"Such a lovely, happy atmosphere"

We recently had our last day in our block of Theratots.

Initially, I was so anxious before going, having a complex needs baby with neuro disabilities and having no diagnosis there has been a lot of anxiety since our daughter became unwell but going out anywhere was such a hurdle. There are no baby classes that are inclusive for babies who are severely delayed and medically fragile, our dreams of taking our baby to socialise with others were gone. It’s heartbreaking to see your child be so unwell and behind their peers, not able to join in to the structure of available classes and being with parents who don’t understand. Theratots has changed all of that.

We were reassured from before we started by the speech and language and physio teams. We were told what staff would be there and what we could expect but with no pressure on us. We were made to feel so welcome and at ease when we walked through the door.

Our daughter absolutely loved it, giggling and getting excited like we’ve never seen her before, enjoying all the songs and as the weeks went on she really engaged in the play time with the other children. This burst our hearts, seeing her interact with other children who were similar to her. 

The staff encourage but don’t pressure relationships to form between the parents attending and it’s honestly been life changing for us to engage with other parents who truly understand. Every achievement is celebrated by the staff and the other parents, everyone understands although it may be a small achievement for a typical child it’s huge for our precious babies. The staff congratulate and celebrate everything the children do and it is such a lovely, happy atmosphere where you can truly enjoy your child having fun with no judgement or stares. 

Being in a non-NHS building was so important for us, we had a traumatic time when our daughter almost died that we relive every time we go back to hospital. Walking into a place with no trauma memories was so important to us and the other families. Magical, happy memories were made at our time here.

The class of 6 children was perfect, the staff ratio was brilliant, there was plenty of support without it feeling clinical. The staff have brilliant ideas to try different things and let our kids experience new things and built our confidence in trying new things with our daughter. This has made a massive difference to us, our daughter can now hold a sitting position where she couldn’t before, she anticipates parts of songs and has become much more vocal from being non-verbal. She laughs and giggles almost all the way through the class. 

We are so sad it’s ending but understand coming into the winter months it’s important to have a break to avoid bugs and sickness spreading but we’re counting down the days until the next class.

Every single member of staff has been so kind and supportive to us, Kirsty is just amazing at leading the group. They always hold space to speak to them privately about any worries or celebrate achievements with you and they all truly care about every child that’s there. They helped us experience something we never thought we could and we can never thank them enough. April and Megan were great with our daughter, the other staff are too, we just mostly got supported by April and Megan. They held our daughter for us to get organised and are so caring and attentive. Kirsty has had such a positive impact on us as a family. When I first met her I was really struggling emotionally, she has always listened, validated my feelings and gone above and beyond in trying to help us in any way she can. 

This is more than just a job to these amazing people and it’s so clear they truly care about the children and parents, we are so grateful to have met them all and have them as part of our daughter’s care.