Steph is an intern on our Routes to Employment programme. She wanted to write and share a blog post of her experience so far of the current Covid-19 lockdown.
Lockdown over the last number of weeks has been extremely difficult for me. This is because I am used to being occupied 24/7, due to the fact that I would have my carer visit twice a week and on a weekend I would have the pleasure of helping my partner with his twins, as well as going to HS4LC three days a week and having regular mobility training to get to know Knaresborough and Harrogate better.
This was my routine since I had moved out 15 months ago. Since lockdown started in March I have had to create a new temporary routine, compared to my original routine.
My original routine was:
Monday: coming home from my partners and going food shopping with my carer. Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday: I would spend 5 hours at HS4LC.
Friday: I would use the morning to clean my flat and wash my clothes and towels.
Friday afternoon - Sunday: I would spend at my partners to help look after his twins.
Now in lockdown my tempory routine is:
Monday: I have my carer to help me go food shopping.
Tuesday: I will complete as much work as I can with the help of a member of staff. Wednesday: I do as much mobility training as I possibly can depending on the weather and my hypomobility. I also try to get as much work completed as I can.
Thursday: I will do my work while listening to the TV in the background.
Friday: I have my carer to help me clean my flat. Once my carer leaves I wash my clothes and towels.
Saturday and Sunday: I will spend the majority of the weekend watching TV, I enjoy watching police documentaries and fantasy dramas.
I have also learned how to use the oven on my own. Before lockdown I had started to learn how to use the oven on my own with the help of a training rehabilitation officer. Although due to lockdown I have had no choice but to be able to learn to use the oven on my own. I can now cook food, such as chicken, pork roast potatoes and yorkshire puddings. With minimal help from the microwave I have also learned how to cook pasta and carrots, although I had to do many experiments on how much water to ensure that the pasta and carrots are cooked properly.
I have taken all my special memories out of my memory box and I made a scrap book. This project took me over a week. This is because I enjoyed doing this and I literally spent many hours a day putting the scrap book together. The sort of memories I chose were, college and karate certificates, special birthdays and Christmas cards, hand drawn pictures from the twins, a selection of hand drawn Harry Potter pictures drawn by myself and pages of my writing.
Just because I'm unable to see it doesn't stop me from doing what others can do.
Some photos of Steph's scrapbook:
