Being an aunty’s one of the best things in the world! I adore my niece Bean and we hang out together a lot. She lives just across the road with her mum, Fat Sister, and dad, King Russell. Now, excitingly, there’s a new addition to the household: my nephew, who’s appropriately named Sausage.…

Fat sister is heavily pregnant, and her second child “Sausage” is due any day now. We live really close to each other so it seems logical that when the baby comes I’ll take care of 4-year-old Bean, Sausage’s big sister.

Bean’s very familiar with me, my support team, and with the castle.…

Over the last few years my iPad has enabled me to draw in a way that I thought my arm tics had made impossible. I find drawing really absorbing and relaxing and am now scribbling away on my iPad all the time.…

Venturing out into the city I love after more than a year of shielding has given me loads of opportunities recently to see the world from new angles. Last night I did this in a very literal and dramatic way.

Bovie and I had been for a swim at my local hydrotherapy pool.…

While Bean is very curious and asks lots of questions, one thing she’s never asked me is why I use a wheelchair, she’s always just accepted my chair as part of me.

Since she was tiny, I’ve tried to find books or toys that include disabled characters because I want the things around her to reflect her world and family.…

My niece Bean was four at the weekend. She’s been enjoying telling me her new age, and I’m continuing to enjoy watching her grow in independence and chattiness.

The pandemic’s meant that Bean and I haven’t been able to hang out together as much as either of us would like.…

As a child I loved Lego and it’s younger sibling Duplo. I was a proud member of the Lego Club – in fact 35 years on I still have my membership badge!

And I still love it, but as a dyspraxic with Tourettes, the fine motor control required for more grown up Lego projects has always been in scarce supply for me.…

It’s early Friday evening and London’s bathed in gentle sunshine and I’ve just had some spontaneous interactions with girls which were simultaneously blissfully mundane and soul-enrichingly exceptional.

Claire and I went to meet Bean and Fat Sister in the park after nursery.…

It’s almost the end of the Easter holidays and I’m back at work after some much-needed time off. But it’s not just regular holidays that are important to my wellbeing: short breaks every day have always been crucial to helping me study, work and stay focussed.…

This evening I got a call from my brother-in-law King Russell and my three-and-a-half-year-old niece Bean, who had an urgent question for me:

“Do you need help choosing what to put in your bath?”

My instant reply, ‘Of course!’.

This is one of a few small new routines we’ve created to stay connected over the last year.…