Jacqueline shares her story…

"I first participated in Conductive Education at the Peto Institute in Hungary. Part of the programme involved walking through a ladder on the floor and I was absolutely terrified. The conductor took me aside, looked at me in my eyes and said, ‘You know you can, don’t you?’ and then I moved. I have never forgotten that. Conductors find what you can do and help you make the most of it, or they help you find a way around it.

"After the first session, I decided that Conductive Education was just right for me. With a disability, people can stare at you which makes you want to hide it. When you're looked at by a conductor you feel understood and so you don’t care what you look like, you just get on with it."

In 1995 the National Institute of Conductive Education (NICE) was established in Birmingham, which meant people like Jacqueline no longer needed to travel to Hungary to access Conductive Education services. Jacqueline now makes a weekly journey from London to attend NICE.

"Conductive Education helps to make life easier by teaching you different ways to approach everyday tasks that would otherwise take more energy than for other people. Even now, many years on from finding out I have cerebral palsy, I am still coming across new problems but Conductive Education continues to help me find new ways of solving them. If only it were more freely available to all adults who could benefit from it."