Over the last 12 weeks due to Covid 19 we very quickly had to change our ways of working these are some of the things we captured.

Firstly, we took our creative & music expression virtual inviting Children & Families to join parent support networking WhatsApp groups.

Read some of the comments from the parents we support: 

"Creative and music expression benefits Ella massively either really chilling her out or bringing her to life with lots of sounds and experimenting with the different instruments. She has started to recognise songs and anticipates before sound now which is a massive achievement. We could not be without it now. You all at Vista are amazing xxx

The group still gives Ella what she was getting with Grace as Ella can still hear her voice. The group also gives me ideas of things to buy Ella and different activities to try. Definitely made isolation a lot more fun xxx

Thank you so much Sarah & Ella"

"Music & Creative expression with Vista has given Anna a voice... Through music she now engages in eye contact and turn taking. Since meeting Grace Anna has become so much more vocal... experimenting with different vocal sounds. We cannot thank them enough. We have missed contact with Grace, but this group allows us to share musical ideas. Anna's eyes light up and she gives the biggest smile when she hears Grace."

"During this isolating time, it is uplifting and refreshing to hear Grace send music through the new WhatsApp group. James immediately smiled and got excited at the sound of Grace's soothing voice, it is encouraging and emotional to see James react so positively to Grace and for him to enjoy a form of music therapy from home. He loves his weekly sessions at the music centre and has formed a strong attachment to Grace. She is such a positive and inspirational young lady and we are so thankful to have been given the opportunity to explore music with her.

We are also enjoying seeing other families exploring music and seeing lots of lovely smiles."

Lockdown has been a very unsettled time for Vista's CYP group. They have taken support from each other in long periods of isolation, and have learnt to cope in ways they didn’t feel they could, below are some quotes from them:

Although I do not tend to post a lot, I would like to say a huge thank you this group has helped us such a lot since we joined. Not only does Lola love the music it also helps me too. So, can I too add my thanks to you all xxxx 💖💖

Yes, absolutely thank you for all the support and access to the music sessions. 💃🏻🌈💕

This group has kept us going 💕💕 nice to have support from vista other families, you are all amazing 💕💕💕 xxx

Hi everyone. Hope you are all keeping well. Thank you, Vista and Grace, for your continued kind messages and support. Stay happy and safe
Wendy x

Another great thing to come from this wonderful group is that we can all make comments to like-minded parents that have a true understanding of what we are going through now snd in the future x

So hard, but necessary to keep our kids safe 💖🌈 Groups like this help pass the time, Thankyou everyone xxx😊

Although I’ve not posted much recently on the Vista group chat it’s been a real life line with keeping my spirits up over the last 3 months with everything going on . Thank you xx