Parents Of Special-Needs Children In Theray Push

Parents of children with special needs have mounted a campaign for improved therapy services in the north-east. They want a dedicated help centre set up for youngsters with a range of learning, emotional and developmental difficulties such as autism, dyslexia and attention deficit disorder (ADD).

The campaigning mums and dads – who have set up their own steering group called Little Sparks – are being backed by the London-based Sound Learning Centre, which has decamped to the north-east for a two-week treatment course.

The centre’s leaders, husband-and-wife Pauline Allen and Phil Stickland, have made the 1,200-mile round trip to give a handful of local youngsters and their families fresh hope for the future, using modern, therapeutic machinery.

The course, at the Hill Heath Hotel, Memsie, near Fraserburgh, is already proving a hit with the parents of the 12 participating youngsters, aged between two and nine.

The children take turns to use specialist sound and light therapy equipment and will return several times for treatment throughout the 10 days.

Already, some parents have said they notice a change in their children’s behaviour, and many of the youngsters – who were at first unwilling to take part – say they are looking forward to their next session.

Now the parents’ Little Sparks group is hoping to raise funds and secure grants to bring the Sound Learning Centre back to the north-east on a regular basis.

And they ultimately want to create a dedicated branch of the centre closer to home.

Peterhead mum Debbie Stephen said the sessions were already helping her six-year-old son, Leon, who has autism.

“On the first day his behaviour was terrible,” she said. “He was like a wild animal. He just didn’t want to take part.

“But this morning, he couldn’t wait to get back. It was such a change.”

Aileen Buchan, from Memsie, also said her son, John, was responding well.

The five-year-old has a developmental delay and motor hypotonia.

“What the Sound Learning Centre does for these children is amazing,” she said. “John is starting school this year and our aim is to get him into a mainstream school. We hope this treatment will help him to settle in with other kids in his class and help him focus on his lessons.”

She said: “To get a help centre set up in the north-east would be a godsend. We decided to set up Little Sparks initially to raise money to bring this treatment back to the north-east as often as we can.

“Then we will look at getting a dedicated centre, but we know that will be far off.”

The north-east’s relationship with the Sound Learning Centre started last year, when Fraserburgh youngster Neil Morrison travelled to the capital for noise and light therapy.

The six-year-old, who was diagnosed with autism, development delay and sensory integration dysfunction, could only manage to speak two- word phrases before his treatment.

Afterwards, he is able to string together sentences.

His mother and father, Donna and Des, persuaded the centre’s Ms Allen to travel to the Broch and give a talk on her work.

More than 80 people turned up at the presentation in November.

Ms Allen said: “What struck us was the number of children with special difficulties there was in this area.

“Their parents were crying out for the type of treatment we offer, so we soon made plans for our trip up north.

“Its something of a military exercise to decamp from London, what with all the equipment we need to take, but the hotel and the people here have been extremely accommodating.

“The parents’ Little Sparks campaign is fantastic. Each of the mothers and fathers here are completely committed to their children.”

For more information on the Sound Learning Centre visit www.thesoundlearningcentre.co.uk or call 020 8882 1060.