Living With a Neuromuscular Condition
Living with a neuromuscular condition can present many challenges to daily life at home, when enjoying social activities, at work, at school or university, when travelling or even when sleeping.
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NMC has an extensive array of information to support you to manage your neuromuscular condition and enable you to adapt your lifestyle to meet your personal needs.
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We hold regular demonstrations of equipment from an extensive range of companies, from technology to mobility, enabling freedom and control in a variety of ways. Information is regularly shared between people who have live experience of using favourite ‘gadgets’.
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The Centre is designed with a changing places facility, closomat toilets and height adjustable seats for your use. Adaptive equipment in the kitchen and adjustable furniture enables our community to prepare food and drink.
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Talking Point
Every Wednesday between 11am and 3pm in the Community Space, we are on hand to listen and assist with any questions, practical advice or emotional support you may need. Please pop in and see us!
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If you’d prefer to book a private appointment, please contact Denise or Sarah on 01606 860 911.
Work
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Job search
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Learning new skills
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Training and retraining
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Applying for jobs
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CV development
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Interview skills
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Employer conversations
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Adaptations at work
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Access to Work Scheme
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Work experience
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DofE Award Scheme
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Volunteering
​Life
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Carer support
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Form filling help
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Grant and benefits advice
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Home adaptations
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Holidays
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Driving mobility
Wellbeing
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Chat about any worries
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Low mood
Mobility
We can help source a suitable wheelchair or scooter, and can arrange for you to speak to people who use them. We can also arrange demonstrations from local companies, who will help you make the best choice for you.
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NMC has a large car park with Wheelchair Accessible Parking. There are frequently 10 adapted vehicles on site, with drivers happy to demonstrate their vehicles and adaptations and to share their wealth of knowledge.
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We have produced the following document with tips for driving and changing your vehicle. Workshop Driving and Vehicle choice (opens a pdf file)
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NMC Vehicle and Mobility Roadshow
We recently held our Vehicle and Mobility Roadshow. This was an opportunity to discuss mobility needs with experts including the NMC physio team. Various mobility aids, powerchairs, scooters and riser chairs were available to try and several adapted vehicles were on show for viewing.
There were talks on 'Falls Prevention' and options to 'Move or Improve' when getting about at home becomes a challenge as well as a demonstration of Mangar lifting seat equipment.
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BAS had information on a range of vehicle adaptations and Wales Mobility and Driving Assessment Service gave advice on all aspects of driving with a disability.
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Please contact denise.boyall@nmcentre.com if you like advice on your mobility needs.
Paul's 'Starship Enterprise' Van
Most people will have met Paul ‘Badders’ Badderley at NMC and might be aware that he drives his van with controls akin to those on the Starship Enterprise. Paul and the lovely Kay have very kindly made this video to demonstrate some of the technology that is available. If you are considering learning to drive, changing your car or worried about any aspect of driving then there is often a way – often one much simpler than Paul’s van!
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Financial Issues
Financial issues may be a source of great anxiety. There are people here at NMC who can help you complete forms, write letters of support and contact the appropriate organisations.
Work Opportunities
Sarah, our Employment and Careers Manager is here to help people apply for jobs, prepare for recruitment processes and to help people successfully stay in employment for longer.
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We can offer support in various aspects of work opportunities including:
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Work skills workshops
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Information regarding access to work
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Volunteering opportunities at NMC
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For further information please email sarah.lalieu@nmcentre.com​
Holiday Information
Planning a holiday can be daunting as there is so much to think about. You may not have ventured very far, or as your condition has changed you might have lost confidence in travelling.
NMC has an extensive knowledge of accessible travel including places to stay and visit. Our holiday booklet includes details about:
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Holiday Tips and checklist
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Specialist Travel Agents
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Equipment Hire
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Travel Insurance
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Help towards the cost of a holiday
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Travel by plane
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Cruising
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Driving Abroad
Holiday Information booklet (opens a pdf file)
With our tips, advice and details of all different types of holiday both in the UK and overseas we hope we can encourage you to have the confidence to find and enjoy the right type of holiday for you.
Personal Stories
Andrea's Story - One fall too many
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A fall. A bad fall. Agony. Lots of pain. I couldn’t put any pressure at all through my right leg. My knee was throbbing and badly swollen. I sprained my ankle and pulled the tendons that support the patella / knee. Fortuitously, two days later I had a physio appointment at the NMC. Hubby kindly took me. The physios worked their magic to help relieve the pain, using massage and the Hiva mat.
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Two months later at follow up physio appointment, we had ‘that conversation’. You know the one. You know it’s coming....
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Read More of Andrea's story (opens a pdf file)
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Living Our Lives
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Hi – my name is Sanjay and I have something called Limb Girdle muscular dystrophy, which affects my arms, legs and shoulders.
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I work full time for AstraZeneca and want to talk about employment and share my experiences with you. I graduated with a first class honours degree in Chemical Engineering from University College London and it was in my final year that investigations started into why I was struggling to climb the stairs.
Meanwhile, I was busy applying for graduate jobs in engineering. I went for interview with a company and.... Read More of Sanjay's story (opens a pdf file)