Cork mother and her twin boys pen moving poem to raise awareness of ‘hidden disability’

A CORK mother on a mission to raise awareness about a “hidden disability” her twin boys were diagnosed with last year has been moved by a phenomenal response to a poem they wrote together.

Fairhill resident Neidín Dalton recently penned ‘What about DLD’ with her eight-year-old twins, Tommy and Tony, who were diagnosed with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) last year.

DLD is a hidden but common disability that affects 1 in 14 people causing difficulties understanding and using language for no known reason.

This year’s DLD awareness day takes place on October 20 and ahead of the annual event, Ms Dalton said she wanted to do something special to raise awareness.

“I thought of doing our own poem explaining what it’s like dealing with DLD in daily life.

“It was really nice the three of us doing it together,” she told The Echo.

The poem attempts to instill in the reader a sense of the difficulties those with DLD have in communicating with others, featuring lines such as:

“Please take the time to listen to me as I have to take my time to listen to you, 

“My brain works differently but that’s what makes me special, 

“I can get quite tired from all of this but I won’t give up, 

“I long for your help as I am able,

“I am capable, 

“Just give me time and I will be fine.” 

Ms Dalton subsequently shared the poem with non-profit organisation Raising Awareness of Developmental Language Disorder (RADLD) who requested permission to share it on social media.

“They contacted me, I think it was the next evening, to say our poem had a very big response on Instagram and Facebook.

“One parent actually commented underneath it saying, ‘thank you, this made me cry’.

“I was crying myself some of the comments were so lovely,” she said.

Ms Dalton said she frequently encounters people who are unaware of what DLD is and said, for that reason, it is important to shine a light on the disorder.

She said her twins were previously accessing public speech and language therapy, but the support was only available for a six-week block every 12-18 months.

“They go privately now, monthly. They need it. I couldn’t go a year without it because they’d be way behind again,” she said.

Greater access to speech and language therapy, she said, would be a great help to children like Tommy and Tony.

“Home support is a big thing then and schools,” Ms Dalton added, paying tribute to Scoil Padre Pio in Churchfield where Tommy and Tony attend.

Asked if she had advice for parents whose child may have received a DLD diagnosis, Ms Dalton said: “Don’t give up.

“I hadn’t a clue when I got their diagnosis what it was, what it really meant, what I was supposed to do.

“Google was literally my best friend!

“That’s how I ended up finding parents – I’m in contact with one parent all the time who’s up in Dublin. There are a few parents here in Cork and then I’m constantly in contact with the RADLD team.”

‘What about DLD’ can be read in full on the RADLD social media pages.