Catherine’s story - A parent’s love by John and Ann
"Our daughter Catherine is the centre of our lives. She’s very loving, and she inspires love in other people."
"Eighteen months after Catherine was born, she was diagnosed with severe cognitive impairment with a lot of underlying health conditions. This means she has no understanding of language and often struggles to eat, causing weight loss."
A good quality of life
"Like all parents, our daughter’s quality of life is important to us. However, we recognised early on that, on our own, we couldn’t provide her with the quality of life that she needs. Catherine went to a specialist boarding school followed by residential care. When we felt this placement was no longer meeting her needs, we applied for Catherine to be supported by SeeAbility. We could see that the charity specialises in supporting people with learning disabilities and complex needs and felt that it could give our daughter the good quality of life she deserves."
"If you can support SeeAbility’s work, please do consider giving a gift today."
"Your kind donation will enable SeeAbility to continue to empower people with learning disabilities, autism, and sight loss like our daughter Catherine to live, love, thrive and belong as equals in society."
Person-centred support
"The staff at Aldershot, where Catherine lives, know her very well and truly provide her with person-centred support. For example, a lot of Catherine’s enjoyment comes through sensory experiences such as listening to music, being part of a group and listening to people talking. So, the staff regularly organise shopping trips out, carriage riding specially adapted for people with disabilities, cycling and music therapy. During lockdown they replaced these with themed parties in the garden, cinema nights and bingo sessions."
"They go above and beyond every single day to ensure Catherine can participate in sensory activities that she enjoys and mean so much to her wellbeing. The team at Aldershot also take pride in Catherine’s appearance and support her to keep her weight up. They give Catherine the independence to choose her own clothes and they do her hair in ways that we can’t – it‘s different every time we see her!"
Peace of mind
"One particular carer, Nickie, supports Catherine as any caring mother would. You can see that Catherine really loves her and we believe Nickie loves her too."
"Nickie and SeeAbility have given us peace of mind. When we can no longer provide Catherine with any care ourselves, we know that SeeAbility will always be there for her."
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