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Hi, my name is George Abraham and welcome to Eyeway conversations. My guest today is Siobhan Meade from the UK. She is a journalist, a digital marketing professional, and disability activist. Hi Siobhan, welcome!
Thank you so much for having me, George.
Siobhan, the other day, I was reading one of your tweets where you were talking about a marathon run which was muddy and grimy. Tell me a little about it.
In January this year, my grandmother passed away to cancer and I decided that I wanted to do something in her memory. And my beautician was saying that there is a pretty muddy 5k three mile race coming up in May, would I like to do it. And I've never run in my life, I've run to the ridge but I've never run a race before. And I thought this sounded really really interesting and so I did. I practiced for six weeks running on the treadmill in the gym, and then I took to the field. And believe me, by the time I'd finished this race, not only was I exhausted, I was covered in head to foot with mud, grime and it was everywhere. It was in my head, my shoes, wading through water, sliding down lots of logs full of mud, and it was good. It was all for a good cause Race For Life for anyone battling cancer and anyone who has lost their life to cancer.
So you ran this alone or you had an escort runner?
I had a sighted guide runner who was my beautician and it was something that she had never done before. She's never guided a blind person beforend I was in her mercy. I was in her arms basically and she was guiding me through the muddiest parts of the race course.
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Now Siobhan, you are a journalist and you're also visually impaired, that's a rare combination. Talk us through a little bit about this professional journalism that you do.
Back in 2007, I decided that I wanted to get into radio to get into media because it was something that I thought would be a really good idea to not only spread awareness about what I do but I was really interested in the community aspects. So community radio was something that I wanted to do. So I spent a lot of time with people who were in the radio industry. And it was something that I built upon over many many years. And then back in 2010, I did a Creative writing and Journalism diploma, looking at ways of being able to educate myself a little bit more about journalism. And then I started writing for a local newspaper, in my home country and I literally have spent 11 years writing for the Mercury about disability and how I live my life as a blind person and really raising awareness and educating people of all the things that I get up to. And that was very very interesting. It's something that I've really really enjoyed doing is writing and also radio.
So you do a lot of community radio, is that it?
I did community many years ago. I haven't actually done community radio for several years. But it's something that I started off doing because it was something I was really interested in. And we kind of gathered as a group to look at how we can really come together as a community. And it was all through volunteers and I did it as a volunteer because I wanted to start my journalism and that's really where I started. But I did do a little bit of hospital radio as well.
Now, you mentioned that you did a course in radio and journalism. In India, if a blind person wanted to do such a course, it's quite a challenge. So, in the UK, if you were to do a course in journalism, how simple is it to get admission to such a course, and are there kind of support systems in place?
There are many different ways that someone who has a disability or impairment to get that education and support. We are very fortunate here in the UK that we do have things like that, like support mechanisms to enable someone to be able to do that sort of thing. So you could have the disability students allowance which can give you funds and finances to enable you to get any extra equipment that you may need to make it more accessible. You can also you know, get someone who can visually scribe things for you who can maybe give you some sighted assistance. So there are many different options depending on your own preference and need. So for me, I had somebody who was visually able to kind of write notes from the blackboard, and to support in any other aspects of my education. So I found it a very easy and simple process to be able to do that. And again, I feel very fortunate and blessed really to be in a position where I have that support because I know that not everyone has the same sort of abilities or freedoms that you know, I have had in terms of learning.
You are known for your vlogging, which is video logging on YouTube. Now, that is again, for a visually impaired person to be prolific on YouTube does not sound very common. Talk us through that.
As someone who has really been interested in media and raising awareness and educating about visual impairment, it was back in 2011 where I started my YouTube channel. But I left it for several years purely because I wasn't able or I just didn't think I was able or confident enough to do it. And then I really felt a place where I could actually raise more awareness, getting that confidence through doing all of the other things that I did like with radio. And it's something where I've wanted to kind of like develop a plan over the last six years, I have brought my YouTube channel up to nearly 1200 subscribers, talking about how I live my life as a blind person - the most embarrassing, the funny, the serious and all of the in between. And I want to show that just because I am blind, it doesn't define me as a person. And I want to be able to reach out not only to other visually impaired people, but to anyone who wants to learn more about blindness. And that's really what I want my channel to be is somewhere where people can go and ask questions because I've said before, you know on my channel on any across my social media that I'm an open book, and that's how we learn and educate ourselves is by asking those questions.
So if somebody wants to subscribe to your channel, would you like to give the coordinates?
Yep, it's youtube.com/blindgirlvlogs.
Blindgirlvlogs being one word?
Yes, one word.
You also have been part of a campaign called the Respect campaign. And you were telling me that this as a direct response to the various situations of discrimination that you had to put up with. So would you like to talk about the discrimination, the situations of discrimination that you had to put up with and what is this Respect campaign all about?
Back in November 2013, I moved to a new hometown, Stevenage and it was meant to be a new adventure. But within weeks of moving to Stevenage, I found myself on the receiving end of hate crime. So I was targeted because of my blindness. So I would go out into the community, into my streets, and most times that I did, I would be abused, I'd be sworn at, I would be intimidated for simply being blind. And this carried on for many months. And I decided after the final incident of all of this hate, this discrimination, it was when I was going down with my fiancee at the time to the old town, and there was a group of lads who said, "Let's rob them, let's see how much they can't see" And from that point, George, I was so scared and traumatized. I went home and I was an absolute mess. So from then onwards after that negative experiences over many many months of being Tomented and abused, I decided that I needed to turn all of this negative into a positive. And that's where I started up the Respect campaign, which is going into schools, colleges, youth groups, talking to young people about hate crime, about disability and about the impact that these incidences had on me. So I wanted to give something back and I didn't want all of the horrible negative things that have happened to me to kind of define me. So I've now stood up to hate crime. And I'm a very very avid person who talks about all of the things to do with hate crime because it really does impact and devastate lives.
You were also talking about being discriminated in public spaces, like restaurants and supermarkets and so on and so forth. Would you like to tell us about some of these experiences that you had?
I work with a guide dog and he is my eyes. And over here in UK, we have the Equality Act 2010 which protects us, it protects us to be able to go into places like restaurants, supermarkets, bars, taxis, to live the life we choose. Now, we basically were discriminated, me and my guide dog, when we went into some restaurants in London. And the reason why I was discriminated against is because I happen to work with a guide dog. And the feeling and the embarrassing, it's traumatizing. Every time you go into a restaurant to be turned away, simply because you work with a guide dog is so destroying. And it's not every time it happens, but it's on the increase, you know, being denied access you know, to a place where everyone else has access is just horrific. And it just makes me feel incredibly sad. And this is why I stand up to things like this is because you know they cannot refuse you access, they are breaking the law. And this is an area that is very close to my heart because many people are denied access simply for working with a guide dog.
You know, this experience that you had at Leicester Square London with couple of restaurants was covered by the BBC. How did the media get involved? Did you go to them or they just happened to be around?
I posted my incident being denied access across my social media and the media picked up on on this. And they then got in touch with me to say would I be prepared to to speak to them at the BBC, and some other media outlets. And of course, I said yes, because I want to raise awareness about this, that it does happen. And that we need to make sure that these things don't happen again and learn from the mistakes. So yes, that's how the media got hold of me is through my social media.
And I think this is where your digital marketing came into play.
Yes, I think very much. So knowing obviously how the media tick, and you know, those sorts of human impact stories, I think you know that is something that I'm really passionate about is making sure that I'm using my voice and using my social media platforms as a place of education and actually raising that awareness. Even if it's not necessarily a positive experience, even the negative experiences still gets the word out there.
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I was watching a video where you were interacting with very young school kids who are asking you very innocent questions. How did you think about this? This looks like a very interesting campaign idea. Now I want to ask you whether this is a campaign. How did you get down to it and what is the objective of this and how do you go about it?
Through my work as a digital marketing producer, I was contacted by the organization that I work for guide dogs here in the UK. And they said would I like to go to a school, a couple of schools here in the UK to talk about the funny things that children may ask you as a blind person and I said I would love to do that. Children are innocent and again I've kind of said this all the way through this podcast is that this is how we learn. Children needs to kind of see disability, children need to be able to ask those questions that adults don't necessarily ask. And I did. It's something that I'm really really keen on doing is going into schools to speak to young school children. And some of the questions were very very funny. And it was something that kind of like made me smile, because children are very very sweet and innocent. And they don't mean any offense by what they ask. And yeah, the campaign is still very much alive and kicking and it's something that I love to be able to do on it on a regular basis.
Now, you mentioned that you work with an organization that's involved with guide dogs. Guide dog is relatively unknown concept in India. So what exactly is a guide dog and very often I have in the UK, in Australia and the US, guide dogs are referred to as professionals and specific breeds are identified to be guide dogs, they go through a process of training before they are placed.
Yeah, so guide dogs here in the UK are 91 years old. And we basically train guide dogs to facilitate and support someone who is blind or visually impaired. Now there are many many breeds out there. But the ones that we generally use are labradors retrievers, we do have some German Shepherds, we do have some standard Labradoodles. So they're known for for being great guide dogs. And I've been a guide dog owner for 19 years, and they go through a very very strict training regime. It's all very ethical, the dogs love what they do. So from about seven, eight weeks old, the puppies will then go into a volunteer puppy raisers house for about a year. So they're socialized in you know, local environments, going to shops, bars, restaurants, so the dog will have a really really good overview and get familiar with what their life will be when they actually get matched with someone who is blind or visually impaired. And when the guide dog is then matched with the owner, we then go through a process of about two weeks in a hotel or domiciliary training, depending on the person's own need. And then we get trained in a local environment with a guide dog mobility specialist who are able to kind of facilitate that relationship with you and your dog. And then once you kind of like have had that training for about five weeks when you're at home, you are then kind of qualified to go out into the big wide world and live your life with a guide dog by your side. And for me, having a guide dog is changed my life. It's enabled me to do things that I never thought I would be able to do.
You lost your eyesight starting from the age of 13. And I think between 13 and 16, is when you lost your eyesight. What were you doing when you lost your eyesight and how did you move forward in life?
I was at school when I lost all of my remaining vision at 16. And it was a very very difficult time in my life because at 16, the world is your oyster. You are beginning to find out your own personality and your whole life is ahead of you. So at 16 when I lost my remaining vision, it was a very challenging time because I wanted to be able to do everything like my friends were able to do but I had to kind of redo a year of my schooling. So it set me back a bit and it was a very tough time. But after a year of sitting and feeling quite sorry for myself, I heard a guy talking on the radio, a blind chap who was saying he's gone to university, he's traveling the world. And that actually made me sit up and realize actually, if he's able to do it, I'm able to do it. And to this day, I've never looked back and I think it's having that positive frame of mind. Yes, it's really really traumatic and it does feel like there isn't any hope. But keep believing because it does get better and I'm living proof for that.
It's one thing to change your attitude from being passive to being positive and changing your approach. What were the kinds of resources that came to your aid at this point of time?
I think it was a lot to do with my school teachers. My key workers were very very instrumental in giving me not only the physical support that I needed in training, like using my long cane, learning my environment, but also that emotional support. So getting that emotional support not only from my friends and my family, but from those medical professionals who were able to kind of give me that strength and the other sources and various different charities to be able to give me what I needed at that time. Because we all go through very various different things, and we all cope differently. So not everyone is going to have the same experience as me necessarily but I think it's important to kind of reach out to anyone that you trust, any organization or charity but just have that conversation with friends and family. If you're struggling then speak to people, don't suffer in silence.
Speak to people, don't suffer in silence. That's what you say, right?
Yes, definitely. That's my attitude. And I think that we can all you know, learn a lot from actually being a bit more open and a bit more transparent and not kind of like hiding how we feel. Because our friends and our family and you know, all the people around us who care and love about us, you know they want to see us happy, they want to see us thrive. So by sharing how we're feeling honestly and truthfully, can really can really enable us to be able to move forward in a much more positive frame of mind.
One of your vlogs, I was watching where you talked about removal of your eyes, you opted to have your eyes removed. That's a strange expression quite pretty unusual as far as India is concerned. What exactly did you mean by removing your eyes? Why did you take that decision? Any case, you are not going to be able to see because you are blind. So what was what purpose did this removal of the eye actually serve?
For many many years, I suffered with glaucoma, which is the buildup of pressure in the back of the eyes. And from just being in constant discomfort and just debilitating pain headaches. It was after many years of going through this, I thought there's got to be something, I can't keep going back to the hospital having surgeries to kind of take the pressure down, having drops, having tablets. And I spoke to my consultant and I said look what can be done, I don't see anything anyway. So why can't we just removed the eyes, it will take away the pain. And that is what I did, I decided along with my I consultant that we would go down this road. So I had the first eye removed. And then I waited four years before having the second eye removed. And the reason why I did this is for vanity reasons. Because I was worried that aesthetically, it wouldn't look as good. And I wanted to make sure that I was doing the right thing even though the pain was unbearable. The right eye was the painful one, the most pain that I'd experienced. So that went first and then the left eye was beginning to get really really painful. And I thought well, okay, the right eye has gone down. Well, nobody says anything and it looks fine. Then I went with the left eye. And the reason I had them both removed is because of the pain. And I don't experience pain anymore which is amazing.
So tell me Siobhan, about your family. Who all are there in your family and when you lost your eyesight, how did they respond and rally around you?
I've got an amazing family. I've got a huge network of family. I'm the oldest of six children. And my grandmother sadly, you know who passed away earlier this year, she was a massive constant and support in my life. When I lost the remaining vision I had my mom and all of my aunties and uncles were just there to support me. And I think that's really really important is making sure that you have a very solid network of people around you. And I feel very lucky because not a lot of people have that. And you know, by having all of the support from my sisters and my brothers and my family have made me a confident, independent person I am today because they gave me that strength to move forward. And I think if I didn't have that things may be very different for me. So I'm very lucky and I love my family dearly.
Siobhan, you're relatively young at the moment, you have a long innings to play. What are your goals and aspirations going forward?
I love this question, George. So my goals and my aspirations for moving forward is really to continue the work that I'm doing- raising awareness about blindness, really highlighting not only to the communities but to also government is that I think you know, we need to kind of like keep pushing our corner and keep raising awareness about discrimination, potentially change in the laws. Just I think for me it's carry on doing my videos, my vlogs about my life and to continue talking about hate crime and my experiences to try and hopefully help other people going through similar thing. So carry on doing what I'm doing is what I would love to do.
Well Siobhan, it was wonderful talking to you. Thank you very much for taking the time. I wish you the very best.
Thank you so much George.
This podcast was brought to you by Cipla Foundation and Score Foundation.
