I’m Katherine, a forty one year old book, beauty and fashion addict and the fact that I am even here is amazing in itself.
I was born extremely premature, one of twins (that was another surprise). We were both in a very poor condition at birth and were in the NICU. Multiple medical issues and complications from prematurity meant that my sister Natalie lost her fight for life while I was still fighting for mine.
My official diagnoses are Spastic Quadriplegia Cerebral Palsy with Hydrocephalus, meaning that my muscles are stiff and my Cerebral Palsy affects all four of my limbs plus my trunk, head and face. I have very poor coordination and balance, plus partly dislocated hips, pelvic and foot issues and hand tremors.
I also have a speech defect called dysarthria. This is caused by my brain damage and means I have difficulty controlling the small muscles of my mouth, so eating and speaking is difficult. I have difficulty pronouncing words and also with intonation of words and voice volume.
Despite that, I speak Spanish very well and am practically fluent in it.
I’ll go into more detail as to why I have the disabilities I do at some point on my blog.
I am registered legally blind because of the effects of my disabilities on my vision and I have hemianopia, squint astigmatism and nystagmus plus tunnel vision and no lateral vision.
I am an electric wheelchair user and have a device called a shunt inside my brain which constantly drains cerebrospinal fluid into my abdomen as my body cannot regulate it itself.
I am married and have Geography degree. I use assistive technology to blog (voice recognition software). I live with my husband who is also my carer.
Makeup and clothes are my way of expressing myself and I love words and language. I am fluent in Spanish and I love challenges and have taken part in various ones including NaNoWriMo and camp NaNoWriMo. I have drafts of my romance, women’s fiction, nonfiction and travel writing books and dream of being published one day.
I blog about advanced review copy (ARC) books (NetGalley) but also about books I own. Makeup writing, disability issues and awareness and life are my passions, and I blog about those, too.
Yes, the road may be tough but I always strive to be the best version of me I can be.
I am featured on the disability and lifestyle blog Undercover Superhero:
As well as Dewey’s Readathon blog in 2021
Hour 9 – Summer Book Recommendations
Warm- Up Post: Feel-Good and Escapist Books for the Readathon or Just Because
I was one of just three winners of the Occupational Therapy (OT) Month writing contest run by 3E Love’s Wheelchair Heart in 2022. The task was to talk about my experience of occupational therapy and an occupational therapist who was special to me.
https://www.3elove.com/blogs/shared-journeys/katherine
Thanks for visiting my blog!
Stay in touch:
Twitter @theglitzqueen
Just Katherine 