{"id":253,"date":"2021-02-24T16:29:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-24T16:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/?p=253"},"modified":"2023-04-20T09:54:35","modified_gmt":"2023-04-20T08:54:35","slug":"ive-struggled-with-loneliness-and-lost-my-independence-during-the-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/blog\/ive-struggled-with-loneliness-and-lost-my-independence-during-the-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019ve struggled with loneliness and lost my independence during the pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Natalie lives in Wales with her husband and two daughters. In 2012 she was diagnosed with Usher syndrome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m Natalie, I\u2019m 38 and I live in Ebbw Vale, Wales, with my husband and two daughters. In 2012 I was diagnosed with Usher syndrome<\/a>, which causes deafness and gradual sight loss. My symptoms became so bad that I had to stop working in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going out has become increasingly difficult and I lost my confidence and independence with the loss of my sight and hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I find it so distressing having to go out as I know what I am going to face<\/strong>. The looks and abuse, all because we look \u2018normal\u2019 on the outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting support from Sense<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Soon after my Usher diagnosis, I started receiving a service from Sense. Twice a week, a Communicator Guide would visit me and together, we\u2019d could do all the things that I\u2019d wanted or needed to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019d go shopping or attend doctor\u2019s appointments, but most importantly, this time together helped me to increase my confidence<\/strong> in accessing my local community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Being diagnosed with Usher syndrome is a very isolating experience, but through Sense, I began to feel less and less alone.”Natalie<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together we met up and shared our experiences. It was so important for us to chat and meet up with the support of our Communicator Guides. We grew so close, Leanne even asked me to be godmother to her daughter. I will never forget that day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the global pandemic took hold, services like my Communicator Guide had to be stopped and once again, I found myself homebound<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve lost all of my independence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I can\u2019t go out by myself. I can\u2019t hear well enough to use the phone or see well enough for video calls, so it\u2019s hard to keep in touch with people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the first lockdown in March, I\u2019ve lost all my independence <\/strong>that I\u2019ve worked so hard for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know it\u2019ll take a while before the world becomes as accessible as it was before for me. My hope is that there\u2019s more disability awareness<\/strong> when everything opens up and I can leave the house without feeling as cautious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the support of my friends, family and communicator guide, I\u2019ll slowly gain back my independence but, with the support of my local community, that independence will come back quicker than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite all the struggles of the last year, I\u2019m feeling hopeful about the future and looking forward to connecting with others again. I\u2019m drawing from my past experience with isolation to get through this pandemic. I\u2019m taking each day as it comes<\/strong> and looking ahead to the spring and summer for more light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sign our pledge<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Join us in taking action to make sure that no one is left out of life. <\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

\n Sign the pledge<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
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Think, Ask, Include<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Read our top tips on how to make your local community disability-friendly. <\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

\n Read our top tips<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Natalie lives in Wales with her husband and two daughters. In 2012 she was diagnosed with Usher syndrome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":254,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"display_author":[117],"class_list":["post-253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","display_author-natalie"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253"},{"taxonomy":"display_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/display_author?post=253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}