I – In Lock Down

Welcome to a very topical post! For me, lock down has definitely not been all negative, in fact, it has been a time of achievements. The first and the main achievement has been the fact that I have been able to stay living on my own, something which I was very doubtful about at the beginning. I knew going back to live with Mum and Dad was always an option and I really thought that this would be the final outcome but it hasn’t been. Despite having lived on my own for 15 years I have never felt that I was completely on my own. Mum and Dad usually pop up to my flat, several times a week to do little jobs for me but this has not been a possibility during the pandemic. However, true to form, my parents have still been a huge source of support. I have added my shopping to their online shopping orders and they have come down to my car park whenever I have needed anything – it is easier to do this little by little as carrying a big load up my stairs is not easy.

Due to knowing that Mum and Dad can’t come up to do odd jobs, I have become even more independent, doing things which I never thought I could do. One such example was arranging to have work men in to fix my dishwasher. Usually I would ask my Dad to arrange this and to let them in etc. but as I wanted it fixed before August, I decided to arrange them to come myself. My main worries were that they would not find my flat (and wouldn’t understand me if I had to give directions.) Or that they wouldn’t take me seriously and just halfheartedly look at my dishwasher and leave, saying there was nothing wrong. Like most of my worries, these never materialised and all went smoothly. I have also been able to do the vast majority of my own laundry something which I always relied on Mum and Dad for. Even little achievements have made me feel proud, being able to work from home – I have probably gone from spending 60% of my time on my own to spending 98% of it on my own.

Throughout lock down I have taken part in online meetings with the Christian charity, Through The Roof (TTR) and I therefore know that I am not the only person who has recognised some of the positives of lock down. Very early on in lock down I was struck by a comment that someone who is in a wheel chair made. They were explaining how pleased they were about being able to attend their preferred House Group, something which they couldn’t do before due to the home which they met in having stairs. I myself have found that I have been able to go to my House Group much more than I did prior to lock down – rather than having to go out of an evening I can just sit of my sofa and switch on my laptop! Although I have noted that I probably do have more energy there are still some days when just doing so much online activity wears me out and it has taken me time to realise that pacing myself is still something I should think about in lock down. The new option of going to my church services in my PJs has therefore been an option which I have taken up on more than one occasion! Other themes which have come out of the meetings which I have had with TTR is that lock down has helped able bodied people realise some of the issues which disabled people can face. This was especially true at the very beginning where nobody was allowed out for more than 1 hour a day, being confined to a house is sadly the reality for some disabled people all of the time.

In the sphere of work there have also been advantages due to the advent of online meetings. I have definitely noticed two clear advantages, firstly taking minutes of meetings and secondly participating in meetings. I was taking minutes last week and rather than trying to write notes by hand I was able to type notes directly onto my laptop which will make producing the minutes so much easier. (Laptops are scarce in the NHS if you are reading this and wonder why I don’t always have a laptop in meetings!) I have also enjoyed using the chat box function in video calls in order to ask questions. Although I am not a stranger to speaking and I give disability awareness talks I can sometimes find asking questions in meetings a little daunting so being able to type them is brilliant.

I think I will find coming out of lock down more of a challenge than being in total lock down. As I mentioned in a previous post wearing a face covering will be challenging. At the moment I am persevering by trying different types but I found a recent shopping trip very disheartening as the face mask seemed to be yet another barrier. Also, although in some areas of my life I have become more independent in other areas I have become more dependent. I always used to enjoy doing my own grocery shopping but as this often involved getting a taxi then, while Covid 19 is still in circulation I wouldn’t feel totally safe in a taxi.

While there may be new restrictions for disabled people, until a vaccine is developed I am hopeful that some of the new ways of doing things – especially online meetings – will continue therefore making the world more accessible.