Little Orchids nursery for children with special needs

A child who attends Little Orchids nurseryAn exceptional nursery which transforms the lives and opportunities of toddlers with special needs and gives support and respite to their parents has scooped the top prize in the 2007 Northern Ireland Integrated Health Awards run by The Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health.  

It took Aidan a while to settle in but now he loves it and can’t wait to go in.

Parent using the Little Orchids nursery
 Little Orchids is a nursery which helps pre-school children with a range of special needs to achieve their full potential.  Wherever possible, it helps them to enter into mainstream education. It also provides invaluable support for  parents by making sure that both children and parents get the range of support services that they are entitled to. 

The service also trains parents in how best to help their children including techniques for communicating with their children, healthy eating and massage. It recognises that parents may feel marginalised and disadvantaged through their child's disabilities and so provides pamper days for parents where they can receive relaxing treatments such as reflexology, facials and aromatherapy, and also learn stress management techniques.

Vicky, mother of Simon who had a learning impairment and attended Little Orchids, says: ‘I firmly believe that if Little Orchids hadn’t been there to give Simon the right help at the right time the long-term outcome for him would have been very different. Little Orchids provided Simon with a learning environment where his specific needs (and mine) were catered for and where he felt secure and confident. It’s thanks to this early intervention that he has made such dramatic progress.’ Simon is now a happy, well adjusted-boy flourishing in a mainstream school.

Sally, mother of three-year-old Aidan who has an autistic spectrum disorder and currently attends the nursery, says: ‘It took Aidan a while to settle in but now he loves it and can’t wait to go in. He gets excited when he is collected from home to go to the nursery. As a parent, it has done wonders for me. It gives me three mornings of respite, and with a child with special needs this is much needed. The staff and carers are wonderful – nothing seems too much trouble for them.’