Dr Lin Berwick MBE

I am a person with multiple disabilities, having Cerebral Palsy Quadriplegia and I became totally blind at the age of fifteen. I also partially lost some of my hearing some six years ago and I am now a permanent wheelchair user.

I am a writer, having published four books, a lecturer (to universities, colleges, and social services establishments) mostly in London and the East Anglian region. I am also a freelance journalist, being a member of the Chartered Institute of Journalists. I am also a seasoned broadcaster in radio and television.

Much of my writing concerns aspects of disability and I frequently give support to those who struggle with disability issues and give help to carers, their families and friends, and so on.

My life has been documented on television, being the subject of the TV programme 'This is Your Life' in 1977, and, a film documentary entitled 'Lin and Ralph: a love story' showing something of my life and work, and general struggle, particularly when, my husband Ralph, developed Parkinson's disease, later to culminate in Lewy Body Dementia. The struggle for me was enormous, and the emotional trauma for Ralph was particularly hard as obviously when we married, he was my able-bodied carer, lover, and friend, only to find that he needed the same kind of help himself.