Lancing disability awareness speaker and sportsman writes his memoirs

Thirty Years of Me (£8.99, Olympia Publishers, ISBN: 978-1-80074-627-5) is a reflection on his first 30 years of life, detailing the ups and downs of life as a young person with a disability in the UK, from school to navigating the care system to living independently.

Adam’s aim is to use his rich life experience and the many challenges he has overcome as a teaching opportunity, giving other young people the tools they need to avoid letting their disability be an obstacle. Along the way he gives valuable advice about money, mental health – and simply growing up, plus the responsibilities that come along with it.

Adam, who lives independently employing his own personal assistants, said: “I have been thinking for years and years pretty much about writing this book, when I was 18 and when I was in my 20s but I still felt that I had a lot more experiences to go through. But I just feel that I have now had those experiences, good and bad. Now I thought was the right time. I've lived with disability – cerebral palsy – for the past 30 odd years.

“And I think it doesn't really affect me because I can still do everything that you can do. I just have to do things differently. I just need a bit more assistance and support but really anything that doesn't beat me makes me stronger. I've been told that I'm very resilient and I will fight with everything I've got and I explore that in the first couple of pages

“Throughout my life a lot of people have asked me how I deal with the things that I have to deal with and I just say really that I don't know how I deal with it: I just do it. And I talk about that a lot in the book.”

Adam has played the disability sport boccia to international level and wheelchair football for Brighton & Hove Albion. A qualified sports coach, he offers voluntary coaching services and broadcasts four hours a week on a London internet radio station which streams worldwide. Adam also gives talks on disability and independence to schoolchildren.

“I want to develop the art of adulthood living with a disability. I would say it’s a bit different to other adulthoods because of what you have to go through but the same time I feel quite lucky because if I didn't have the disability, I wouldn’t have had so many experiences at such a young age. I am quite mature and I do hope that the book will help other people. I think I've learned resilience and the ability to cope with difficult situations. I went through a difficult time with my family. Unfortunately my mum lost our family home and I was in a unique situation where my brother looked after me for six months. I was 16 the time. Now really I'm just trying to live everyday as if it were my last. You never know what is around the corner. I always give parents advice about if their children have a disability: you have to learn to trust them and let them make their own decisions. As long as it's safe you've got to let them experience things because you never know when they might have to deal with those situations by themselves one day.”

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