Judy Smart

"...the worst job that I ever had, and that was screwing up newspaper to pack round lamps, and Veronica and I did this, day in and day out for about a year, and then we decided to complain to the management. We were both quite rebellious, [laughs] so we went up into the manager's office, and said that we were not happy with this work, and he said, 'Well, I'm afraid your disability will not allow you to work anywhere better', at which, I think smoke was coming out of my ears." Judy Smart

Born 16 May 1945, Oxford

Education St Margaret's School, Croydon, Thomas Delarue School, Tonbridge and Hatfield Polytechnic.

Judy Smart Tape 1 Listen here:
Born in the Radcliffe hospital in Oxford on 16 May 1945. Difficult birth -- left arm twisted and eye damaged. ‘Lazy’ baby. Paediatrician advised mother to put Judy in an institution and have a ‘normal’... 00:31:13

Judy Smart Tape 2 Listen here:
Bullied for two terms at local primary school St Mary's in Banbury. Home tutor three times a week. Taught to read by aunts. Screening panel at St Margaret's School in Croydon -- three years waiting list. Learning... 00:31:30

Judy Smart Tape 3 Listen here:
Judy's mother Mary married in 1938 after father Jim Smart was discharged from the Home Guard with flat feet. Lived over tobacconist shop in Banbury. Mary Ringwood was born in 1907, sister Olive... 00:31:26

Judy Smart Tape 4 Listen here:
First night at St Margaret’s. Judy’s jigsaws and crayons were confiscated from her belongings. Parent weekends. Miss Harper and house mothers. Rosemary Dawson Shepherd, Alice Moira and Anne Smith. Miss... 00:31:25

Judy Smart Tape 5 Listen here:
Ignorance and discrimination. Judy bullied while the left outside shoe shop. First night at St Margaret’s School. Miss Harper the housemother. Breakfast in the communal dining room for 36 pupils on eight... 00:31:26

Judy Smart Tape 6 Listen here:
Playing draughts on a specially adapted board. Wendy house. Stayed on at St Margaret’s until the age of 13. Walking and standing practice. Doing homework with John Wilkinson. Algebra, geometry. Failed... 00:31:23

Judy Smart Tape 7 Listen here:
Left school at 17. Judy told she had reached her academic potential. Going home. Careers adviser put her off a career as a hotel receptionist and suggested journalism. Took off calipers at Delarue School... 00:31:22

Judy Smart Tape 8 Listen here:
Mother's involvement with St Margaret's and the Oxford Spastics Society. Judy gave bouquet to Princess Marina at the opening of a new unit at the Churchill Hospital. Judy's involvement with the Spastics Society... 00:13:45

Judy Smart Tape 9 Listen here:
Spastics Society social worker Miss Murphy set up Judy’s month’s trial at Drummonds, a big institution near Kelvedon in Essex. Judy Smart was 24; her mother was 68. Shared room -- long waiting list for... 00:31:23

Judy Smart Tape 10 Listen here:
Typical day at Redclyffe. Outbursts of a woman with Huntingdon's chorea. Counting screws and other menial tasks at the workshop in Abbots Langley. Working conditions - paid £3 a week (one pound deducted... 00:31:24

Judy Smart Tape 11 Listen here:
CSE computing. Business studies. A-level literature. Sociology. Diagnosed with breast cancer – warden’s wife's reaction and patronising attitude of doctor. Operation to remove breast. Judy discharged... 00:31:20

Judy Smart Tape 12 Listen here:
Reaction at Redclyffe. Assembling and packaging porch lights at the workshop. Disrespectful attitude of member of staff. Lack of privacy. Cruelty towards 15-year-old boy with learning difficulties. Complaint... 00:26:28

Judy Smart Tape 13 Listen here:
St Albans further education college. Disabled people in literature. “Over My Dead Body” by June Opie. “There Is Always an Open Door.” Another breast cancer scare. Typing with a stick. Studying economics... 00:31:34

Judy Smart Tape 14 Listen here:
Stereotyping of disabled people as passive and submissive. Sociology A-level. After eight courses at St Albans, Judy’s interview at Hatfield Polytechnic. Accepted onto introductory course and then... 00:31:27

Judy Smart Tape 15 Listen here:
Warden's attitude to Judy's education. Judy had to ask for dispensation from The Spastics Society to pursue her studies. She was told that her education would "lead nowhere" but was granted every day off from the... 00:31:31

Judy Smart Tape 16 Listen here:
Poor diet led Judy to go into hospital. Doctor's advice to have a steak -- given potato soup and natural yoghurt. Her flatmate Maria left during the long vacation. After another flatmate left, Judy decided to go it alone... 00:31:29

Judy Smart Tape 17 Listen here:
St Albans Housing authority specially adapted flat. Problems with ramp. Designer was a six-foot tall non-disabled man! MA in social policy. Studying at home. Judy and mother decide to buy together in... 00:31:20

Judy Smart Tape 18 Listen here:
Carer three times a week to help with housework. Judy has carpal tunnel operation. Mother's fear of operations. Judy spends two weeks In the Red House, a local cottage hospital. Onset of mother’s dementia. Surprise... 00:31:28

Judy Smart Tape 19 Listen here:
Visits to Judy's mother in psychiatric unit. After she was assessed she was moved to Holly Lodge residential home and then St Mary's Nursing Home. She is 98... 00:31:20

Judy Smart Tape 20 Listen here:
Judy's girdle stone operation. Visits to pain clinic. Attitudes to patients with cerebral palsy from nurses and doctors. Availability of physiotherapy and hydrotherapy. Judy's bad experience at school of visiting the... 00:23:49

Judy Smart Tape 21 Listen here:
Judy's job as an outreach worker for PASS: Personal Assistance Support Scheme which promotes direct payments throughout Herts. Judy was on the steering committee of POHWER (People of Hertfordshire... 00:31:32

Judy Smart Tape 22 Listen here:
Judy started work in October 2003. Access to Work and various technical adaptations. The move away from outreach work to telephone counselling at PASS... 00:31:31

Judy Smart Tape 23 Listen here:
Office politics at PASS. Having a car through Motability. Experience of holidays. First holidays were with Phab to Paris and to Avons Tyrell near Burleigh. Across Holidays to Belgium and Italy... 00:31:29

Judy Smart Tape 24 Listen here:
Jumbulance Trust. Phoenix Holidays to Egypt, Florence and Venice. Coach trip to Canada. Differing access and attitudes of various countries. Air travel... 00:30:38

Download the Judy Smart interview transcript (PDF, 1.1Mb)