RMS Consultancy

On the 3rd December 2001 (annually the International Day of Disabled People), Rosie had the privilege of spending a day with Rhodri Morgan AM and First Minister of the Welsh Assembly Government. The day gave the First Minister an opportunity to experience first hand, some of the many barriers the built environment can present to disabled people. The day ended with a lively debate from the floor of the Welsh Assembly Chamber on issues affecting disabled people in Wales.

2002

During the Spring of 2002, in partnership with the Welsh Assembly Government, the Disability Rights Commission and Disability Wales, RMS was involved in staging a series of seminars across Wales entitled “Barriers Coming Down”. The aim of the project was to highlight the significance of current Disability Discrimination legislation, and its impact on businesses and service providers in Wales who provide access to goods and services to disabled people.

2003/04

In 2003, ITV1 (Wales) commissioned a series of programmes entitled One in Six. The programmes featured a number of disabled people from all walks of welsh life. Rosie ’s contribution was to the programme looking at work and education. It charted the experiences of Rosie and one other, as they reassessed their early education, schooling, university and ultimately following current career, work and businesses. This programme was entered in the Celtic Film Festival 2004, and was rewarded with first prize in the Education category.

2005/06

In the latter part of 2005, Rosie was approached by Melinda Tankard Reist to write a piece for a book entitled “Defiant Birth – Women who resist medical eugenics”. The book was to be a compilation of stories from women from around the world, dealing with their experiences of childbirth as a disabled mother; or where the contributor had given birth to a disabled child. The book was launched in the United Kingdom in July 2006 amid the splendour of the Houses of Parliament. Rosie was invited to join the launch celebrations and to read an extract from her contribution, to the invited guest list that included Members of Parliament, Journalists and activists from the Anti-abortion and Disability movements.

2007

This year saw the culmination of much hard work and the completion of Rosie ’s autobiography entitled “Four Fingers and Thirteen Toes.” The conclusion of this project saw the fulfilment of a long-held promise made to Rosie ’s late mother to “put pen to paper.”

Since publication, the book has featured in the top 10 of Amazon on-line sales in their Congenital Diseases and Disorders category.

2008

Rosie was engaged by Telesgop Television Limited (commissioned by BBC Radio Wales) to present a two-part radio series on the impact of Thalidomide - 50 Years On. The programmes looked at the lives of a number of Thalidomide-impaired people in Wales , and reflected on how being disabled had shaped them from being Thalidomide babies into the adults they are today. The series also considered the more hard-hitting aspects of Thalidomide and how the story influenced press freedom and what the future holds for the so-called “wonder drug” which has seen a resurgence in manufacture in the United States and Europe .

Following the success of these programmes, Rosie was invited to guest-present a feature at the prestigious Royal Welsh Show staged at Builth Wells in Powys . The programme in which Rosie was involved was aired on BBC 2W during its prime time coverage of events and activities at the show.

Other media projects are planned… So watch this space!

Rosie hopes that by gaining more media work; she will help dispel some of the myths surrounding disability and imagery and further eliminate the barriers faced by disabled people in the media world.

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