I woke up this morning and turned on BBC news to see that New York has flooded after Superstorm Sandy caused a tidal surge.

Six million people are stranded in their flats unable to leave and they have had to stock up for a week until the waters recede and life returns to normality.

But if you are disabled even normal weather can leave you feeling stranded.

Autumn is a time that many people say is their favourite time of year, what with the crisp cold mornings and the visual treat of watching the leaves turn.

I have always loved autumnal leaves; as a kid I would collect the really striking ones and of course kick my way through giant piles of them.

Well, despite my love of the colours, the patterns and watching others re-live my childhood trips to the park, the glut of bronzed leaves that surround us now leaves me with a different issue.

When I head out of the front door I have to scan the pavement to watch for kerbs, uneven paving, and debris – all of which can cause me to fall out my chair.

Normally I weave or flick my front wheels up to navigate without any major problems. But add a blanket of leaves and this makes every journey a different experience. I can’t kick the leaves out of the way. I simply have to guess and hope for the best. The ‘snow plough’ effect basically means that I end up having to reach down to my feet and remove leaves every three minutes. And this is all before they have even got wet. Once the rain falls the leaves turn into a kind of papier mache, sticking to my wheels and hands, making gripping, steering and braking a permanently slimy affair and once wet, I really have no chance of moving the troublesome leaves that hide in all the cracks and crevices.

Unlike the New Yorkers – I am not housebound – I am simply compromised but unlike New Yorkers my life won’t return to normal in one week. This is the start of months of weather-related woes and a cautious approach to every journey I make.

It’s strange that if you are able bodied, it takes a hurricane to make journeys in New York a complicated affair, whereas a blustery day and rain shower in October can leave me feeling just as frustrated. It’s a real shame that by having a disability, my love of autumn changes from one of joy at one of nature’s most stunning events into fear of my environment, turning it into one giant obstacle course.