My experience of lockdown during Covid 19
by TCPID Graduate Tomas Murphy
Like everyone Coronavirus can be very scary to understand but for people with a disability it can be even more scary to understand.
My Name is Tomas Murphy. I am a graduate of the Trinity Center for People with Intellectual Disabilities (TCPID). I graduated in 2011 and I am now working two days a week for A&L Goodbody in the General Services department. I am going to tell you of my experiences of lockdown, understanding Coronavirus, and getting back to work after lockdown.
Understanding Coronavirus
Coronavirus is a virus that can kill people. For people with disabilities that might not be easy to understand. I think as someone with a disability that there should be more easy to read information for people with disabilities. It was great that during this time that Inclusion Ireland put information together about Coronavirus so people who have disabilities can understand what Coronavirus is. Thanks to inclusion Ireland for this information.
Lockdown
Like everyone lockdown is hard but it is a lot harder if one has a disability.
Life in lockdown is not easy. You might think, how am I going to keep busy? Here are some tips on how to keep busy.
1. Get up early and have your breakfast.
2. Go out for a run or cycle
3. Do jobs around the house like cleaning up or sorting out things out.
4. Pick up a book and do some reading
That’s just some of the stuff to keep busy in lockdown.
I work two days a week in A&L Goodbody in the General Services department I work in the post room and I top up the stationery presses. The two days that I work are Mondays and Tuesdays. I top up the stationery presses on Mondays and I work in the post room on Tuesdays, so it means that I have to be in the office to do my work. Unfortunately I can’t do my work from home during the COVID 19 crisis. I could not go into the office as the office was closed because of the lockdown.
I am looking forward to getting back to work when the office reopens after lockdown. So the tips below should help myself and other people with disabilities in getting back to work. Going back to work after lockdown can be a bit worrying for people, but for people with disabilities it can be even more scary. Here are some tips in going back to work after lockdown.
1. The work place should have an easy to read booklet with photos of the changes in the office and a step by step guide of how to go about your work,the rules put in place in the office to keep yourself and other people in the office safe.
2. Before the office/ work place opens back up organise with your department head if you can come into the office and have a look at the changes in the office.
3. Ask if you can get help getting back to work.
4. When your back at work take your time doing your job.
If everyone has their own way of dealing with things, just go with it.