Photo of Melanie Reid
Melanie Reid

Photo of Melanie Reid

Melanie Reid

  • Melanie Reid
    It’s easier to find a dog-walker than a carer

    It’s no surprise that so many care jobs in Britain are going unfilled, when looking after pets pays more than looking after people

    Wed, 11 Feb 2026

  • Melanie Reid
    I am trapped, paralysed and fighting chronic pain – let me decide when it ends

    Calculated, unconstitutional obstructionism seems to have doomed the assisted dying bill and many will be as angered as I am

    Mon, 26 Jan 2026

  • Melanie Reid
    A cold childhood casts a long shadow

    Every energy price rise blights the lives of those living in fuel poverty

    Mon, 12 Jan 2026

  • Melanie Reid
    Why I’m glass half full in January

    All too often we catastrophise, moan and feel doomed, but this week my faith was restored by a medical miracle, thanks to brilliant NHS surgeons

    Mon, 29 Dec 2025

  • Melanie Reid
    ‘The only way for me to cope with Christmas is to disregard it’

    I don’t want to be a killjoy but, like so many other unpaid carers, this is not the most wonderful time of the year for me. Ignoring the circus of festivities (but not the copious amounts of chocolate) is how I survive it

    Mon, 15 Dec 2025

  • Melanie Reid
    No more BMWs for the disabled. We don’t get to be middle class

    We disabled people don't deserve nice things, the begrudgers imply. But independence is not a luxury

    Wed, 3 Dec 2025

  • Melanie Reid
    When no news is good news

    More of us are tuning out and turning inward as a way to stay positive amid the gloom

    Tue, 18 Nov 2025

  • Melanie Reid
    Euphemisms for death just kill me

    Language matters. When I’m dead, don’t you dare say I’ve – horror of horrors – become ‘unalive’

    Wed, 5 Nov 2025

  • Melanie Reid
    AI can’t care for you

    I won’t be looked after by a robot anytime soon

    Tue, 21 Oct 2025

  • Melanie Reid
    It’s my disability and I’ll laugh if I want to

    A young generation of disabled comedians is reclaiming our stories

    Wed, 8 Oct 2025

  • Melanie Reid
    Life is short, so fork out for that giant plant pot

    Caring for a loved one is exhausting for all concerned. Sometimes you need to escape, even if it’s just to the garden centre

    Sun, 21 Sept 2025

  • Melanie Reid
    ‘Accessible’ new builds are fine to visit, but don’t move in

    If you’re after a suitable council home for a wheelchair user, prepare for a wait of up to 100 years

    Thu, 11 Sept 2025

  • Melanie Reid
    No one should have to prove their disability is not a scam

    It is deeply offensive to be doubted, even if there are always shameless people eager to take advantage of the system

    Wed, 27 Aug 2025

  • Melanie Reid
    As the world burns, people head north – like swallows

    Scotland could take on a new role, a Monaco of the future where the scenery is beautiful and rainfall abundant

    Sun, 17 Aug 2025

  • Melanie Reid
    Hotels are the final frontier of an ableist society

    Planning for a holiday is all the more stressful when your very dignity is at risk

    Fri, 15 Aug 2025

  • Melanie Reid
    With animals, caring too much is as cruel as caring too little

    The case of a horse that collapsed pulling a tourist carriage in New York will inexorably put pressure on equine sports globally

    Wed, 30 Jul 2025

  • Melanie Reid
    It’s a privilege to choose my own bedtime

    My rotating bed has been transformational. But many vulnerable people can’t afford to pay for basic independence

    Wed, 16 Jul 2025

  • Melanie Reid
    Stop treating disabled people as a political football

    Those of us who depend on it know the welfare system is always at risk from cynicism and a fickle electorate

    Tue, 1 Jul 2025

  • Melanie Reid
    People now have the right not to suffer

    The passing of the assisted dying bill gives us all self-determination in alleviating the pain we might be living through and shortening our death

    Fri, 20 Jun 2025

  • Melanie Reid
    Want a happy life? Avoid medical tests

    Private clinics offer to replace present happiness only with distant misery, says Melanie Reid

    Tue, 17 Jun 2025

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