Valerie Lang MBE is 85. She looks back on a life living with Cerebral Palsy.
On early years and education
I was born five days before the start of World War 2. Our home was just outside Manchester. I wasn’t walking, or talking at the usual ages, so my parents realised that there was a problem. I was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy when I was about three.
My mother was very determined to get me walking, which she did. She realised very early too that I was quite bright. She noticed that if she made a small mistake reading a nursery rhyme, I would make a fuss about it until she corrected it.
She decided that as my brain was the only bit that really worked, she wanted me to be educated. And fortunately, the 1944 Education Act said that all children must be educated up to the level they were capable of. And that was key for me because, Cheshire County Council paid for me to go to boarding school. And I went to the first school to be opened for cerebral palsy. I was there from the ages of 7 to 14.
From 14 to 17, I went to a school for children with a whole range of disabilities, which was linked to a local grammar school. I did a crash course in 3 ‘O’ Level subjects, and ended up getting one of them. I then went to technical college to pick up four more O levels, and then I went to a second technical college to do A levels, and ended up doing a two-year course in 1 year. I then got into LSE, and got my BSc.
On her career
I was recommended to train as a librarian, and did the one year-course. My first job was in the London Business School Library. I had a succession of eight jobs in different libraries. Although getting jobs with my disability was difficult, I was never actually unemployed. which is not a bad record.
The eighth job was at the Civil Aviation Authority, and I got promoted to Executive Officer, and then Higher Executive Officer. My role was to read a range of magazines, summarise the content and send this round to my colleagues. And I did this job for the rest of my career.
On Alan
I met Alan on the library course. He was 10 years older than me. We had a very close, not physical, but very close relationship. He really made a big difference in my life supporting me. I think he recommended me to at least one of my jobs.
I was living independently, with Alan coming in several times a week to pick up the pieces. I had rather a small range of things I could cook, and quite a lot of these were egg dishes, so he used to shell the eggs.
He was so kind. He was trying so hard to tell me he was gay, and I just didn’t want to know. We had a close friendship for about 40 years. That friendship really did help me.
I think being gay before it became legal must have been a huge trauma. It became legal in 1967. But by that time, Alan was, I think, in his forties.
He died when he was 73.
On Scope
I was on the Executive Council of the Spastics Society (as it was then). I think I could claim responsibility for changing the name. I decided that ‘spastic’ had become a term of abuse and we had enough to contend with without having that label. It took me years and years of agitating to persuade them that we did need to change.
The name Scope was not my invention. An agency suggested names, and we picked Scope as, in my mind, Scope was not going to be easy to change into a term of abuse. I knew there was a danger that the charity might change its range, but I had no idea that could happen so quickly. It’s become a pan-disability organisation. It’s scarcely talking about Cerebral Palsy and that makes me very angry because I think there’s a lot more to be done.
On her voluntary work
Before the pandemic, I did a count and found I was on 11 committees. I like to think that around the edges, I made a difference here and there.
I’m not busy now. I miss my committee work. I’m on a church council, but that’s all now. I spend most of my time watching television. Fortunately, there’s a lot more on television now – you can usually find something to watch. And I love having my dog. I didn’t have dogs until I retired, because I think it’s not fair to leave them alone. Since I’ve retired, I’ve had five dogs.
On getting an MBE
I was on a committee set up by the Department for Transport concerned with access for disabled people on trains. I think that was why I got an MBE. It came just at the right time because my father and mother could come to the Palace to see me get it. My mum died that year. She was so thrilled. She really was. The nice thing about getting the honour was how many people were pleased.
On friends
I’ve been very lucky. I’ve made friends all the way along. My friend Christine lives round the corner. We’ve been friends for 60 years.
I think I was born at an optimum time. Yes, I’ve broken a lot of bones but I’ve had a lot of love. I really have. There’s not many friendships that last for 60 years.