{"id":36950,"date":"2023-10-06T11:07:58","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T10:07:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/?p=36950"},"modified":"2023-10-30T10:23:53","modified_gmt":"2023-10-30T10:23:53","slug":"sensory-stories-helped-our-family-start-a-new-chapter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/blog\/sensory-stories-helped-our-family-start-a-new-chapter\/","title":{"rendered":"Sensory stories helped our family start a new chapter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Four-year-old Verity has a condition called CDKL5 \u2013 a rare genetic disorder. Her mum, Sarah<\/strong>, didn\u2019t know how the family were going to connect with Verity and include her in family life. Now they have the answers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Verity in her super-snug Christmas jumper.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Verity has a real twinkle in her eye, you can tell that there\u2019s a lot of life and joy in her. She has limited control over her body, but she communicates a lot with her facial expressions. That\u2019s where her cheeky streak shines through. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initially, the challenges with communication were a big thing for us. We were always determined that Verity shouldn\u2019t be left out of life, but we didn\u2019t always know how to interact with and include her. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now though, I feel very confident. We don\u2019t see Verity\u2019s disability as a barrier anymore. Sense has helped us smash through that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding our connection<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We started doing virtual sensory stories with Sense<\/a> during Covid-19 times. Using the songs, stories and props was a really nice way to connect. Those sessions showed us that Verity is very sensory; she loves bright lights, sounds and music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another big thing for us was trying to do activities that built up my son\u2019s relationship with Verity. The activities Sense suggested were ones Joseph could join in with, and he\u2019s so appreciative of that. I think he used to struggle to know how to interact with her, but their relationship has really improved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Verity and her family taking part in some sensory crafts at Sense TouchBase Pears.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of the things we love doing all together is coming to the Sense Family Days, especially the Christmas ones. Often, festive events and things aren\u2019t really set up for Verity \u2013 she can\u2019t hear the jingling bells or see the Christmas lights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But now we know there\u2019s so many other ways to get into the festive spirit, from the smell of pinecones, to crinkling wrappers and using the resonance board<\/a> Sense bought us to amplify different sounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning how to be apart<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Verity\u2019s going on her first holiday with Sense<\/a> this year. Joseph has been asking us \u201cHow can you leave Verity?\u201d But now he\u2019s relaxing and starting to understand that it means we can have some special time with him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It can be really hard for us all to go out because Verity\u2019s a full-time wheelchair user and she needs her medication. Our days out take a lot of planning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When she goes on her Sense Holiday, I won\u2019t have to worry. I can spend time with my other children without getting sidetracked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sense has given us those tools to open the world up to Verity, and to be there for all my children. Now we\u2019re just enjoying life and looking forward to time together as a family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Verity meeting Santa Claus!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Everyone should feel included at Christmas…<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u2026and all year round, no matter their disability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please consider a donation<\/a> to help a child like Verity feel the excitement of Christmas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A gift to Sense really helps families to unlock new ways to communicate and explore the magic of Christmas with their little one.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Verity’s mum, Sarah, didn\u2019t know how the family were going to connect with Verity and include her in family life. Now they have the answers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":36952,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"display_author":[1258],"class_list":["post-36950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","display_author-sarah-veritys-mum"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36950","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\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36950"},{"taxonomy":"display_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/display_author?post=36950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}