91Èȱ¬

Disabilityville's got talent

Every now and again we get sent an online video of a disabled person showing off their talents. Here's a collection of our most recent favourites:

Deaf jazz singer

by Josh Sundquist.

Zach Anner's .

through burns when he was two years old.

Hardcore 'sitter' Aaron Fotheringham's latest

A distinct lack of UK representation here guys, so if you have a talent and want everyone to know about it, please email ouch@bbc.co.uk with a link to your video and we'll store it up for the next Disabilityville's got talent blog entry.

This morning, played host to disabled producer Kate Monaghan and Ouch's very own Mat Fraser. They were there to promote Are You Having a Laugh? - disability on TV, which will air on 91Èȱ¬ Two at 9 PM on Friday the 25th of June.

The unique documentary, voiced by David Walliams and featuring a selection of well-known commentators from the worlds of comedy and disability, including Francesca Martinez and Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, takes a rye look at how various impairments have been represented on television down through the years.

Are You Having a Laugh remembers some of the most popular and infamous disabled characters to ever grace our British TV screens, Blue Peter's Joey Deacon and Brenda from the office to name but two. While celebrating how far television has come and where we find ourselves in 2010, the show also manages to convey, in a rather humorous and heart-warming way, the slightly ridiculous, vaguely embarrassing and darned right hilarious manner in which disability has historically been depicted in soap, comedy, kids TV and even American detective drama.

This is a funny, accessible, mainstream piece of telly, chock full of contributors who all make for seriously good disabled role models. In fact, with appearances by the aforementioned Mat Fraser, Laurence Clark, Kiruna Stamell and Julie Fernandez, the credits read a bit like an Ouch! honours list.

If you aren't near a TV on Friday Night, Are You Having a Laugh -disability on TV will be repeated at ten to midnight on the 30th of June and of course, UK residents can catch it on iPlayer for seven days afterwards.

Gosh. Interesting to note that is 'top trending' on Twitter in the United Kingdom, right now. For those not familiar with the geeky terminology, it means that it's one of the most talked-about subjects on the world's biggest electronic forum.

The budget has been and gone and the anxieties, celebrations and analysis of how it has impacted on disabled people, is happening on a mass scale on the internet right now.

The headline is that George Osborne is looking to decrease the amount they pay out to DLA claimants. In 2013, he aims to replace the current eligibility form filling with an interview based medical assessment.

The allowance was originally designed to help with the extra living costs one has as a disabled person, and was conceived during the last Conservative government's reign. Proof of receiving DLA is often used as an unofficial easy passport to other services you may be entitled to. Presumably advocacy organisations won't be able to help clients claim for benefits in quite the same way from 2013 if a direct personal assessment is the way forward.

Have you ever seen a disability related topic trending on Twitter before? Me either.

The Glastonbury Festival always sparks much excitement here at Ouch towers, as we immediately scour the extensive line-up for the merest hint of disability amongst the acts and check out access provision for disabled fans. It's what we do.

In years gone by, we struggled to find any disabled bands on the list and were often concerned at how a disabled festival goer would manage the huge campus. However, at the past couple of festivals, things have vastly improved on both counts. With the blind pop legend Stevie Wonder headlining the famous Pyramid Stage on Sunday evening, Glasto 2010 really surpasses itself when it comes to disability representation.

But Stevie is by no means the only disabled performer strutting his stuff at the festival this year. Also appearing Sunday, Congolese polio survivers Staff Benda Bilili will treat the West Holts stage to their unique brand of African pop. I met the band last year on a previous visit to our country: Read their incredible story of a life on the streets of Kinshasa and rise to international stardom in my article: Staff Benda Bilili: African disability beats hit the UK.

On Saturday 25th of June, on the Queen's Head stage, the Mystery Jets, whose lead singer, Blaine Harrison, has spina bifida. They'll be doing their Indi rock thing. Blaine spoke to me a while ago about the work he is doing with campaigners Attitude is Everything to improve access to live music for disabled people. Click to read our 13 Questions interview with him. Also, keep an eye on the main site for Blaine's two online video interviews, part of Dis Connected, a brand new video series coming to Ouch! from next week.

Attitude is Everything is the organisation famous for promoting disability related music acts, managing the access facilities at a range of UK festivals and campaigning for better access for performers so they can strut their stuff. This year they're curating the disabled artists event Club Attitude; it's at The Hub which is situated in the Shangri La zone on Saturday afternoon from 1.00pm. Acts will include La Rebla Fam, who were guests on the June 2010 Ouch! Talk Show, Bug Prentice who will feature on our next show and more (you can hear some of their music and an audio interview with their lead singer if you click that link).

Here's the

If you are disabled and planning to be at Glasto, this is an afternoon not to be missed.

If you spot another act with disability links in the line-up, please leave a comment below. And if you are heading to Glastonbury 2010, have a blast!

The world cup isn't over, London 2012 Olympics is still two years away, but this weekend, two interesting dribblings of news about the 2014 Winter Paralympics are coming through.

One of the stories is about how the former MOD owned company Qinetiq have helped create a new technologically advanced sit-ski for two recently disabled ex-servicemen who hope to be taking part in the games:

New lighter materials, better aerodynamics and a rather sexy missile shape is the key. Great to see the military supporting injured soldiers in this way.

The other story is

The ex Beatle wife and vegan convert wants to be a further inspiration to her amputee mentees and get to the same games as the above servicemen, to be held in Sochi, Russia in four years time.

You may know her for a spot of ice dancing on reality TV but our Heth has been skiing for years ... and claims to be any good.

I wonder who'll make it?

If you've had sporting support from the military towards your rehab then tell us in the comments below. And what's your feeling about Heather? Will she or won't she make it? How strong is our Paralympic ski team? Does she stand a chance?

Ouch! is 8 years old today. Happy birthday us. Wow 8 years!

We went live to the world on a very warm Monday in 2002; the site was all light green and purple back then. Due to some delays in the department, the site designs weren't ready for us to get our hands on until 7 days before launch. This led to myself and then Assistant Producer Vaughan to camp out in the office for marathon work stretches of up to around 21 hours at a time. Late in the evenings when hunger hit us, we'd call Domino's for a midnight pizza to keep us going (compliance editor note: other pizza companies exist and take-away pizzas are generally not to be considered a staple part of one's diet. Oh and when it's hot, use sun block).

We were quite a bit cheekier back then. The media industry and the 91Èȱ¬ has undeniably moved and changed over these 8 years and the sometimes rapier-like niche wit that we used may not go down so well these days. Anyone remember Crippled Monkey? And our ill-conceived Harvest Festival giveaway competition? Wiped from the web forever more.

I had a regular column for many years until other workload made it difficult to keep this up. One of my fave pieces was when I decided I'd share my UFO story with you all. Blind people aren't that well-known for spotting alien spaceships as you can probably imagine but there was an incident in the mid 90s that I couldn't let slip past without sharing. Oh and beautifully there is an audio clip of a phone call I make to my mum, the alien denier who claims they never came to our street. They did! They absolutely did, dammit.

In 2006, Shot through the heart was an interesting disability slant on the terror alert situation in London, not long after the 7/7 bombings. It's what we at Ouch! like, these untold stories. Disableds can get themselves into all sorts of scrapes that the general public don't even think about.

What else, oh gosh yes ... there was the time that me and my disabled mates were mentioned on the vicious gossip site Popbitch in extremely unflattering terms. Some would call it disablist. I was absolutely staggered to see someone talking about me so randomly and unpleasantly, he hadn't expected me to see it ... but I did. The article about the incident is called Somebody's watching me - it generated a lot of discussion. And thank you readers for being upset on my behalf, too. I note the incident is mentioned on the Wikipedia page about Popbitch though probably it'll get deleted now I've mentioned it.

Have a drink on us later.

ManageAble is a new scheme aimed at attracting disabled applicants to senior positions within the 91Èȱ¬.

The scheme builds on the work of the Extend programme. Over the last 12 years, it has recruited 466 disabled people. In 2009, over 67% of 'Extendees' went on to gain further employment in the 91Èȱ¬. Many of the placements available are at career entry-level and ManageAble looks to redress this balance by offering salaried work experience for experienced managers.

So senior positions are available across the 91Èȱ¬ for managers who would like to take part in an eight month placement which has huge potential for professional and personal development.

The roles on offer are in four 91Èȱ¬ locations - London, Bristol, Birmingham and Cardiff, and the deadline for CV and application submissions is Monday 12th July 2010.

If you are interested in pursuing a career in broadcasting and would like to find out more about the new scheme visit the ManageAble website for further details.

Woman's Hour interviews Deaf novelist Louise Stern

On today's Woman's Hour Jane Garvey interviewed deaf US novelist Louise Stern through an ASL interpreter.

Louise was there to promote Chattering, her recently published collection of short stories, each one dealing with a different aspect of communication.

We hear Louise discussing the funnier side of deafness and the quirks of communicating with hearing people. But more than that, it's a unique piece of radio which is well worth a listen. She can be heard signing and at points, laughing out loud, but every word she says is conveyed verbally by a male interpreter.

A is available to download.

So with the excitement of the launch night of Big Brother Series 11 behind us, what do we know about Steve Gill, the second contestant selected to enter the BB house last night?

Steve is a double amputee, having lost both legs and an eye while serving in Northern Ireland 20 years ago. He lives in Leicester and has eight children and is a keen yacht racer who enjoys the outdoors. He lobbies for soldiers who have been injured on duty.

Besides admitting to a phobia of crowded rooms, Steve has revealed that he had his first tattoo when he was 15. It bore a girl's name, part of which was blown off in his accident and the remaining part he keeps covered up.

Comments about Steve on the Big Brother website have ranged from indignance at him being unemployed since he was injured 20 years ago to adulation for him as a 'hero' and 'an inspiration'.

We'd love to hear what you think about the Big Brother line-up this year and your predictions about Steve's time in the BB house. Add your comment below.

Love it or hate it, you'll find it difficult to ignore the fact that tonight marks the launch of the 11th and final series of Big Brother in the UK.

The show will kick off with a gaggle of 80 wannabe housemates all vying for a spot in the famous Big Brother house. Exactly how this will happen is currently unclear, but it has been revealed that some of the potential BB contestants have declared disabilities.

To put you in the picture, we have:

Jenna (19) - she's student of media and English from Pontypridd in Wales, says she has 'disabled arms'.

Leanne (29) - an author who lives in London and has had most of her leg removed due to cancer.

Amin (19) - he's club dancer and actor of Iranian origin, profile describes him as a 'dwarf'.

Steven (40) - ex-forces man from Leicestershire, he's double amputee (legs) and also lost of one eye in service.

So, I thought that this would be a good opportunity to pull out the best Big Brother bits from Ouch!

This month, we had Nikki Grahame (series 7) on the Talk Show speaking openly with Mat and Liz about her battle with anorexia.

Pete Bennett, who featured in the same series, and was a fleeting love interest of Nikki Grahame kindly answered our 13 Questions.

From series 9 Mikey Hughes (blind) and Darnell Swallow (albinism) joined Mat and Liz in October 2008 to talk about their experiences in and out of the BB house.

So, there's everything to play for tonight, and who knows, one of the BB contestants from series 11 will end up on the Ouch! website in a few months time.

Happy viewing!

Zoe