The Rainbow 13+ Arch Club made my Daughter Smile
Did you ever just sit and look at your special needs teen and see how unhappy they are?
Wake up in the morning and watch them walk out the door to school and know that the children in their class will be the only friends your teen will ever have. Never seeing them outside school .
Well that was me and I watched my daughter go through her life on a go-slow, no friends, spending to much time on her own and very seldom smiling. What was I to do? I tried putting her into dancing but she didn’t fit in with all the girls because of her lack of speech and poor coordination. She wanted to socialise so much, but with all the girls laughing and joking about her she found it so hard to do. See, my daughter looks so “normal” but when she tries to talk that is when people know that she has special needs.
Then one day she came home from school with a leaflet about a club called “the rainbow club” she asked if she could go? I had to think long and hard about it, was she going to like it? Was she going to be bulled? And were people going to accept her for her and not for her disability?
I knew I needed this help as her whole life depended on me, to be her best friend, her teacher but not in a ‘normal ‘ way. I would sit and think! What if I die? She was so dependent on me. How will she cope? So I knew I had to make that phone call.
When I rang the lady on the phone she was so nice and made me feel there was something more for my daughter.
Now we have been members of the rainbow 13+arch club for the last 2 years. Not only has my daughter got best mates that meet up a lot, I look at her now in her club and I see a real smile and a real laugh and she has a life outside her bedroom.
As a matter of fact she has a better social life than me!
Thank Heavens for the Rainbow Club
Before my son joined the Rainbow Club he was in other activities Sports, Swimming etc but he was always on his own . I heard about the club from a parent whose child was in the Rainbow club. He was very reluctant to go at first but now he loves going.
Since joining three years ago he has become much more social as he never wanted to leave the house once he got home from school and at weekends. He has taken part in many of the activities the club have each week e.g. Kickboxing, Music, Fit for fun, Song school fun and games but most of all he enjoys it as he is with his friends which I feel is the most important of all. To see him with friends is just pure joy, it has changed his life and mine.
We have gone on trips and he has taken part in the summer project which I found to be a life saver during the summer holidays, it ran for seven weeks last year, three days a week and made a huge difference. He joined the Dance and Drama classes on Thursdays in the Axis Centre and just enjoys them so much. THANK HEAVENS FOR THE RAINBOW CLUB!!
It has changed my life.
I first heard of the rainbow 13+ Arch Club when my son was 12. I heard from his best friends Mam. I put his name down on their waiting list. He got a place when he was 13. He settled in really well, he knew a lot of the teens there as they went to the same school. Since he started 2 years ago his life has changed so much.
Every week there is something new to do. There were trips throughout the year. They also run a very good summer project. We have also gone away on weekends. I never thought I would see him having so many friends and so much fun.
It has changed my life too. I have made a lot of good friends there too within the parents.
