Causing a splash

Our children and families service specialises in working with children with sight loss, often with complex needs and additional disabilities aimed at supporting anyone where visual impairment has an impact on their life.

Nathan is 9 years old, when he was born he was like any other child but as he grew up he started displaying signs of a disability and unfortunately even now, doctors have still not managed to diagnose his condition. He has been termed as having Cerebral Palsy and is a wheelchair user; he is also partially sighted, deaf and has learning difficulties.

None of this stops Nathan or his mother Julie from interacting with other children and being involved in all the activities that Henshaws has to offer. Nathan and his mum Julie love coming to the Henshaws resource centre where Nathan is the centre of attention; he is a social butterfly and hates missing out on anything. He is fiercely independent so refuses any help from his mum Julie. ‘ I am always on hand to help and support Nathan twenty four hours a day but most of the time he refuses to let me, he will never let his disability get in the way of him having a good time with his friends’.

Nathan recently attended a Flow Riding event run by Henshaws where he and other took to the water to learn how to surf. ‘Nathan has always liked being in the water, he was the first one up on the board and he loved every minute of it, it gave him the freedom from the confinement of his wheelchair, it can be very restricting for an active 9 year old boy’. Julie tries to do as much as possible with Nathan to ensure he is kept occupied however it can be hard ‘Without the great team and support network that Henshaws offers i would not be able to do many of the things i can now do with Nathan. We have been involved in a variety of activities from day trips locally to 3 day camping trips, just knowing that the team are on hand to support both myself and Nathan is priceless’.

If you want to find out more about our children and families service in the North East visit the web page or contact 0191 2759417