The annual Cerebral Palsy Scotland Conference was held in October, bringing together different organisations that support people with cerebral palsy.
Melissa Cassidy
I had worked closely with the organisation before, so this year I decided to volunteer to assist with their social media. As I recently became a film, media and journalism student, I thought that this would be an ideal way to start practising my filming and interviewing skills.
Looking back now, I can see that I hadn’t properly considered what I would realistically be capable of. I had planned to try to interview all the speakers and all the organisations with stalls, which I realised upon my arrival, would be a mammoth task. I also didn’t take my cerebral palsy into account while making those plans, assuming that because it was a cerebral palsy event, nobody would question me and that I would be able to just approach different stalls and delegates, hand them my questions and film them answering.
Approaching stalls and asking people I didn’t know, if they were willing to do an interview, was extremely nerve-wracking. The first person I asked took the microphone that I had and, before I could start recording with my camera, began answering, thinking I was recording some kind of podcast. She then passed the microphone to the next stall and within a few minutes multiple people had been answering questions into a microphone that wasn’t actually recording anything. It’s difficult being in a noisy environment like a conference
when you have a speech impairment, because often people begin to assume that they understand what you’re saying through whatever visual context they have and completely misunderstand the situation. Once I’d retrieved the microphone, I thanked everyone (failing to have the patience to explain that it hadn’t recorded them) and decided to take a few minutes outside to curb my frustration.
Sitting outside on a bench hidden from any conference-goers by trees, I realised how quiet it was outside. The conference took place in the Crown Plaza, which also had a lovely pathway towards it that looked out on to the River Clyde. Taking all this in, I had an idea – I set up my camera outside and started to interview people as they arrived and left the conference, meaning people were able to understand me without having to compete with the inside noise, and that the videos I got were much more scenic. It wasn’t what I’d planned to do but it meant that I could still get my interviews and go back inside for some extra footage. Despite everything, I was really pleased with the footage I got and learned the importance of being able to adapt and accommodate your disability when things don’t quite work in the way you expect.
About Melissa Cassidy
Melissa Cassidy discusses topics surrounding disability as well as her own experiences as a teenager with cerebral palsy. She has received a Diana Award for her writing which she uses to share her experiences and advocate for the disability community. Melissa has also published a children’s book, ‘Doodle the Poodle’s Big Day Out’ (published by Alder Books).
Visit her blog at: buttonsandramps.wordpress.com
Twitter: @ramps_and
Instagram: @buttonsandramps
