Liam McDonnell says it feels like Christmas to him when one of his twin daughters comes out with a new word or skill they’ve learned at toddler group.
Three-year-old Aliza and Aya began attending our toddler group in Walker in April, and since then all of Liam’s Christmases have come at once.
“It’s great to have somewhere to take the girls where they can be themselves and thrive,” says Liam, a delivery driver and kitchen assistant.
“The last few months, I’ve noticed a lot of development. They will both come over and say “book” if they have a book in their hand, or they’ll sing a nursery rhyme that they’ve done in the group.
"It’s like Christmas for me when they come out with new words or do anything different. They have come on loads."
Aliza and Aya are on the pathway for an autism assessment after Liam and his partner Rachael noticed they were developing differently to other children when they were two.
The twins saw a speech therapist at their previous nursery, but apart from that the family have had little in the way of expert support or guidance.
Liam says: “There’s not a lot of help out there for parents – everywhere seems so underfunded.
“And we couldn’t really take them to places like soft plays because they would have an emotional overload. I would be on edge – I don’t want people to think ‘look at them’.”
That changed after Rachael found the NEAS toddler groups online, as well as the Tim Lamb Centre in Newcastle where the girls also love to go.
Liam juggles his jobs so he can take the twins to toddler group, and their nursery has agreed to let them stay off on Tuesdays so they can continue to attend.
“We wanted to keep them in the group because we know they’re getting so much from it,” Liam says.
"They get to run around and be themselves. They learn things, they play, they paint, they get messy."
“The family workers from NEAS do an amazing job. Even when one of the twins is upset, they’re so calm and relaxed about it and know what to do. They know how to talk to them.”
Liam also gets a lot out of the group himself. “It’s relaxed when you go there and the people there are in the same boat as me,” he says.
“So, nobody looks down on the girls and there’s no judgement. I chat to the other parents – when I’m not running around after one of the twins – and it’s really nice.
“But best of all, by getting the girls out, they’re experiencing something new all the time and that can only help with their development.”
