Trust Tommy

So, we had Irish today, and what we had to do was take an English sentence and translate it into Irish. The two sentences in question were “I live in Cork” and “We live in Dublin”

Now, I don’t live in Cork and we don’t live in Dublin. I did, however, know someone who did live in Cork and Dublin. The result:

“Conaíonn Damien Mulley i gCork”. Translates as “Damien Mulley lives in Cork”

and..

“Conaíonn Alexia i mBaile Átha Cliath”. Translates as “Alexia lives in Dublin”

My tribute. If only could’ve slotted the Web Awards in somewhere… :)

Got it done 10 minutes ago. Comments and constructive criticism extremely welcome :)

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WHAT ARE THE ISSUES FACED BY CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY IN
MAINSTREAM EDUCATION?

My name is Tommy Collison. I am 14 years of age and in first year of
Castletroy College. I was diagnosed with Moderate Spastic Diplegia at
an early age.

Cerebral Palsy (pronounced sir-ee-bral pall-zee) is a disorder of
movement and posture due to a defect of the immature brain. (Bax 1964)
“Cerebral” refers to the Cerebrum, which is the area of the brain that
is affected. Palsy refers to disorder of movement.
Spastic CP is the most prevalent type of CP at 85% (Stanley et. al.
2000). Spastic CP is characterized by stiff or tight muscles
associated with increased reflexes (Burns et al. 1996).

CP is the most common cause of physical disability affecting children
in developing countries (Stanley et al. 2000). In the Republic of
Ireland with a population of 4.235 million (Central Statistics Office
2006) and at an instance of 2.0 to 2.5 per 1000 live births (Stanley
et al. 2000), the number of people with CP is approximately 9,500.
With approximately 60,000 children per school year in Ireland (REF
GOES HERE), this equates to 120 children with CP in every school year.

CP is classified according to the area of the body that is affected:
Hemiplegia: Only one side of the body is affected
Diplegia: The legs are more affected than the arms
Quadriplegia: CP affects the whole body (Burns et al. 1996).

CP can also be classified according to the severity of the disability
in terms of function:
Mild, Moderate and Severe (Burns et al. 1996). The different
severities mean that one could be wheelchair bound, or one could
merely walk with a limp, and any stage in between.

A number of studies have examined the effects of CP in education
(Nadeau and Tessier, 2006; Nadeau and Tessier, 2008). My study is
unique in that it is the first study of children with CP in education
by a person with CP of school going age.

The methodology to be used is as follows:
1) I have read previous publications concerning children with CP in
mainstream education.
2) I shall conduct a survey of children with CP to ascertain “What are
the issues faced by children with CP in mainstream education?”
3) Permission has already been sought and granted from St Gabriel’s
Centre (which provides services for children and young adults with CP)
for me to send a questionnaire to school-going children with CP in the
Limerick area.
4) The help of professional staff at St. Gabriel’s Centre and teaching
staff at Castletroy College will be sought in the formulation of the
questionnaire.
5) I will analyze and summarize the results of the completed
questionnaires and make recommendations based on the results.

I was told by Olivia that I should make one of those cooking videos on making stuff, to show the masses how to make them. She told me my macbook would be fine for recording it. Where’d I upload it? Youtube don’t allow vids over 10 minutes (which I’d imagine would be too short to make one pancake start to finish). Any other video hosting sites out there that would be easy to use and easy to but on here? Anything I should know about cooking and cameras?

In other news…

1) Young Scientist proposal is going great. Am also 3/4 finished the page proposal I need to send off to the folks at the RDS. It’ll get finished tonight and I’ll post it here when I get it done. It’s currently 3 pages long and needs a haircut.

2) Really looking forward to the Irish Web Awards on the 11th. :D

3) You gotta love the creativity of some…

Could I honestly call it anything else?

So, since I’m pressed-for-time in the weekday mornings, I only have cereal, and so I like having something big and extravagant -and, inevitably- unhealthy. I usually end up having either pancakes or a fry up. Since I hadn’t had pancakes for quite a long time, I decided to make some.

1. The mixture. Notice the liquid consistency. No lumps

2. Putting the mixture on a pan on the aga.

3. A blurry shot of the pancakes on the pan



4. A clearer shot of the ‘cake on the pan

5. The finished product with raspberries and icing sugar

6. Of course, we do specials for those who want them, and Jay wanted one with peanut butter. Ask and you shall receive…

So, last Tuesday was the first meeting of the debating society in our school, and we were asked to write a small piece on a motion of our choice before the next class. Now, you know me, I’m not the person to leave it until the last possible minute to do the speech, no way.

But then, of course, I’m not the person to do it at the first available opportunity either :)

So, warts and all (an expression I stole from Patrick) here it is:

For the visually challenged, and/or the lazy among you, here’s a transcript of the speech

The motion I chose was that the term Stab City is an unjustified and unfair nickname to give to Limerick.

I think it is a very cruel name to apply to the city. It is a name invented by the media and which is not supported by fact in any way, shape or fashion.

In 2007, there were 10 fatal stabbings in Dublin, while there was only one in Cork and two in Limerick. That’s 5 times as many stabbings in Dublin as in “Stab City”. Does that seem fair to you?

Another unfair thing that stems from the name is the generalization that all of Limerick is the same; rival gangs driving around shooting and stabbing each other. Castletroy would be considered one of the ‘cleaner’ areas of Limerick, in comparison to Moyross or Southill.

Quite recently there was a news story covered in the Independent where a young woman was fired from her job as a hotel receptionist because of claiming that Limerick was a crime ridden city with ‘no redeeming features whatsoever’. While firing here was, in my opinion, a little bit harsh, it brings to light that despite complaining about it so often, Limerick people seem not to try too hard to dispel the rumors and restore Limerick’s good image.

Short, I know, but this was only for the teacher to get to know our writing styles

Yeah, I know, I’m not neat

Well, it isn’t really a plug if it isn’t you.

My lunatic lovely brothers were featured on the SixOne news yesterday. My prophecy that the next time Patrick was on the news would be to do with world domination or the annexing of a small country proved false, as it was to do with the “Young Entrepreneurs” thing that was on in Tralee on thursday night.

The Collison brothers were first shown putting on their human faces to mask their alien identity being made even prettier :) and then John gave a glowing interview to RTE outside, saying that just because it was the Recession that didn’t mean you couldn’t become a millionaire like me.

Original Link (requires Real Player)

You heard it first on Trust Tommy

On Tuesday, I’ll have been in secondary school exactly 6 weeks.

The daily routine of getting up at 7, showering, getting dressed, having breakfast and getting out the door by 8:25 has now become second nature to me. I now feel jealous at those who speak of getting up at five to eight, although back in June, back in national school, that was me.

My opinion on the difficulty of the classes are mixed. Some are a lot harder, like Maths, while some are about the same, for example Irish, and some are complete dosses, like Geography. My favourite subjects are Science, where we recently did an experiment about measuring the volume of an object and History, where we’re studying the three stone ages. Paliolithic (sp?), Mesolithic and Neolithic. We spent two classes watching Apocolypica, which shows a tribe of Mayans during the late Meso/early Neo period.

Mom and Dad have always said I’ve never had problems making friends. I now understand. I know so many people in first year and a good few in John’s year too. There’s even brothers/sisters of Patrick’s buddies that I’ve seen round.

Basically, My first 5 weeks in Castletroy College have been groovy. I’m enjoying myself no end and have only clocked up two notes, both for a lack of organization

Reading someone’s blog with Google Ads (although it wasn’t a blog or post about it) and saw an ad for this

I should be laughing. I’m not.

I’m trying to figure it out exactly. Is it a hoax? Trying to get people’s money. At 79$ it’s an expensive mistake. It could be a placebo, where someone tells you it’ll work and you want it to so badly your brain tricks you into thinking it’s working. If it were free I’d lean towards someone trying to make someone else feel good, but 79$ brings me back to a hoax.

Seeing this website made me think how many others are out there. A quick Google search of “Cerebral Palsy cure” brought up “Advanced Centre”, “Neurology Channel” and this one from CerebralPalsyInfo

#1 is just exercising/stretching, which I do already by cycling/doing stretches, and is only for keeping muscles from getting tighter, not curing CP

#2 is again just stretches, which is useless as a cure. It also mentions surgery, which is not a cure

#3 has three goals

First, a therapist will attempt to prevent muscle atrophy, or the deterioration of muscle tissue from lack of use.

Prevention of deterioration through lack of use is solved incredibly easily by exercise. My 3 year old cousin could have told me that. Surely if you have CP, it’d be the logical thing not to be lazy and spend your life watching TV?

The second goal is to avoid the contraction of muscles caused by the condition.

By physiotherapy. Again, not. a. cure.

Third, a skilled therapist can work with a patient to improve motor skills through a program of special exercises.

Haven’t we been through this?!

In short, there is no cure for CP. Not as of 17:56 today, the 25th of September. CP can be managed, not cured

I did a post about this back in late May, and thought that since they’ve {my rankings} changed so much, I’d re-do them. Due to space and time restraints, I’ll do 5 now, and 5 in a later post.

1. Snow (Hey Oh) Red Hot Chili Peppers

By far and away RHCP’s best song. From the guitar riff at the start to the drums at end this is a class-act of a song. Everything gels together to form a perfect Utopia of noise. It manages to keep to a certain style all the way through aswell. An excellent song.

2. You Can’t Always Get What You Want Band From TV

Band From TV’s cover of The Rolling Stones’ (probably) most famous hit. I also think I think it’s better, and yeah, I have listened to both. It’s a much more upbeat number than the original. Hugh Laurie’s singing voice adds so much. I think the man should get some award for his voice alone, I mean, he’s a fantastic singer, he can do a killer american accent while keeping a great British one too!

3. My Alcoholic Friends The Dresden Dolls

The first of two Dresden Dolls’ songs that are gonna appear on this list. The lyrics and simple drumming beats are what win me over here. The verse that begins with “I’m…trying hard, not to know the name….” is especially great because of the flatpack drums. Amanda’s vocals lend a lot too

4. How to Save a Life The Fray

Again, it’s a number of things that win me over here. The piano at the beginning and the drums during the chorus are pretty awesome. The Fray have had complaints fired at them over the song, claiming that it was just made up to separate people from their wallets, but according to wiki, Isaac Slade, lead singer said that:

One kid died in a car accident, and I guess it had been the last song he downloaded from his computer. They played it at his funeral, and some of his friends got Save a life tattooed on their arms. The response has been overwhelming.

so I’m guessing it’s true

Baba O’ Riley The Who

It’s such a cool song. The keyboard at the beginning building up to the piano intro for the drums is simply sublime. John informs me that the solo at the end isn’t some Turkish instrument as I thought, but actually a violin. Interesting! The song is also known as The CSI theme.

John McCain parody video

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As evidenced in this New Yorker cartoon.

( for the visually impaired among us, text reads “SWM , 40s seeks SWF to share companionship. Must have rescue helicopter and bottled water – only serious apply”)