of 18 - she's now 25 and has survived sepsis 14 times. Her assistance dog Molly licks her hand three hours before any symptoms appear which gives Lucy time to get life-saving treatment. Her story about living while dying, growing up fast and realising that she's worthy of a sex life comes with warmth, energy and belly laughs. BBC Tech correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones went public with his Parkinson's diagnosis after people noticed his hand shaking on live TV. Since then, the Government have recruited him to their Disability Confident campaign, he has been part of a study and tech innovations designed for people with the condition are being pushed his way. Psychotherapist Mel Halacre, who specialises in disabled people and their mental health, also lends her expertise Presented by Kate Monaghan and Simon Minty. Produced by Emma Tracey.

An A&E consultant, a psychiatrist, and two junior doctors swap notes on being disabled in the medical profession.Emergency medicine consultant, Dr Cieran McKiernan, speaks on the perils of self-diagnosis. He lost his leg after failing to treat a blister which became a 5cm-sq hole in his foot.Trainee GP, Dr Hannah Barham-Brown's wheelchair means she's regularly mistaken for a patient, while Dr Emily Burns spotted one patient's 'diagnosis' of Query Malingering - a euphemism for faking it - was actually Ehlers Danlos syndrome, a rare condition she has herself.Dr Caroline Walker says she hasn't got to go far to find doctors who, like her, have mental health difficulties.The foursome chat about the ups and down of the medical profession, the ambition to embrace diversity and how working less than full-time hours could be beneficial to all junior doctors.Produced by Emma Tracey

In a week where a tweet about a London pub went viral after a member of staff told a customer “we don’t serve disabled people”, meet the Mathies. Ben Mathie loves live music but venue options are limited because he’s only 12-years-old and uses a wheelchair and venues are often inaccessible. He was a regular at gigs in the local pub, The Harrow Inn Freehouse in Boughton, Nottinghamshire, before plans were made to shut it down. Then, in an unexpected move to save Ben's favourite venue, his mum and dad gave up their farm shop and took over the pub.Ben now has the important role of Events Manager and books all the live acts at the pub to ensure it’s as inclusive and welcoming as possible.Presented by Emma Tracey.Subscribe now to BBC Ouch in BBC Sounds or ask for us on your smart speaker by saying "play Ouch disability talk from the BBC".

The Shalva Band were favourites to represent host country Israel at Eurovision but pulled out when the dress rehearsal was scheduled for Friday - the Jewish holy day of rest. The group of eight musicians, who all have disabilities, had been voted through on a national TV programme.Their popularity rose at the same time research revealed 90% of parents in Israel didn't want their offspring to attend after-school clubs with disabled children. The band released a campaign song called Open The Door in response to the research. It went viral and they say it's changing attitudes to disability. Vocalists Anael and Dina told BBC Ouch they are now stopped for selfies wherever they go.Despite opting out of Eurovision, The Shalva Band will perform A Million Dreams, from The Greatest Showman, during the 2nd Eurovision semi-final on Thursday.With apologies for the occasional sound difficulty on the line from Jerusalem.Subscribe now to BBC Ouch in BBC Sounds or ask for us on your smart speaker by saying "play Ouch disability talk from the BBC".

Natalie Pearson is a primary school teacher and one of a few in the world to also have Tourette's syndrome.Tourettes causes her to swear, sometimes in class, and also jerk her body - but she says her students and colleagues have embraced it The science teacher was diagnosed with late-onset Tourette's syndrome at the age of 21 and believes a traumatic rape at university was the trigger. Natalie's story was originally heard on the BBC's Multi Story podcast. Presented by Becca Bryers.Subscribe now to BBC Ouch in BBC Sounds or ask for us on your smart speaker by saying "play Ouch disability talk from the BBC".

From being a working class disabled person to waiting for that brown envelope to arrive for your benefits reassessment. This show, recorded in front of a live audience, moves from one emotion to another.Comedian Jackie Hagan describes how she went from feeling she had to prove she could still do everything and more, after having one leg amputated, to realising she didn't actually have to become a hero. Performer Conor A has fibromyalgia, an impairment usually associated with women. He reveals how he was treated by doctors and how he learned to build access needs into his own show such as a prompter for when he goes all 'fibro fog'. Presented by Simon Minty and Kate Monaghan at the I'm Here, Where Are You? festival in Cambridge. A transcript will be available soon.Subscribe now to BBC Ouch in BBC Sounds or ask for us on your smart speaker by saying "play Ouch disability talk from the BBC".

Getting rid of single-use straws is a simple way to reduce plastic waste...unless you're one of the thousands of disabled people who rely on them everyday to drink independently. From bamboo to pasta, glass to metal, there's a variety of alternatives already out there, but do any of them actually work? After a petition emerged this week calling for McDonald's to reinstate its plastic straws because the paper versions go soggy, Esther Weber, The Times political reporter and daily straw-user, gives us the lowdown on her straw-strife.This is more than just how to drink a milkshake before the straw disintegrates. Presented by Beth Rose with Emma Tracey, Niamh Hughes and Damon Rose. A transcript will be available soon.

Have you ever been lost in a passionate moment only to realise your hips are about to dislocate? Well, Xandra Lee has been in that precarious place more times than she'd like to remember and set about writing a sex and relationships manual for people with 'dodgy hips'. Diagnosed with hip dysplasia as a teenager, she quickly realised there was no information out there - medical or otherwise - for safe, painless sex, especially if, like her, you are a younger person. So, she set about changing that by writing a book: Sex, with these Hips?. The other guest on the programme is Mel Halacre, a mental health counsellor who specialises in disability. She talks to Ouch about how the constant drip drip drip of low-level discrimination can build into bigger problems, and provides useful coping strategies for listeners.Presented by Emma Tracey and Simon Minty

Martin O'Brien has lived beyond his life expectancy twice - first at the age of five, and then again at 30. He was born with the life-limiting disease, cystic fibrosis.Now aged 31, he identifies as a Zombie - half-dead and half-alive - which he tries to convey through his physical artwork - he even spent his 30th birthday in a morgue, for art's sake.Sometimes controversial, he talks about how he uses the sexual, and consensual, practice of BDSM to illustrate life with a chronic illness and where the line between raising awareness and exploitation is drawn.Presented by Beth Rose with Emma Tracey. A transcript will be available soon.Subscribe now to BBC Ouch in BBC Sounds or ask for us on your smart speaker by saying "play Ouch disability talk from the BBC".