The Normal Kind of Disabled

There will not be one topic off limits as I uncover my story & experience of what it is like being & becoming "The Normal Kind Of Disabled”. My name is Jenny Watts and I am just simply a woman with a disability who after having my disability for a decade, dealing with the magnitude of it by myself due to the lack of support & knowledge out there, lead me to a destination I like to call breakdown central where I had the luxury of experiencing the biggest nervous breakdown that almost cost me my life. Now having got my life back on track, reflecting upon all the lessons learned an hindsight to date. In this first Normal Kind of Disabled podcast series I will discuss topics that I feel play a big part in living a life alongside a disability or illness and everything I have learnt in regards to them and advice for others experiencing this journey. Topics such as diagnosis, re-connecting with family and friends, how to manage and kick bad habits and substances we may find ourselves abusing to get through the day, relationships, sex, anxiety, re-connecting with ourselves, coping methods, pain, you name it my blabber mouth is discussing it and highlighting what the very real honest realities of what living with a disability or illness can be like.... all BS aside!.

If you could go back in time and pick not having your illness or disability or being the person you are today what would you choose ? - Holly and Leukemia Episode 4

Holly May Cookson was diagnosed with CML Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia at the age of 27. Diagnosed only two years ago, in this episode Holly discusses with us all what her interpretation of living with an invisible illness is truly like. It is safe to say within society cancer is one of the most known and feared diagnosis there is and Holly most certainly does not hold back on the truths of what experiencing cancer as your reality can truly be like. If there is anyone who would like any h...

04-23
25:20

Every single person deserves the right to be truly seen for the entirety of who they are - Holly and Leukemia Episode 3

Holly May Cookson was diagnosed with CML Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia at the age of 27. Diagnosed only two years ago, in this episode Holly discusses with us all what her interpretation of living with an invisible illness is truly like. The dangers of the sever lack in mental health support during this journey and what adventures she has been on alongside her own mental health so far since facing this huge life transition. We also discuss in this episode going back into the workplace after su...

02-12
51:36

Dating is like digging through a wheelie bin at the best of times but when you've got cancer its even worse - Holly and Leukemia Episode 2

Holly May Cookson at the age of 27 was diagnosed with CML, Chronic Myelogenous Leukaemia. Diagnosed only two years ago, in this episode Holly describes her surprise in what it is now like living alongside an incurable invisible illness and her struggles navigating society with an illness that cannot be detected by sight. We have a right good chinwag about dating while taking our disability and illness along with us for the ride, romantic relationships the whole personal invasion people feel t...

01-14
01:02:13

Introduction to Holly & Leukaemia - In order to know why she thinks and feels the way she does, you firstly have to understand where she has been, the things she has seen and the journey she has been on !

Jenny Watts is back with Season 2 of The Normal Kind of Disabled podcast and this season we are spicing things up as she is joined by others who are also living alongside a disability, illness or mental health or individuals who's lives have in one way or another been affected by one. Why ?!... to normalise what it truly means, is and embodies to be and become these labels called disabled and ill. The NKD podcast has been created to provide AWARENESS to the multitude of disabilities and ...

12-29
01:04:52

Beware of the very real trap that exists out there in this world, which is for your job in society is to be disabled full stop ! Cause eruptions, cause explosions, express and be you! - Work Part 2

Work comes in many different forms and you may or may not have a traditional societal job right now and that may or may not be down to your disability or illness. But in my opinion there isnt a human being alive who gets through the day without some level of work being done. Aint nobody round here not working !. And there was just no way i was going to ever create this podcast series without exploring and discussing one of the most taboo subjects when it comes to living a life alongside an il...

01-07
51:26

There isn't a human being alive who gets through the day without some level of work being done, Aint nobody round here not working !! - Work part 1

Work comes in many different forms and you may or may not have a traditional societal job right now and that may or may not be down to your disability or illness. But in my opinion there isnt a human being alive who gets through the day without some level of work being done. Aint nobody round here not working ! and there was just no way i was going to ever create this podcast series without exploring and discussing one of the most taboo subjects when it comes to living a life alongside an ill...

01-06
01:05:38

Sometimes people have to almost die before they give themselves permission to truly live ! - Keeping Positive & Healthy Part 2

Whatever you do in life make sure you show up, you dare to dream & that you actually take your true selves along with you for the ride. In this episode i tackle the very taboo subject of keeping positive and healthy whilst living alongside our complex disabilities and illness. I also address how i handled keeping positive and healthy during a mental breakdown and how i flipped the script and old teachings on this thing called positivity. To get myself from almost taking my own life ...

01-06
58:45

Don't be afraid of the unpredictability of life or the unpredictability of who you are - Keeping Positive & Healthy Part 1

Whatever you do in life make sure you show up, you dare to dream & that you actually take your true selves along with you for the ride. In this episode i tackle the very taboo subject of keeping positive and healthy whilst living alongside our complex disabilities and illness. I also address how i handled keeping positive and healthy during a mental breakdown and how i flipped the script and old teachings on this thing called positivity. To get myself from almost taking my own life ...

01-06
45:00

For a kick off i will not be categorised as "disabled people" when it comes to dating, your dating me sunshine not the United Nations! - Relationships Part 2

Relationships of all kinds require a lot from us and they also fulfil a great deal of us too!. So i think its safe to say they are definitely of great importance and definitely something we should look at being able to navigate in a healthy way. After all as human beings we are designed to be social communal creatures, we are not suppose to do this crazy thing called life alone! But lets be honest, relationships can be very difficult to navigate while we have so many other complexities g...

12-14
01:19:48

How did a robotting real housewife of nowhere land who jumped off at breakdown central learned to reconnect with herself ? - Reconnecting Part 2

So get ready this episode Reconnecting Part 2 is the fun bit, its what makes all the brutalities of being authentic in this world especially living alongside an illness or disability worthwhile. Its like your whole life especially when you have a disability or illness you wait for this world to just start to embrace you and welcome you with open arms. Well this whole reconnecting journey enables you to do that for yourself ! you don't need the world, anyone or anything to be the one to do tha...

12-14
01:31:57

I don't think living in fear or causing harm towards ourselves or other people, is who us as human beings are meant to be - Relationships part 1

Relationships of all kinds require a lot from us and they also fulfil a great deal of us too!. So i think its safe to say they are definitely of great importance and definitely something we should look at being able to navigate in a healthy way. After all as human beings we are designed to be social communal creatures, we are not suppose to do this crazy thing called life alone! But lets be honest, relationships can be very difficult to navigate while we have so many other complexities g...

12-09
01:13:11

I don't want to live my life without ever living my life, because I'm disabled - Reconnecting Part 1

In this episode i am going to highlight discovering and reconnecting with the real you that's potentially hiding away right now. To help you understand and see what not living your life as your true authentic self has possibly caused or what it has the potential to cause to your life if you keep denying yourself of YOU !. I wanna shed light on ways to recognise those auto pilot numbing behaviours we have all become so accustom too. And then the fun bit, how to find the real you hiding in ther...

12-08
01:09:21

A diagnosis may come and go, but fully graduating as disabled is forever ! - Diagnosis

In this episode i delve into discussing the word that on becoming disabled your whole life seems mapped out by and revolves around and that's Diagnosis. Now the topic of diagnosis beyond fascinates me and i quite honestly have many conflicting thoughts upon the matter as you are about to hear. Through my own personal journey in this episode i talk about what its like to have your body completely fall apart and not to be given a full diagnosis or answers, yet to still be gifted wit...

12-07
54:53

Trauma, who's traumatised ?! I have not even cried once...

I really don't think its possible to have the life changing event of becoming disabled or being diagnosed with an illness happen to you and there not be trauma that's created from that. Becoming disabled shocked me into trauma and i spent a decade after the event unbeknown to me being left stunned locked in it. With no real guidance or help while constantly building and adding more stress and trauma into the mix. It wasn't until i had built that much on top of myself and i got hit with ...

12-04
01:07:27

A broken society has taught us that being disabled is a bad thing, so instead we learned to Hide & Deny who we truly are - Hiding & Denying

In this episode i discuss my experience of how not being able to accept disabled as my reality and what i had became for a whole decade, how that lead me to supressing and squishing my true self down to embarrassingly become a robotting real housewife of nowhere land. I highlight survival mechanisms we can do such as the blocking of feelings and emotions and how that can impact your life and the lives of those around you. I discuss how and why the preconceived notion that being disabled...

12-04
01:24:09

What price would you mentally pay to be able to physically recover ? - Recovery Part 2

Not to show favouritism here or anything but i think this episode is personally one of my favourites of the whole of series 1 so i promise you, its worth a listen. In this episode i step away from how you might be feeling and what you might experience during your recovery period like we discussed in Recovery Part 1 and in this episode i start to address what might actually help during this time. Cause its blooming brutal you might want or need your girl to share some advice. Now i do this in ...

12-03
01:14:04

Is there even such a thing as recovery from becoming disabled ?!? - Recovery Part 1

There really is no recovery from becoming disabled especially if your disability or illness is incurable like mine, i would say its kind of a thing your stuck with !. So why is there a two part episode on recovery then ? you might ask.... well i see the 'recovery period' as the first three years after initially becoming disabled. Its the fighting for your life, all soldier's on deck, saying goodbye to your old life and learning to adapt to this new body and life you have been given. It ...

12-03
01:27:05

Pain Management....What Pain Management ?!

In this episode I discuss my thoughts, feelings and personal journey with this jazzy thing called pain management and trust me when i say i embarrassingly do not hold back !. I share my experience of what pain management so far on my being and becoming disabled journey has brought to me. I highlight what being addicted to a very highly addictive prescribed pain medication and having to withdraw from them twice was like. I even talk about my time jumping on the cannabis oil hype in...

12-02
59:53

Who is this chick ? & What on earth is The Normal Kind of Disabled ?

Episode one is an introduction into what The Normal Kind of Disabled is and more importantly what it stands for to be and create in this world. In this episode you will get a glimpse as to who the heck Jenny Watts is and why im on a podcast blabbering away, what I am on a mission to create and a sneaky peak as to what is in store for series one of The Normal Kind Of Disabled Podcast. If there is anyone who would like any help or advice regarding anything discussed within this episode or...

12-01
41:11

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