Deafblind charity ambassador Issy McGrath is on a mission to put her “whole” disability on the map.
The 60-year-old from Luing is chairperson of Deafblind Scotland and thanks to funding from the National Lottery and Argyll and Bute Council she is taking her interactive awareness workshops into communities far and wide.
This is the third round of funding for her Touching Lives project – now called Touching More Lives.
Issy wants any groups and organisations interested in a visit to get in touch with her.
Last week she was at Seil Island Hall with her “absolute gem” of a friend and guide Sue Fenton exploring practical ways in which people can interact with those who have dual sensory loss.
Issy tod The Oban Times: “A lot of people see me as two halves with two separate disabilities, but that’s not the case. Deafblind is a distinct disability in its own right. I want people to see me as a whole – not in two bits.
“Deafblind is a definition that we are putting through Scottish Government for approval. At the moment we struggle to get social services to deal with us holistically. They tend to deal with just one or the other – deaf or blind.”
Born deaf, Issy completely lost her sight 10 years ago, but that does not mean she lives life in the slow lane – she is just back from a deaf-blind touch tour of Africa. Wild swimming from Toberonochy Pier is a hobby, with help from her husband of 34 years Gavin, as is tandem-riding.
She also has white Labrador Ice, her retired service dog, and her black working dog Labrador Yang for support, but is also reliant on “people power”, which is why she wants to connect with as many people as possible to get her message across.
“I still feel young and energetic. I live my life through my fingertips and it’s a good life,” she says.
Growing up mostly in Glasgow as the child of two teachers, she managed to stay in mainstream education but it was “a struggle” she says. “I’m not saying I had the happiest of school days.”
Issy left with few qualifications but re-sat exams at college determined to become a teacher of deaf education. English was her first language, and British Sign Language became her second.
After university she worked her way up the ranks to deputy headteacher of a mainstream school that had a hearing impaired base in it.
“It was a fabulous place but I ran out of eyesight when I got to the dizzy heights of Deputy Head and that was it. I pretty much left because I could not work with children who use sign language,” said Issy, who retired from teaching 10 years and “threw” herself and her skills into Deafblind Scotland, advocating for people with a dual-sensory loss.
Issy knew she was going blind while at university.
“Very strange things were happening. I thought I was going mad. I was very friendly with lampposts, saying hello to them and bumping into them. At lectures I couldn’t find where I’d put my pencil down so I started taking a pack of six with me and just scattering them in front of me so I’d be in with a chance of finding at least one of them,” she said.
It was while she was studying an audiogram as part of a module on audiology that she diagnosed herself with a genetic condition called Usher Syndrome. “The audiogram was a carbon-copy of mine. It was a bit freaky at the time,” said Issy, who carried on with her studies because there was “absolutely nothing” she could do about it.
“I decided not to tell my family. I loved them to bits but I knew they would go hysterical and I did not want to deal with that. I just kept going,” she said, adding: “There’s still much work to be done.”
If you would like to hear more from Issy and are interested in hosting one of her workshops, you can get in touch here: www.dbscotland.org.uk