No Triumph, No Tragedy

Peter White talks to disabled people who have bucked the odds and achieved outstanding success in a variety of fields.

Peter meets deaf opera singer Janine Roebuck, who was told at 18 that the career she had set her heart on - opera singing - was impossible. Her persistence has confounded that bleak prognosis, however. She tells Peter how a combination of tricks, hard work and help from her colleagues has enabled her to perform all over the world and become a campaigner to introduce deaf children to music.

Janine comes from a family where deafness was the norm, which is how she explains her robust attitude towards her disability. She now even sees advantages to her condition: being able to enjoy a good nights sleep in a noisy hotel and using her high-tech hearing aids to adjust the accoustics to her own requirements.

Peter White meets deaf opera singer Janine Roebuck.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Peter White talks to disabled people who have bucked the odds and achieved outstanding success in a variety of fields.

Peter interviews the blind Zimbabwean cricket commentator Dean du Plessis about his eventful journey from creating make-believe matches to commentating on real ones.

Dean uses his intimate knowledge of the foibles of the players and the sound effects of well-placed microphones around the grounds to inform and captivate radio and television audiences. But his broadcasts have also got him into trouble, and as one of the dwindling number of white people still in Zimbabwe, he has been and intimidated by Mugabe supporters for his outspoken comments.

Dean's career is not what those teaching him at South Africa's world-famous Worcester School for the Blind would have imagined. He admits he was an umpromising student, but he has relentlessly pursued what really interested him and is still building a career as a cricket pundit. He now has to make a decision about whether he can carry on living in Zimbabwe or whether he might have to leave the country of his birth in order to continue pursuing his dream.

Peter White interviews blind Zimbabwean cricket commentator Dean du Plessis.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Peter White talks to disabled people who have bucked the odds and achieved outstanding success in a variety of fields.

Peter meets British fashion designer Betty Jackson. Although it is often reported in the press that she lost one of her legs in a car accident when she was 21, she actually had her leg amputated when she was just six years old. She describes how difficult it must have been for her parents to make the decision to have her leg removed and why she is thankful they took that decision.

Betty led an active and normal life with her artificial leg, but when she had a serious car accident aged 21, she then developed walking difficulties and medical complications which left her unable to have children.

For Betty, having only one leg is irrelevant to how she does her job and to her success. She does confess, though, that rather than being a role model for disabled people coming into the fashion world, she counsels caution: it is fine for them to become pattern cutters or designers, but the catwalk is not the place they should aspire to.

Peter meets British fashion designer Betty Jackson, who had her leg amputated aged six.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Peter White talks to disabled people who have bucked the odds and achieved outstanding success in a variety of fields.

Peter meets US army helicopter pilot Major Tammy Duckworth. She recounts the ambush in Iraq which led to her helicopter being shot down, resulting in her losing both legs. While recovering in the Walter Reed Hospital, she tells how she counted backwards using an old clock to convince herself that she was still alive. She says that she went five days without sleep, wracked with guilt that she had crashed her helicopter.

Out of hospital, Tammy became an opponent of the war and decided to run for Congress, just a few months into her rehabilitation. Although she was narrowly beaten in the election, she is now working in President Obama's team to improve the welfare of veterans.

Tammy describes how she rejected a realistic-looking feminine leg, which only reminded her of what she had lost, in favour of a robotic machine which would enable her to fly solo, drive and dive again, all of which she has now achieved.

Peter White meets US helicopter pilot Tammy Duckworth, who lost her legs in the Iraq war.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

As a tribute to the historian Tony Judt, who died earlier this month, this is another chance to hear his candid interview with Peter White.

Tony Judt was an acclaimed historian of post-war Europe. Eighteen months before his death, Tony - an active, sporty 60-plus - was diagnosed with a severe form of Motorneurone Disease, leaving him able to do little more than think.

Paralysed from the neck down, Tony needed 24 hour care and relied on other people for all his physical needs.
His mind however, was always his own, and was extraordinarily busy.

In this programme, first broadcast in June, he describes the experience of having the illness: "This disease is viciously consuming. It's like a kind of octopus: it eats you bit by bit. You can't fix it, you can't cure it, you can't stop it, but you've got one thing over it, it doesn't hurt. So if you're tough minded, you don't need medicine, you just need a mind".

Tony refused to be crushed by the disease and continued writing up until his death earlier this month.

Prod: Cheryl Gabriel.

The late Tony Judt describing the illness which paralysed everything but his mind.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

As a tribute to the historian Tony Judt, who died earlier this month, this is another chance to hear his candid interview with Peter White.

Tony Judt was an acclaimed historian of post-war Europe. Eighteen months before his death, Tony - an active, sporty 60-plus - was diagnosed with a severe form of Motorneurone Disease, leaving him able to do little more than think.

Paralysed from the neck down, Tony needed 24 hour care and relied on other people for all his physical needs.
His mind however, was always his own, and was extraordinarily busy.

In this programme, first broadcast in June, he describes the experience of having the illness: "This disease is viciously consuming. It's like a kind of octopus: it eats you bit by bit. You can't fix it, you can't cure it, you can't stop it, but you've got one thing over it, it doesn't hurt. So if you're tough minded, you don't need medicine, you just need a mind".

Tony refused to be crushed by the disease and continued writing up until his death earlier this month.

Prod: Cheryl Gabriel.

The late Tony Judt describing the illness which paralysed everything but his mind.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

In the first programme he interviews the Foreign Office high flyer Jane Cordell, who had a diplomatic posting to Kazakhstan, her second overseas posting, revoked when officials ruled that her deafness made it too expensive to send her abroad.

She tells Peter that her disability makes her particularly attuned to social situations, reading body language and picking up on everything, from the way people clench their toes to nervous movements which might signal suspicion: 'When I walk into a room I pick up immediately a sense of what the atmosphere is - whether there's going to be a rapport with the speakers and what's going on. You read people's faces, their gestures, you can pick up messages that possibly people who aren't deaf couldn't.

'I always went into it with an open mind, believing that the more straightforward barriers presented by not being able to hear can be fairly easily overcome. But then I'm an optimist.'

Jane talks about her musical childhood and how in her twenties she coped with the realisation that she was gradually losing her hearing. But this did not deter her from pursuing her goals, although it's acted as a good filter when it came to prospective partners: 'It was possible to tell a lot about people by how they reacted to my disability and I used this as a good way to test whether someone was worthy of my friendship.

In programme two, Peter meets the Malaysian politician and human rights campaigner, Karpal Singh, who was left in a wheelchair after a motor accident in 2005. In 1987 Karpal was detained for fifteen months without trial and declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. Just a year earlier he had represented the British born drug smuggler Kevin Barlow who was eventually executed for the crime in Malaysia. Karpal tells Peter about his long career fighting for justice and the obstacles now in his way as he battles the discriminatory stance towards his disability by fellow MP's.

Known as the Tiger of Jelutong for his astonishing fifth electoral win in the Penang constituency he is publicly as sharp and formidable as ever although in private he has struggled to regain his health following the accident.

Peter White also meets Dr Lin Berwick, the blind wheelchair user who heads a charity providing accessible holiday homes for disabled people. She talks about the problems which exist when you have dual disabilities and have to combat multiple problems. The last programme in the series features the model Shannon Murray, who was paralysed in a diving accident when she was 14 and is now challenging attitudes to fashion.

Peter White interviews high profile disabled people about the obstacles they have faced.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Known as the Tiger of Jelutong for his astonishing fifth electoral win in the Penang constituency, he is publicly as sharp and formidable as ever although in private he has struggled to regain his health following the accident: 'I am fighting an internal battle that people don't see and which I can't express,' he says. 'Life is so different now. I can't stand to address the court or parliament and I need help to even scratch my forehead. It's a terrible thing when you can't do simple things that were once so normal.

Producer: Susan Mitchell.

Peter White interviews the Malaysian politician and human rights campaigner, Karpal Singh.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Shannon was the first disabled model to be featured in an advertising campaign by a major department store. She has been a wheelchair user since a diving accident in her teens and is a vociferous champion for the rights of disabled people.

Shannon has appeared in several television dramas but says she tends only to be offered parts for women in wheelchairs and encourages casting directors to take more risks and cast disabled actors in mainstream roles...

Producer: Cheryl Gabriel.

Peter White talks to Shannon Murray, a model who has used a wheelchair since her teens.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Lin has inherited her mother's determination that she should live a fulfilling and adventurous life and when she met her husband Ralph, she says her life 'really took off'.

Together, Lin and Ralph set up the Lin Berwick Trust, which provides accessible holiday accommodation for severely disabled people and their carers.

As well as being her husband, Ralph willingly acted as Lin's carer and they enjoyed a long and happy marriage until Ralph was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Lin describes her devastation at being told this news and, as a Methodist preacher, how she felt the need to cry out to God and demand why they had been dealt this cruel blow.

Deeply distressed by his condition, Ralph finally refused his medication and died shortly before this interview was recorded.

Producer: Cheryl Gabriel.

Peter White talks to Dr Lin Berwick about her life living as a blind wheelchair user.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

It was February 2011 when Giles Duley, an independent 39-year-old British photographer, was blown up by a landmine in Afghanistan. He became a triple amputee, losing his left arm and both legs. His life is a miracle - most soldiers with similar injuries do not survive.

He was with the 1st Squadron of the 75th Cavalry Regiment of the US Army, a "small unit from the midwest", and studying the "huge impact" of war on soldiers. He was into his fourth week but not making much progress, when he turned to talk to an American soldier. All at once he felt "a click in my right leg" - the pressure plate that set off the landmine. "It is pretty instantaneous from click to explosion. And yet everything seemed to go into slow motion. I was tossed by the blast but there was not much noise - just bright, white, hot light. I remember seeing myself from outside my body. Not a religious experience but intense heat and fire and the strangely calm sense of flying through the air.".

Peter White interviews anti-war photographer Giles Duley, who was injured in Afghanistan.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Peter White meets CBeebies Presenter Cerrie Burnell, who became the victim of a disturbing online campaign after parents complained that she was scarring toddlers by not wearing a prosthetic arm. She didn't let this short-sightedness get to her, however, and has gone from strength to strength in her commitment to tackle discrimination.
In No Triumph No Tragedy she tells Peter White, who has been blind since birth, that she is glad her disability allows her to see the damage that such narrow mindedness can have. She recently left CBeebies in order to concentrate on her writing career and has published several books for children that focus on acceptance and celebrating the differences between us.
When she first took the job at CBeebies she was already facing the challenge of being a solo parent to daughter Amelie, who is now nine. The controversy that erupted as a small number of parents called on her to cover up her missing right arm seemed to coame out of the blue. Messages started appearing on the CBeebies board and before long she was speaking to journalists across the world.
Cerrie is forgiving about those who were hostile to her, believing that any adverse reaction was due to ignorance: "I don't mean that in a rude way - I just think they hadn't been exposed to it. I think having someone who is speaking directly to your child is a lot more intimate and more personal than just seeing a character in a wheelchair.
"I think having a children's TV presenter, for the adult, is more challenging. We live in an age where everyone thinks their opinion matters: that's the dark side of Twitter really, that everyone can say anything."
She tells Peter White that she hopes to use her writing career to tackle different forms of discrimination and she is also keen to continue with her acting career. She is nothing if not determined and says she is reluctant to ask for help, preferring to be seen as someone who can cope with whatever life throws at her. This was apparent even as a youngster, when doctors and her parents tried to persuade her to wear a prosthetic arm:
"There I was, as a seven year old, and they were saying that I would have more friends if I had the prosthetic. I laughed at them - my friends accepted me as I was. I wasn't aware of it ever being a problem and was picked on more for having braces!" A bigger problem at school was her dyslexia, with a diagnosis not coming until she was eight - when she still couldn't read and write. But even that has its compensations: her memory, sense of a story and vivid imagination, to name but three.

Peter White meets disabled people who talk about motivation and their achievements to date

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Peter White meets CBeebies Presenter Cerrie Burnell, who became the victim of a disturbing online campaign after parents complained that she was scarring toddlers by not wearing a prosthetic arm. She didn't let this short-sightedness get to her, however, and has gone from strength to strength in her commitment to tackle discrimination.
In No Triumph No Tragedy she tells Peter White, who has been blind since birth, that she is glad her disability allows her to see the damage that such narrow mindedness can have. She recently left CBeebies in order to concentrate on her writing career and has published several books for children that focus on acceptance and celebrating the differences between us.
When she first took the job at CBeebies she was already facing the challenge of being a solo parent to daughter Amelie, who is now nine. The controversy that erupted as a small number of parents called on her to cover up her missing right arm seemed to coame out of the blue. Messages started appearing on the CBeebies board and before long she was speaking to journalists across the world.
Cerrie is forgiving about those who were hostile to her, believing that any adverse reaction was due to ignorance: "I don't mean that in a rude way - I just think they hadn't been exposed to it. I think having someone who is speaking directly to your child is a lot more intimate and more personal than just seeing a character in a wheelchair.
"I think having a children's TV presenter, for the adult, is more challenging. We live in an age where everyone thinks their opinion matters: that's the dark side of Twitter really, that everyone can say anything."
She tells Peter White that she hopes to use her writing career to tackle different forms of discrimination and she is also keen to continue with her acting career. She is nothing if not determined and says she is reluctant to ask for help, preferring to be seen as someone who can cope with whatever life throws at her. This was apparent even as a youngster, when doctors and her parents tried to persuade her to wear a prosthetic arm:
"There I was, as a seven year old, and they were saying that I would have more friends if I had the prosthetic. I laughed at them - my friends accepted me as I was. I wasn't aware of it ever being a problem and was picked on more for having braces!" A bigger problem at school was her dyslexia, with a diagnosis not coming until she was eight - when she still couldn't read and write. But even that has its compensations: her memory, sense of a story and vivid imagination, to name but three.

Peter White meets disabled people who talk about motivation and their achievements to date

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

In the first programme of the series Peter White, blind from birth, meets Victoria Arlen, the Paralympic gold medallist who is now a successful sports commentator. As a child she contracted two rare auto-immune conditions which caused swelling in her brain and spinal cord. She was left in a persistent vegetative state, but what her parents and doctors did not know was that she was conscious and aware of everything going on around her.

Victoria lived in her 'locked-in' world for almost four years. By the time she was fifteen her condition had worsened to the point where she was having almost non-stop seizures throughout the day and night. It was a chance readjustment of medications aimed at reducing these that eventually led to her being able to move her eyelids for the first time. She could communicate at last:

'I took a look around and was like: "This is freedom. My Mum walked over and I locked eyes with her - I have these big brown eyes and ever since I was a baby you could tell what I was thinking and feeling based on my eyes. My Mum lent over and asked if I could blink, to send a signal that I was there."

Victoria blinked furiously, and for the first time in years her family had hope. Her recovery involved relearning everything, from wiggling her fingers to making noises with her vocal cords. Doctors told her that some of the damage would be permanent, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. She adapted to life in a wheelchair, returning to school and to swimming, the sport she had loved as a child: two years after her brothers put her in a life jacket and lifted her into a hydrotherapy pool, she qualified for the US Paralympic team.

At London 2012 she won a gold medal and set a new World Record in 100m freestyle - narrowly beating the British swimmer, Ellie Simmonds. The tears which followed as family and friends watched on from the spectator stands were the first tears of hope and joy since the illness struck.

"I just put my head down, said a prayer and touched - when I looked up I saw the one next to my name and the world record not too far from that and it was an incredible moment. If you'd told me two years prior to this that I'd be swimming on the world stage, winning a gold medal, I'd have probably rolled over in my life jacket, or been sitting there thinking that's not very nice, I can't even hold me head up right now and I'm just learning how to float again

"And then to look up and see my family in the stands and it was this first time in this whole journey of nearly six years, that we were crying tears of joy and crying from happiness. So the medal had such a big meaning because it solidified that I'd made it and I'd survived and now it was time to live and move forward."

Which is what Victoria has been doing every day since: she is recovering physically, is a successful sports broadcaster, has written a book about her experiences called 'Locked In,' and is also modelling an underwear range.

All of those selected for this programme raise issues connected with their own disability and the challenges they've faced. The format allows Peter to explore their motivation and experiences and the slight air of irreverence gives the programmes a very original and winning feel, with listeners enjoying hearing him ask the questions others might be too embarrassed or politically correct to ask.

Recent interviewees include Cyrus Habib, who lost his eyesight to cancer when he was eight but has gone on to become America's first blind Lieutenant Governor; the new Government Minister, Robert Halfon, who was born with spastic diplegia and faced particular problems when out campaigning and the CBeebies Presenter Cerrie Burnell, who became the victim of a disturbing online campaign after parents complained that she was scarring toddlers by not wearing a prosthetic arm.

Producer: Sue Mitchell

Peter White interviews people in public life with a disability to explore how they succeed

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

In the first programme of the series Peter White, blind from birth, meets Victoria Arlen, the Paralympic gold medallist who is now a successful sports commentator. As a child she contracted two rare auto-immune conditions which caused swelling in her brain and spinal cord. She was left in a persistent vegetative state, but what her parents and doctors did not know was that she was conscious and aware of everything going on around her.

Victoria lived in her 'locked-in' world for almost four years. By the time she was fifteen her condition had worsened to the point where she was having almost non-stop seizures throughout the day and night. It was a chance readjustment of medications aimed at reducing these that eventually led to her being able to move her eyelids for the first time. She could communicate at last:

'I took a look around and was like: "This is freedom. My Mum walked over and I locked eyes with her - I have these big brown eyes and ever since I was a baby you could tell what I was thinking and feeling based on my eyes. My Mum lent over and asked if I could blink, to send a signal that I was there."

Victoria blinked furiously, and for the first time in years her family had hope. Her recovery involved relearning everything, from wiggling her fingers to making noises with her vocal cords. Doctors told her that some of the damage would be permanent, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down. She adapted to life in a wheelchair, returning to school and to swimming, the sport she had loved as a child: two years after her brothers put her in a life jacket and lifted her into a hydrotherapy pool, she qualified for the US Paralympic team.

At London 2012 she won a gold medal and set a new World Record in 100m freestyle - narrowly beating the British swimmer, Ellie Simmonds. The tears which followed as family and friends watched on from the spectator stands were the first tears of hope and joy since the illness struck.

"I just put my head down, said a prayer and touched - when I looked up I saw the one next to my name and the world record not too far from that and it was an incredible moment. If you'd told me two years prior to this that I'd be swimming on the world stage, winning a gold medal, I'd have probably rolled over in my life jacket, or been sitting there thinking that's not very nice, I can't even hold me head up right now and I'm just learning how to float again

"And then to look up and see my family in the stands and it was this first time in this whole journey of nearly six years, that we were crying tears of joy and crying from happiness. So the medal had such a big meaning because it solidified that I'd made it and I'd survived and now it was time to live and move forward."

Which is what Victoria has been doing every day since: she is recovering physically, is a successful sports broadcaster, has written a book about her experiences called 'Locked In,' and is also modelling an underwear range.

All of those selected for this programme raise issues connected with their own disability and the challenges they've faced. The format allows Peter to explore their motivation and experiences and the slight air of irreverence gives the programmes a very original and winning feel, with listeners enjoying hearing him ask the questions others might be too embarrassed or politically correct to ask.

Recent interviewees include Cyrus Habib, who lost his eyesight to cancer when he was eight but has gone on to become America's first blind Lieutenant Governor; the new Government Minister, Robert Halfon, who was born with spastic diplegia and faced particular problems when out campaigning and the CBeebies Presenter Cerrie Burnell, who became the victim of a disturbing online campaign after parents complained that she was scarring toddlers by not wearing a prosthetic arm.

Producer: Sue Mitchell

Peter White interviews people in public life with a disability to explore how they succeed

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Isaac Lidsky was only young when doctors diagnosed a rare eye condition which would eventually lead to him and two of his three sisters losing their sight. He hasn't let blindness slow him down, however, and on top of his legal career he has made millions through tech start-ups. To add to his work load he is the father of triplets and wants to be a hands on Dad!

Peter White, blind since birth, meets the blind US lawyer and successful CEO Isaac Lidsky.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Isaac Lidsky was only young when doctors diagnosed a rare eye condition which would eventually lead to him and two of his three sisters losing their sight. He hasn't let blindness slow him down, however, and on top of his legal career he has made millions through tech start-ups. To add to his work load he is the father of triplets and wants to be a hands on Dad!

Peter White, blind since birth, meets the blind US lawyer and successful CEO Isaac Lidsky.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Peter White and Adam Hills explore the boundaries of humour and who can mock who. Adam sprang to fame with his series The Last Leg, which began life as an accompaniment to the 2012 Paralympics, but has now become a staple of Friday night viewing to round off the week's news.

In No Triumph No Tragedy Peter White, blind since birth, challenges Adam about the ethics of disability humour - its cruelty, its inconsistency - and asks what the rules really are. The two take an irreverent tour of the jokes you can and can't tell and just who can tell them.

Adam reveals how he even took humour to his father's death bed and says that it's the greatest way to cope with all that life throws at you. He grew up in Sydney and his parents were told not to treat him differently from his brother - he grew up thinking there was nothing he couldn't do:

"The problem with the word disabled, he says, is that it has so many negative connotations: "I don't think people who are disabled consider themselves disabled."

His shows are based on audience interaction and he loves the liberation of performing in this way. On stage he feels most closely that he's the person he wants to be: "When I'm performing it's the closest I get to the person I wish I was every day - positive, interested in people, nothing rattles me and in the moment I feel relaxed and happy."

No Triumph No Tragedy is a no holes bared interview with prominent disabled people and later in the series Peter meets up and coming politician Cyrus Habib, dubbed the man to watch by the Washington Post. Cyrus lost his eyesight to cancer when he was eight but has gone on to become America's first blind Lieutenant Governor.

His rise through the political ranks brings with it change to the way that Government runs. He controls who speaks in the Senate, which has now been kitted out so that lawmakers will push a button before jumping in - the list transmitting in braille to Cyrus, who can then call on them to speak in turn. He discusses the impact technology is having on improving the opportunities of disabled people in the workplace.

Peter White returns with a new series of No Triumph, No Tragedy and interviews Adam Hills.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Peter White and Adam Hills explore the boundaries of humour and who can mock who. Adam sprang to fame with his series The Last Leg, which began life as an accompaniment to the 2012 Paralympics, but has now become a staple of Friday night viewing to round off the week's news.

In No Triumph No Tragedy Peter White, blind since birth, challenges Adam about the ethics of disability humour - its cruelty, its inconsistency - and asks what the rules really are. The two take an irreverent tour of the jokes you can and can't tell and just who can tell them.

Adam reveals how he even took humour to his father's death bed and says that it's the greatest way to cope with all that life throws at you. He grew up in Sydney and his parents were told not to treat him differently from his brother - he grew up thinking there was nothing he couldn't do:

"The problem with the word disabled, he says, is that it has so many negative connotations: "I don't think people who are disabled consider themselves disabled."

His shows are based on audience interaction and he loves the liberation of performing in this way. On stage he feels most closely that he's the person he wants to be: "When I'm performing it's the closest I get to the person I wish I was every day - positive, interested in people, nothing rattles me and in the moment I feel relaxed and happy."

No Triumph No Tragedy is a no holes bared interview with prominent disabled people and later in the series Peter meets up and coming politician Cyrus Habib, dubbed the man to watch by the Washington Post. Cyrus lost his eyesight to cancer when he was eight but has gone on to become America's first blind Lieutenant Governor.

His rise through the political ranks brings with it change to the way that Government runs. He controls who speaks in the Senate, which has now been kitted out so that lawmakers will push a button before jumping in - the list transmitting in braille to Cyrus, who can then call on them to speak in turn. He discusses the impact technology is having on improving the opportunities of disabled people in the workplace.

Peter White returns with a new series of No Triumph, No Tragedy and interviews Adam Hills.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Alison Lapper is currently co-presenting the documentary series 'No Body's Perfect,' which aims to help people who struggle with body image. It's something she's ideally placed to do - when she was seven months pregnant a naked statute of her sat serenely on top of the fourth plinth in London's Trafalgar Square.

She tells Peter White, in the first of this new series of No Triumph No Tragedy, that when she was born with a rare chromosomal disorder doctors waited for her to die. When she didn't, her Mum was told that she'd have a terrible quality of life and that they should just forget about her. She went to live in a residential home for children with physical and learning disabilities and tells Peter how there was strength in a common bond:

"We survived together because it could be a cruel environment. There were some hideous people who didn't look at us as human beings. They were cruel and unkind and you either survived or you didn't. I saw a lot of people shrink."

Her childhood, she feels has made her stronger: "I always vowed I'd never be anyone's victim and I'd never dwell on what has gone. I don't want it to spoil the rest of my life because my life is really good."

Alison is an artist: she uses photography and digital images to question physical normality and beauty. She paints with her mouth and is constantly challenging expectations around what she can do. This was nowhere more evident than when she was pregnant with her son, Parys. She insisted on changing his nappies and on picking him up: "It's always been such a fight for everything. It's amazing, just because my limbs are missing, how different people think I am."

In the second programme in the series Peter meets the stand-up comedienne, Geri Jewell, who was born with cerebral palsy. She was the first disabled actor to take a lead role in a sitcom and she's gone on to challenge ideas about what is possible. She describes the pressures on her to go into a job suited to her disability and what made her rebel against such restricting expectations.

Peter White, blind since birth, meets disabled artist Alison Lapper in this new series.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Alison Lapper is currently co-presenting the documentary series 'No Body's Perfect,' which aims to help people who struggle with body image. It's something she's ideally placed to do - when she was seven months pregnant a naked statute of her sat serenely on top of the fourth plinth in London's Trafalgar Square.

She tells Peter White, in the first of this new series of No Triumph No Tragedy, that when she was born with a rare chromosomal disorder doctors waited for her to die. When she didn't, her Mum was told that she'd have a terrible quality of life and that they should just forget about her. She went to live in a residential home for children with physical and learning disabilities and tells Peter how there was strength in a common bond:

"We survived together because it could be a cruel environment. There were some hideous people who didn't look at us as human beings. They were cruel and unkind and you either survived or you didn't. I saw a lot of people shrink."

Her childhood, she feels has made her stronger: "I always vowed I'd never be anyone's victim and I'd never dwell on what has gone. I don't want it to spoil the rest of my life because my life is really good."

Alison is an artist: she uses photography and digital images to question physical normality and beauty. She paints with her mouth and is constantly challenging expectations around what she can do. This was nowhere more evident than when she was pregnant with her son, Parys. She insisted on changing his nappies and on picking him up: "It's always been such a fight for everything. It's amazing, just because my limbs are missing, how different people think I am."

In the second programme in the series Peter meets the stand-up comedienne, Geri Jewell, who was born with cerebral palsy. She was the first disabled actor to take a lead role in a sitcom and she's gone on to challenge ideas about what is possible. She describes the pressures on her to go into a job suited to her disability and what made her rebel against such restricting expectations.

Peter White, blind since birth, meets disabled artist Alison Lapper in this new series.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Chen talks about his interest in law and his growing political awareness, which resulted in him taking on cases for blind and disabled people who were being forced to pay taxes, despite laws exempting them. These actions brought him to the attention of the Chinese authorities and he soon became a thorn in their side. He was imprisoned for over four years and then placed under house arrest, during which time he and his wife were beaten by local officials.

Chen eventually escaped and was finally allowed to fly to America to study law in New York, which is where Peter went to talk to him for this programme.

Prod: Cheryl Gabriel.

Peter White traces the life and opinions of blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng blazed across the global news headlines earlier this year when he escaped from custody in China and sought refuge in the American Embassy - but Peter White has known Chen for about ten years and interviewed him several times. In this special edition of the programme, Peter draws on those recordings - and records a new interview - with Guangcheng to explore his childhood, his lack of formal education and his attitude to disability.

Chen talks about his interest in law and his growing political awareness, which resulted in him taking on cases for blind and disabled people who were being forced to pay taxes, despite laws exempting them. These actions brought him to the attention of the Chinese authorities and he soon became a thorn in their side. He was imprisoned for over four years and then placed under house arrest, during which time he and his wife were beaten by local officials.

Chen eventually escaped and was finally allowed to fly to America to study law in New York, which is where Peter went to talk to him for this programme.

Prod: Cheryl Gabriel.

Peter White traces the life and opinions of blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Chris Woodhead has never ducked an issue in his life, and he's not ducking the ultimate one: how to face death. Diagnosed with the progressive condition of Motor neurone Disease in 2006, he has been blunt in the assertion of his right to die - when, how and where he chooses. As a new bill to legalise assisted dying makes its way through Parliament, he's well aware of the strong emotions it arouses; but upsetting people in a cause he thinks is right has never stood in his way.

As chief inspector of schools he became a hate figure amongst some of his former teacher colleagues, as he fought to raise standards in schools and, as he saw it, give children the best education possible. In No Triumph, No Tragedy, he talks to Peter White about his chequered and controversial career, and about his attempts to approach death practically, intelligently, and without self-pity. Before that time comes, he intends to face the gradual waning of physical power with typical practicality; and to make the most, with his partner Christine, of what time he has left.

The format allows Peter White to explore their motivation and experiences and the air of irreverence gives the programmes a very original feel. In programme two of the series he meets the Paralympic Gold medallist Sophie Christiansen, who has cerebral palsy after being born two months premature. In the last of the series he catches up with Raul Midon on his European tour. The singer and songwriter was discovered in a New York nightclub: he went on to become a top performer whilst his brother, who is also blind, became a Nasa engineer.

Peter White interviews the former chief inspector of schools, Chris Woodhead.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Clarence was a promising trumpet player who was paralysed after a car accident as he drove to his brother's stag do. He has kept his musical career alive thanks to advances in technology. A special head-set allows him to select notes via an on-screen cursor and a twist of the neck, while blowing into a tube plays the note and tilting his head varies the volume. Adoo was able to make music again - and in 2012 became one of the founder members of the British Paraorchestra.

In this special edition of No Triumph, No Tragedy, Peter White talks to him about his early years in foster care and the coronet he was given as a six year old in church. He loved music from the off and made a successful career as a trumpet player before his accident. London 2012 marked just how far he had come since his accident and as all eyes turn to the Rio Paralympics he reflects on his own development and his hopes for the future as the Games get under-way.

Peter White meets musician Clarence Adoo, who played a key role in the 2012 Paralympics.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Clarence was a promising trumpet player who was paralysed after a car accident as he drove to his brother's stag do. He has kept his musical career alive thanks to advances in technology. A special head-set allows him to select notes via an on-screen cursor and a twist of the neck, while blowing into a tube plays the note and tilting his head varies the volume. Adoo was able to make music again - and in 2012 became one of the founder members of the British Paraorchestra.

In this special edition of No Triumph, No Tragedy, Peter White talks to him about his early years in foster care and the coronet he was given as a six year old in church. He loved music from the off and made a successful career as a trumpet player before his accident. London 2012 marked just how far he had come since his accident and as all eyes turn to the Rio Paralympics he reflects on his own development and his hopes for the future as the Games get under-way.

Peter White meets musician Clarence Adoo, who played a key role in the 2012 Paralympics.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

In No Triumph No Tragedy Peter White meets Cyrus Habib, who has enjoyed a remarkable rise through the political ranks to become the first blind Lieutenant Governor of Washington State.

His latest post has made it necessary to equip the Senate with the latest technology, allowing him to preside over hearings using braille prompts. He describes how it works and tells Peter White how he can seamlessly recognise and call lawmakers as debates gather pace. His own mother helped him grow up believing that anything was possible and he feels that the development of technology is helping make that a reality for him and other disabled people.

Cyrus lost his eyesight to cancer when he was eight and says that although it has presented challenges, it has done nothing to dent his political ambition. His first election campaign actually built a strategy around his journey: from Braille to Yale! He is a democrat and is being tipped as a possible leadership contender by the American press, but for the moment he's enjoying the challenges of presiding over the chamber.

His parents were Iranian immigrants and Cyrus has played a leading role in protests against President Trump's executive order barring new refugees and limiting immigration from some Muslim majority countries. If the order had been in place he says that his own family would have been denied entry: "I care about those who are affected by this like they're my own family. Nobody loves this country like the people who leave everything behind to earn their place in it.".

Peter White meets US lieutenant governor Cyrus Habib, who lost his eyesight at eight.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

In No Triumph No Tragedy Peter White meets Cyrus Habib, who has enjoyed a remarkable rise through the political ranks to become the first blind Lieutenant Governor of Washington State.

His latest post has made it necessary to equip the Senate with the latest technology, allowing him to preside over hearings using braille prompts. He describes how it works and tells Peter White how he can seamlessly recognise and call lawmakers as debates gather pace. His own mother helped him grow up believing that anything was possible and he feels that the development of technology is helping make that a reality for him and other disabled people.

Cyrus lost his eyesight to cancer when he was eight and says that although it has presented challenges, it has done nothing to dent his political ambition. His first election campaign actually built a strategy around his journey: from Braille to Yale! He is a democrat and is being tipped as a possible leadership contender by the American press, but for the moment he's enjoying the challenges of presiding over the chamber.

His parents were Iranian immigrants and Cyrus has played a leading role in protests against President Trump's executive order barring new refugees and limiting immigration from some Muslim majority countries. If the order had been in place he says that his own family would have been denied entry: "I care about those who are affected by this like they're my own family. Nobody loves this country like the people who leave everything behind to earn their place in it.".

Peter White meets US lieutenant governor Cyrus Habib, who lost his eyesight at eight.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Genevieve Barr is a deaf actress who recently took the lead in the BBC drama, The Silence. She played Amelia, a deaf girl who preferred the silence to hearing with a cochlear implant. Genevieve tells Peter that her own experience differs from that of her character Amelia, as she didn't learn to sign and was taught to speak by her mother. Genevieve has also not had a cochlear implant. She explained that she had to learn how to use sign language to perform the role and was also asked to remove her hearing aids by the director, so that Amelia could have her hair tied back and the implant could be visibly inserted and removed from her ear.

Genevieve said that this experience meant that she was then subjected to hearing the silence enjoyed by her character and that this experience helped her play the part better.

Producer: Cheryl Gabriel.

Peter White talks to deaf actress Genevieve Barr about her lead acting role in a BBC drama

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Peter White talks to Genevieve Barr about the impact deafness has on her acting career.

Genevieve Barr is a deaf actress who recently took the lead in the BBC drama, The Silence. She played Amelia, a deaf girl who preferred the silence to hearing with a cochlear implant. Genevieve tells Peter that her own experience differs from that of her character Amelia, as she didn't learn to sign and was taught to speak by her mother. Genevieve has also not had a cochlear implant. She explained that she had to learn how to use sign language to perform the role and was also asked to remove her hearing aids by the director, so that Amelia could have her hair tied back and the implant could be visibly inserted and removed from her ear.

Genevieve said that this experience meant that she was then subjected to hearing the silence enjoyed by her character and that this experience helped her play the part better.

Producer: Cheryl Gabriel.

Peter White talks to deaf actress Genevieve Barr about her lead acting role in a BBC drama

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Guy Disney was on his second tour of Afghanistan and serving as Captain with the Light Dragoons in Helmand Province when he was caught in an ambush which changed his life. During a 10-day period which claimed the lives of 11 British servicemen, Disney's vehicle was out on patrol when it was hit from the side by a rocket-propelled grenade.

He tells Peter that his life was saved by the quick action of those with him, who put a tourniquet on his leg to stop the bleeding. He was airlifted to a field hospital, where he had his first operation - just 24 hours later he was flown back to the UK for further surgery.

In the immediate aftermath he was intent on recovery and determined to get used to life with a prosthetic leg as quickly as possible. His initial hopes centred on being able to return to Afghanistan: `I think I had in the back of my mind that I wanted to go at things as if nothing had changed.

`I remember saying to a consultant I want to re-join the guys and I remember starting to train, putting on a back pack and walking for miles. My leg was raw, I physically exhausted - it was odd feeling and it made me realise that wasn't going to happen.`

Instead Guy turned back to horse racing, which he'd always loved: `The racing for me is a complete drug, I'm absolutely addicted to it - going over an obstacle at thirty miles an hour on half a tonne of animal is the most astonishing feeling in the world. Going on a horse over a fence, that's where the real point of elation is.`

But when he applied for his jockey's licence in 2010 he was turned down by the British Horseracing Authority: `They had concerns that I'd get the prosthetic stuck or if my foot slipped out of the iron I wouldn't be able to get it back in as I couldn't feel it. It was a shock as I hadn't thought up to that point that the injury was going to change my life.`

He vented his frustration by signing up for Prince Harry's Walking With The Wounded trek to the North Pole. It marked the start of Guy's long lasting commitment to help injured ex-servicemen and during the preparations he met David Carey, a doctor training to be a barrister, who offered to help challenge the BHA decision.

After months of work and with the help of Toe Stoppers, stirrup irons where the foot is prevented from slipping forward, they eventually managed to overturn the BHA decision and he was free to race again. In 2017 he won the Royal Artillery Gold Cup at Sandown Park and last year he became the first amputee jockey to ride over the Grand National fences in the Foxhunters' Chase at Aintree.

`I always get quite nervous before the racing and then the moment you're sat on the horse you're set into the race you can't change anything, you get down to the start and what will be will be. It's a feeling of complete contentment.`

Alongside the racing Guy is committed to several charities and worked with disadvantaged youngsters in Nottingham through the Royal Foundation. The role included building relationships that could help engage them and build up skills and training.

As a trustee at Walking with the Wounded he has been asked to help oversee a project in Zambia and is training rangers who encounter many dangers. `There are some key areas I've got funded to trial through the Royal Foundation and Walking With The Wounded, where we take teams of servicemen and women to help.

`Stopping medical bleeds is a big priority and we can teach them how to use a tourniquet. The moment something happens out there you have sixty seconds if you want to stop arterial bleed. Giving them the skills can help save many lives.`

Blind broadcaster Peter White interviews amputee jockey Guy Disney about his charity work.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Guy Disney was on his second tour of Afghanistan and serving as Captain with the Light Dragoons in Helmand Province when he was caught in an ambush which changed his life. During a 10-day period which claimed the lives of 11 British servicemen, Disney's vehicle was out on patrol when it was hit from the side by a rocket-propelled grenade.

He tells Peter that his life was saved by the quick action of those with him, who put a tourniquet on his leg to stop the bleeding. He was airlifted to a field hospital, where he had his first operation - just 24 hours later he was flown back to the UK for further surgery.

In the immediate aftermath he was intent on recovery and determined to get used to life with a prosthetic leg as quickly as possible. His initial hopes centred on being able to return to Afghanistan: `I think I had in the back of my mind that I wanted to go at things as if nothing had changed.

`I remember saying to a consultant I want to re-join the guys and I remember starting to train, putting on a back pack and walking for miles. My leg was raw, I physically exhausted - it was odd feeling and it made me realise that wasn't going to happen.`

Instead Guy turned back to horse racing, which he'd always loved: `The racing for me is a complete drug, I'm absolutely addicted to it - going over an obstacle at thirty miles an hour on half a tonne of animal is the most astonishing feeling in the world. Going on a horse over a fence, that's where the real point of elation is.`

But when he applied for his jockey's licence in 2010 he was turned down by the British Horseracing Authority: `They had concerns that I'd get the prosthetic stuck or if my foot slipped out of the iron I wouldn't be able to get it back in as I couldn't feel it. It was a shock as I hadn't thought up to that point that the injury was going to change my life.`

He vented his frustration by signing up for Prince Harry's Walking With The Wounded trek to the North Pole. It marked the start of Guy's long lasting commitment to help injured ex-servicemen and during the preparations he met David Carey, a doctor training to be a barrister, who offered to help challenge the BHA decision.

After months of work and with the help of Toe Stoppers, stirrup irons where the foot is prevented from slipping forward, they eventually managed to overturn the BHA decision and he was free to race again. In 2017 he won the Royal Artillery Gold Cup at Sandown Park and last year he became the first amputee jockey to ride over the Grand National fences in the Foxhunters' Chase at Aintree.

`I always get quite nervous before the racing and then the moment you're sat on the horse you're set into the race you can't change anything, you get down to the start and what will be will be. It's a feeling of complete contentment.`

Alongside the racing Guy is committed to several charities and worked with disadvantaged youngsters in Nottingham through the Royal Foundation. The role included building relationships that could help engage them and build up skills and training.

As a trustee at Walking with the Wounded he has been asked to help oversee a project in Zambia and is training rangers who encounter many dangers. `There are some key areas I've got funded to trial through the Royal Foundation and Walking With The Wounded, where we take teams of servicemen and women to help.

`Stopping medical bleeds is a big priority and we can teach them how to use a tourniquet. The moment something happens out there you have sixty seconds if you want to stop arterial bleed. Giving them the skills can help save many lives.`

Blind broadcaster Peter White interviews amputee jockey Guy Disney about his charity work.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

In this edition of No Triumph No Tragedy, Peter White, himself blind since birth, meets Haben Girma, the first deaf blind graduate from Harvard law school who is now breaking barriers to tackle discrimination on a world wide scale.

Haben's father was from Ethiopia and her Mum from Eritrea: they were determined to not restrict her in any way and she grew up in a noisy rough and tumble home, staying in mainstream education and even helping build a school in Mali when she was just fifteen. She said that as a young child she didn't fully realise she was different: she thought everyone was deaf and blind!

This upbringing helped shape Haben's approach to life, including her stubborn refusal to accept any limits on what she can achieve. When her school cafeteria menus were unreadable to her, she threatened to take them to court! And this fierce campaigning streak got her into Harvard: the first deaf blind student to graduate from the law school.

She is now a human rights lawyer tackling access to the internet and therefore to most aspects of life for other disabled people. She is a firm believer that small changes by the big companies can have huge knock on benefits to people across the world and that they could do far more to help. It's a message she takes all over, using her brain machine and a typist manically transcribing the words of those around her in a system she helped to develop:

I want more companies to realise that people with disabilities are talented and an amazing market. We are one of the largest minority groups. There are over a billion disabled people across the world and so an organisation that invests in accessibility gets to tap into this huge market."

Produced by Sue Mitchell

In No Triumph No Tragedy Peter White interviews deaf blind human rights lawyer Haben Girma

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

In this edition of No Triumph No Tragedy, Peter White, himself blind since birth, meets Haben Girma, the first deaf blind graduate from Harvard law school who is now breaking barriers to tackle discrimination on a world wide scale.

Haben's father was from Ethiopia and her Mum from Eritrea: they were determined to not restrict her in any way and she grew up in a noisy rough and tumble home, staying in mainstream education and even helping build a school in Mali when she was just fifteen. She said that as a young child she didn't fully realise she was different: she thought everyone was deaf and blind!

This upbringing helped shape Haben's approach to life, including her stubborn refusal to accept any limits on what she can achieve. When her school cafeteria menus were unreadable to her, she threatened to take them to court! And this fierce campaigning streak got her into Harvard: the first deaf blind student to graduate from the law school.

She is now a human rights lawyer tackling access to the internet and therefore to most aspects of life for other disabled people. She is a firm believer that small changes by the big companies can have huge knock on benefits to people across the world and that they could do far more to help. It's a message she takes all over, using her brain machine and a typist manically transcribing the words of those around her in a system she helped to develop:

I want more companies to realise that people with disabilities are talented and an amazing market. We are one of the largest minority groups. There are over a billion disabled people across the world and so an organisation that invests in accessibility gets to tap into this huge market."

Produced by Sue Mitchell

In No Triumph No Tragedy Peter White interviews deaf blind human rights lawyer Haben Girma

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

The incident was typical of the first Paralympics which took place in Rome in nineteen sixty. Paralympic villages these days are fully wheelchair accessible, each athlete has an assistant to help with any special needs, and athletes can get advice about anything from diet to the very latest equipment. In Margaret's first games the accommodation was on stilts, and they had to be carried in and out by soldiers. Undignified it might have been, but Margaret didn't seem to mind! It was typical of the times, and in No Triumph, No Tragedy, Margaret, now eighty-five, tells her story with the laconic acceptance of her generation.

It had been typical of her treatment since a road accident in Malawi only a year earlier left her paralysed and in a wheelchair. After being flown home, she was taken to Stoke Mandeville Hospital, then more or less just a row of huts, though offering what was at the time the most sophisticated treatment around for those with spinal injuries. It was run by Ludwig Guttmann, who Margaret clearly greatly admired, even though he ran the place a bit like an army camp. Discipline was tough; trips to the local pub which got out of hand were greeted with a firm dressing-down, and threats that you might have to leave.

He would put up with no feeling sorry for yourself, and it was Guttman who decreed that sport was therapy, and turned what began as sports days into the start of an international phenomenon--the Paralympics. A few hundred competitors went to the first games: now it's around four thousand. Then, hardly anyone noticed them go; now, there are hour upon hour of television coverage. Then, they begged time off work, if they were lucky enough to have a job; now people like Oscar Pistorius and our own Tanni Gray Thompson are household names.

But Margaret's story shows how these rudimentary games were symptomatic of attitudes back in the fifties and sixties. She might have got a gold medal in Rome, but when they put her on the train back to her home town in Preston, she and her wheelchair had to travel in the guard's van. Although she was a qualified teacher, it was assumed that no way could she control a class: she was offered a job stamping cards; there were no benefits, and no anti-discrimination legislation; but Margaret Maughan wonders on the programme whether present generations had the same get up and go as she and her friends. She's delighted that the Paralympics is now a major international festival, but she speculates whether some of the camaraderie has been lost along the way.

Peter White interviews Margaret Maughan, who won Britain's first Paralympic gold medal.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

When Margaret Maughan won Britain's first-ever gold medal in the Paralympics, there was no crowd, no podium, and almost no Margaret! They had to drag her off the coach going back to the rudimentary Olympic village. As no one was keeping the score in the archery competition, she had no idea she'd won, let alone the fact that there was a ceremony.

The incident was typical of the first Paralympics which took place in Rome in nineteen sixty. Paralympic villages these days are fully wheelchair accessible, each athlete has an assistant to help with any special needs, and athletes can get advice about anything from diet to the very latest equipment. In Margaret's first games the accommodation was on stilts, and they had to be carried in and out by soldiers. Undignified it might have been, but Margaret didn't seem to mind! It was typical of the times, and in No Triumph, No Tragedy, Margaret, now eighty-five, tells her story with the laconic acceptance of her generation.

It had been typical of her treatment since a road accident in Malawi only a year earlier left her paralysed and in a wheelchair. After being flown home, she was taken to Stoke Mandeville Hospital, then more or less just a row of huts, though offering what was at the time the most sophisticated treatment around for those with spinal injuries. It was run by Ludwig Guttmann, who Margaret clearly greatly admired, even though he ran the place a bit like an army camp. Discipline was tough; trips to the local pub which got out of hand were greeted with a firm dressing-down, and threats that you might have to leave.

He would put up with no feeling sorry for yourself, and it was Guttman who decreed that sport was therapy, and turned what began as sports days into the start of an international phenomenon--the Paralympics. A few hundred competitors went to the first games: now it's around four thousand. Then, hardly anyone noticed them go; now, there are hour upon hour of television coverage. Then, they begged time off work, if they were lucky enough to have a job; now people like Oscar Pistorius and our own Tanni Gray Thompson are household names.

But Margaret's story shows how these rudimentary games were symptomatic of attitudes back in the fifties and sixties. She might have got a gold medal in Rome, but when they put her on the train back to her home town in Preston, she and her wheelchair had to travel in the guard's van. Although she was a qualified teacher, it was assumed that no way could she control a class: she was offered a job stamping cards; there were no benefits, and no anti-discrimination legislation; but Margaret Maughan wonders on the programme whether present generations had the same get up and go as she and her friends. She's delighted that the Paralympics is now a major international festival, but she speculates whether some of the camaraderie has been lost along the way.

Peter White interviews Margaret Maughan, who won Britain's first Paralympic gold medal.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

This was only the start of Mark's career of choices which apparently would make life as difficult for him as possible. In No Triumph, No Tragedy, he talks with humour, warmth, and practical common sense, about the philosophy that there's usually a solution, if you think hard enough about it. Only Mark, for instance, could choose tiling roofs as an early occupation. When asked how he got the tiles up there, he seemed faintly surprised. It involved, logically enough, getting down on the ground, manoeuvring them with his feet into a container that had a strap or a rope, and then a lot of wriggling till he got it on his back. Simple enough!

He used similar techniques bringing up his three children. He'd always done his share, but when the marriage broke up, amicably but irrevocably, his former wife asked him if he would take custody of the children while she put herself through college! They preferred to live with him, she said. He did it without a second thought, devising ways of lifting, carrying and feeding them. The only problem, he says, was fighting off the older women who wanted to rescue them from his tender mercies. His life as a touring musician was a bigger handicap to childcare than his so-called handicap. It's hard to check kids are doing their homework in the wings, when you're onstage doing a gig, he explained.

Recently, Mark has become something of an online sensation, with his act receiving hundreds of thousands of hits on YouTube. Is there a danger that people are more concerned with how he plays than what he plays? He says he doesn't care, as long as they end up hearing the music. He drives, as he does most things, with his feet. It works fine, but it's also led to the biggest scare of his life. Late one night he was stopped by a cop. He then heard the dreaded words: put your hands out of the window; then get out of the car. He tried explaining that he had no hands. The cop said he'd shoot him if he didn't put his hands out of the window. It was only the word disabled, which Mark doesn't use very often, which finally persuaded the officer to check. So how was I supposed to know, he said grumpily. Listening to Mark Goffeney on No Triumph, No Tragedy should avoid such mistakes in the future.

Peter White meets respected rock musician Mark Goffeney, who plays guitar with his feet.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

When, aged eight, Mark Goffeney strolled into a guitar shop to enrol for lessons, the owner thought he was being kidded. Mark had no arms, the result of an unexplained birth defect. He didn't even have prosthetic limbs, because he had found they were more trouble than they were worth. It's a measure of Mark's persuasiveness, even then, that the shop proprietor took him on as a pupil. He taught him to tune and play the guitar with his feet, laying it in front of him on the floor. He's been a highly respected rock musician for more than twenty years, running his own bands, and touring the world.

This was only the start of Mark's career of choices which apparently would make life as difficult for him as possible. In No Triumph, No Tragedy, he talks with humour, warmth, and practical common sense, about the philosophy that there's usually a solution, if you think hard enough about it. Only Mark, for instance, could choose tiling roofs as an early occupation. When asked how he got the tiles up there, he seemed faintly surprised. It involved, logically enough, getting down on the ground, manoeuvring them with his feet into a container that had a strap or a rope, and then a lot of wriggling till he got it on his back. Simple enough!

He used similar techniques bringing up his three children. He'd always done his share, but when the marriage broke up, amicably but irrevocably, his former wife asked him if he would take custody of the children while she put herself through college! They preferred to live with him, she said. He did it without a second thought, devising ways of lifting, carrying and feeding them. The only problem, he says, was fighting off the older women who wanted to rescue them from his tender mercies. His life as a touring musician was a bigger handicap to childcare than his so-called handicap. It's hard to check kids are doing their homework in the wings, when you're onstage doing a gig, he explained.

Recently, Mark has become something of an online sensation, with his act receiving hundreds of thousands of hits on YouTube. Is there a danger that people are more concerned with how he plays than what he plays? He says he doesn't care, as long as they end up hearing the music. He drives, as he does most things, with his feet. It works fine, but it's also led to the biggest scare of his life. Late one night he was stopped by a cop. He then heard the dreaded words: put your hands out of the window; then get out of the car. He tried explaining that he had no hands. The cop said he'd shoot him if he didn't put his hands out of the window. It was only the word disabled, which Mark doesn't use very often, which finally persuaded the officer to check. So how was I supposed to know, he said grumpily. Listening to Mark Goffeney on No Triumph, No Tragedy should avoid such mistakes in the future.

Peter White meets respected rock musician Mark Goffeney, who plays guitar with his feet.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Before her accident Melanie Reid says she lived life at 10 million miles an hour - a working mother, keen horse rider and award winning journalist. That all changed in an instant when her horse refused to go over a jump at a cross country training practice. She fell face first, her body contorted, and realized almost immediately that something terrible had happened:"Everything went bright red and my whole body was suffused by this intense feeling of warmth and I knew I'd done something catastrophic."

She started writing Spinal Column three weeks later - the thought of documenting her experiences coming as she lay in an MRI scanner. It was, she tells Peter, her way of chronicling the war zone that was now her body: "'I remember lying there thinking I've got to tell people how weird and frightening this is. And it was great therapy for me. Being a journalist helped; it helped to process the shock, superficially. And it helped to process the suddenness of the change. Because from being someone who was busy, busy, busy, I was precipitated into the life of someone who's 30 years older than I am."
Producer Susan Mitchell.

Peter White, blind from birth, interviews others with disability in the public spotlight.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Paul Maynard has cerebral palsy and has found ways of adapting to ensure he operates in Government at the highest level. He has held a number of Ministerial posts, along with the Government Whip and has ensured that whilst he might get mocked and taunted in the House, it won't be on account of his disability.

He has also doing his best to raise awareness about cerebral palsy and help families struggling to navigate educational and welfare services. There are 1,800 children diagnosed with the condition every year and yet only two have ever gone on to become elected representatives in Parliament. Paul sees many opportunities to better support parents and has been pushing other MP's to familiarise themselves with a useful guide armed with information for constituents.

He is aware of how important it is for parents to seek early identification of the condition and secure the input from therapists that can make a huge difference. Paul tells Peter that it is important that cerebral palsy shouldn't be holding anyone in the UK back from achieving their dreams: `Let's make sure we play our part in helping every child gain consistent access to high quality services and enable them to achieve their full potential`

His interest in politics began at a very young age: when he was just four to be exact! Margaret Thatcher visited the special school he attended and he remembers her bending down to play with him in the sand pit. he credits those early school days with giving him the academic discipline honed from hours spent standing in callipers to strengthen his legs whilst reciting his times tables.

Produced by Sue Mitchell

Peter White meets Paul Maynard, one of the few disabled MPs in the new parliament.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Paul Maynard has cerebral palsy and has found ways of adapting to ensure he operates in Government at the highest level. He has held a number of Ministerial posts, along with the Government Whip and has ensured that whilst he might get mocked and taunted in the House, it won't be on account of his disability.

He has also doing his best to raise awareness about cerebral palsy and help families struggling to navigate educational and welfare services. There are 1,800 children diagnosed with the condition every year and yet only two have ever gone on to become elected representatives in Parliament. Paul sees many opportunities to better support parents and has been pushing other MP's to familiarise themselves with a useful guide armed with information for constituents.

He is aware of how important it is for parents to seek early identification of the condition and secure the input from therapists that can make a huge difference. Paul tells Peter that it is important that cerebral palsy shouldn't be holding anyone in the UK back from achieving their dreams: `Let's make sure we play our part in helping every child gain consistent access to high quality services and enable them to achieve their full potential`

His interest in politics began at a very young age: when he was just four to be exact! Margaret Thatcher visited the special school he attended and he remembers her bending down to play with him in the sand pit. he credits those early school days with giving him the academic discipline honed from hours spent standing in callipers to strengthen his legs whilst reciting his times tables.

Produced by Sue Mitchell

Peter White meets Paul Maynard, one of the few disabled MPs in the new parliament.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Raul Mid　n has been described by the New York Times as "a one-man band who turns a guitar into an orchestra and his voice into a chorus." He has collaborated with Herbie Hancock and Stevie Wonder, along with contributing to recordings by Jason Mraz, Queen Latifah and Snoop Dogg and the soundtrack to Spike Lee's She Hate Me. The New Mexico native, blind since birth, has released seven albums since 1999, including State of Mind, his break-through album

He tells Peter White about his determination to shatter stereotypes - including those encountered as a child when he was told that his blindness meant "you can't do this, you can't do that," He and his twin brother Marco are both blind - the result of damage caused after being placed in incubators following their premature birth. Their Mum, Sandra, was adamant from the outset that her sons should be given every opportunity to achieve and the boys eventually went on to college together.

Raul tells Peter of his shyness as a boy growing up in rural New Mexico and the wasted opportunities when it came to meeting girls, for example. But he embraces the life he has achieved and says that he would not take the chance to see if it was offered to him now: "My life has been set up around this and I would not want my life to be about figuring out how to deal with seeing - I want my life to be about what it's about right now."

Peter questions Raul about the benefits and disadvantages of having a twin brother who is also blind: "there was this knowledge that you weren't totally alone in the world as a blind person.".

Peter White meets the blind singer and songwriter Raul Midon.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

In the first programme of this new series Peter meets the newly appointed Cabinet Minister Robert Halfon, who could be found sitting by the roadside holding up signs during the General Election campaign. His spastic displegia makes it too exhausting to canvass door to door and he says his crutches led to a hard fight at the original constituency selection level: "I had to convince people that I wasn't going to keel over on the doorstep!" Robert was appointed to the Cabinet on 11th May 2015 and became Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party.

Peter White asks the questions others might be too embarrassed or politically correct to ask and in further programmes in this series he will be talking to one of Britain's most popular columnists, Melanie Reid, who was left paralysed in 2010 after a horse riding accident/ He also meets Giles Duley, a former fashion photographer who was injured after becoming what he describes as an anti-war photographer. He stepped on an improvised explosive device in 2011 in Afghanistan while embedded with American soldiers and lost both legs and an arm, but still continues his trade. Indeed, he returned to Afghanistan not long after his rehabilitation and is now documenting the effects of war across the world.

The last series received a terrific response from listeners and critics: hundreds of letters and calls generated by the achievements and attitudes of blind musician Raul Midon, Paralympic Gold medallist Sophie Christiansen and the former Chief Inspector of Schools, Sir Chris Woodhead. Chris has never ducked an issue in his life, and he's not ducking the ultimate one: how to face death. Diagnosed with the progressive condition of Motor neurone Disease in 2006, he was blunt with listeners about his right to die - when, how and where he chooses.

Peter White meets new cabinet member Robert Halfon, born with spastic displegia.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Peter White meets Samantha Renke, the Lancashire born actress whose rare brittle bone disease, Osteogenesis Imperfecta, has resulted in her sustaining 200 fractures in her lifetime. As a child she had to be carried around on a pillow to reduce the risk of broken bones, but she hates being called an 'inspiration' as it suggests her life with a disability is a 'worst possible scenario'.

She believes that constantly referring to the disabled as 'inspiring' for their ability to cope encourages others to regard them with pity, instead of seeing them as people who are happily living their lives. Samantha found fame in a ground-breaking series of ads for Maltesers which confronted public perception of disability and won best actress at the LA Diversity Film Festival.

In an amusing and thought provoking interview Peter challenges Samantha about how far she is willing to go to make fun of her disability. The advert sees her recounting a story to friends about how she crushed a bride's foot at a wedding with the wheel of her chair. Using a Malteser to demonstrate the scene ends with her admitting that she still managed to leave with the best man's number!

She is a passionate campaigner who often raises uncomfortable issues about how the disabled are seen and in this interview she talks about the impact of pity which she was aware of even from a young age: `you never forget the first time someone comes and crouches next to your wheelchair and tells you that if they were like me they couldn't cope - or even worse they wouldn't want to live. `

Samantha is a supporter of the disability charity Scope and patron of Head2Head Theatre Company - a self-proclaimed fashionista who loves searching for bargains in London's markets: `The main struggle I've faced throughout my life has been maintaining my independence. Whether that is within work, in my social life or my home life.`

This involves her in campaigns for accessible homes for those with a disability, something she is passionate about: `I believe if you give people the tools they will be integral to society and not a burden. Provide more accessible homes and people with disabilities can live, work, socialize and become valued members of society! Without my home I no doubt wouldn't be doing the work I am now and I would not be the happy optimistic person I am today.`

Peter White, born blind, meets actress Samantha Renke, who has brittle bone disease.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Peter White meets Samantha Renke, the Lancashire born actress whose rare brittle bone disease, Osteogenesis Imperfecta, has resulted in her sustaining 200 fractures in her lifetime. As a child she had to be carried around on a pillow to reduce the risk of broken bones, but she hates being called an 'inspiration' as it suggests her life with a disability is a 'worst possible scenario'.

She believes that constantly referring to the disabled as 'inspiring' for their ability to cope encourages others to regard them with pity, instead of seeing them as people who are happily living their lives. Samantha found fame in a ground-breaking series of ads for Maltesers which confronted public perception of disability and won best actress at the LA Diversity Film Festival.

In an amusing and thought provoking interview Peter challenges Samantha about how far she is willing to go to make fun of her disability. The advert sees her recounting a story to friends about how she crushed a bride's foot at a wedding with the wheel of her chair. Using a Malteser to demonstrate the scene ends with her admitting that she still managed to leave with the best man's number!

She is a passionate campaigner who often raises uncomfortable issues about how the disabled are seen and in this interview she talks about the impact of pity which she was aware of even from a young age: `you never forget the first time someone comes and crouches next to your wheelchair and tells you that if they were like me they couldn't cope - or even worse they wouldn't want to live. `

Samantha is a supporter of the disability charity Scope and patron of Head2Head Theatre Company - a self-proclaimed fashionista who loves searching for bargains in London's markets: `The main struggle I've faced throughout my life has been maintaining my independence. Whether that is within work, in my social life or my home life.`

This involves her in campaigns for accessible homes for those with a disability, something she is passionate about: `I believe if you give people the tools they will be integral to society and not a burden. Provide more accessible homes and people with disabilities can live, work, socialize and become valued members of society! Without my home I no doubt wouldn't be doing the work I am now and I would not be the happy optimistic person I am today.`

Peter White, born blind, meets actress Samantha Renke, who has brittle bone disease.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

In this programme Peter meets Sophie Christiansen, who became a triple gold Paralympic medallist at the London 2012 Games and talks about her cerebral palsy how she is using her fame to help challenge attitudes around disability:

"We should use the Games as a platform to speak about disability as the public love the Paralympics and sport but don't always understand what life as a disabled person can be like. Whenever anyone tells me I'm doing a good job at that, it means I'm doing the right thing."

Sophie was introduced to horse riding on a school trip when she was just six years old - eventually discovering a love of speed riding which frequently saw her Dad running alongside her ready to catch her should she fall. Her first major international competition came ten years later - the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games, where, riding Hotstuff, she won an individual bronze medal. That same year, she was also voted BBC London Disabled Athlete of the Year.

Sophie was awarded an MBE in the 2009 New Year Honours list for services to disabled sport and an OBE in the 2012 New Year Honours list.As well as becoming a triple gold Paralympic medallist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, 2012 also saw Sophie achieve her Masters degree in Maths from Royal Holloway University

Peter White explores her motivation, experiences and even her love life as the two chat about life after the Paralympics and the impact the Games have had.

Peter White meets 2012 Paralympian triple gold medallist, horse rider Sophie Christiansen.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Peter White, who has been blind since birth, interviews Sophie Morgan, the artist, media commentator and disability activist who became a wheelchair user in 2003 after a car accident.

Sophie was only eighteen when she was left paralysed in a car accident: at the time she had been on the brink of starting her law degree, but following her injuries she decided to study art and concentrate on her drawings and oil paintings. She uses her public profile to challenge attitudes to disability and created the Mannequal: a wheelchair for a mannequin to be used in high street clothing stores. Her aim was to change perceptions of disability in the fashion and retail industries and there have been shifts in attitudes since.

Challenging expectations about what is possible also played a part in Sophie's decision to appear in the BBC documentary, Beyond Boundaries, with eleven people with disabilities trekking across the Nicaraguan jungle. She tells Peter that it was during that journey that she really confronted the extent of her injuries, coming face to face with her disability and paralysis:

`It was when I realised that no matter what attitude I have, if my environment isn't accessible, then I am utterly disabled. I was so gutted that I became sick and had to come home early.`

Sophie has various coping strategies aimed at maximising what she can do instead of focusing on her limitations: `The hardest thing is not being able to be the full and whole person that I am in my mind and in the mind of others. But the greatest thing is seeing the world from a unique position. It means that every day I am grateful for what I have. That can be a rare thing.`

Producer: Sue Mitchell

In No Triumph No Tragedy Peter White meets the campaigner and journalist, Sophie Morgan.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

Peter White, who has been blind since birth, interviews Sophie Morgan, the artist, media commentator and disability activist who became a wheelchair user in 2003 after a car accident.

Sophie was only eighteen when she was left paralysed in a car accident: at the time she had been on the brink of starting her law degree, but following her injuries she decided to study art and concentrate on her drawings and oil paintings. She uses her public profile to challenge attitudes to disability and created the Mannequal: a wheelchair for a mannequin to be used in high street clothing stores. Her aim was to change perceptions of disability in the fashion and retail industries and there have been shifts in attitudes since.

Challenging expectations about what is possible also played a part in Sophie's decision to appear in the BBC documentary, Beyond Boundaries, with eleven people with disabilities trekking across the Nicaraguan jungle. She tells Peter that it was during that journey that she really confronted the extent of her injuries, coming face to face with her disability and paralysis:

`It was when I realised that no matter what attitude I have, if my environment isn't accessible, then I am utterly disabled. I was so gutted that I became sick and had to come home early.`

Sophie has various coping strategies aimed at maximising what she can do instead of focusing on her limitations: `The hardest thing is not being able to be the full and whole person that I am in my mind and in the mind of others. But the greatest thing is seeing the world from a unique position. It means that every day I am grateful for what I have. That can be a rare thing.`

Producer: Sue Mitchell

In No Triumph No Tragedy Peter White meets the campaigner and journalist, Sophie Morgan.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

BBC disability affairs correspondent Peter White talks to disabled people who have bucked the odds and achieved outstanding success in a variety of fields. He talks to playwright, novelist and former barrister, Sir John Mortimer, about what he calls the 'landslip of physical afflictions' we are forced to contemplate when we grow old.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

BBC disability affairs correspondent Peter White talks to disabled people who have bucked the odds and achieved outstanding success in a variety of fields.

He talks to TV director and documentary-maker, Emma Bowler, about how Kniest Syndrome affected her decision to become a mother. At 4ft tall, and with inflexible joints, Emma's rare condition was inherited by her first son, Archie.

Pregnant again, at her 20-week scan the doctor concluded 'Everything looks normal'. Emma's first thought was, 'How will I cope with a 'normal' baby?'.

Peter White focuses on TV director and documentary-maker Emma Bowler.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field

BBC disability affairs correspondent Peter White talks to disabled people who have bucked the odds and achieved outstanding success in a variety of fields.

3/3. What happens when you're America's most popular radio talkshow host and you start to go deaf?

Peter talks to controversial right-wing commentator, Rush Limbaugh, about the prospect of losing his hearing. At the time he risked losing a contract worth over 20 million listeners. Has it changed his attitude to work? Or his political outlook on the disability lobby?

Peter White talks to disabled people who have bucked the odds and achieved success.

Peter White talks to disabled people who have achieved outstanding success in their field