Bury primary school pupil speaks to MPs to raise awareness of developmental language disorder

Guardian Angels RC Primary School pupil Maeve Gooding, who has DLD, boarded the 5.10 am train from Manchester to the capital city with teachers, Alexis Doyle, Katherine Wilson and mum, Hazel Gooding, to pay a visit to Westminister.

The trip, organised by Bury North MP, James Daly, included visiting Downing Street, Parliament and meeting the Minister for Children and Families, Will Quince.

Left to right: Lia Nici MP, Alexis Doyle, Katherine Wilson, Hazel Gooding, Maeve Gooding, James Daly MP

Alexis Doyle, 50, a specialist teacher for speech language and communication at Guardian Angels, was on the trip.

She said: “It was a phenomenal experience. DLD is seven times more prevalent than autism affecting on average seven per cent of all children.

“This is why this trip was so important. Maeve was able to talk about DLD to Will Quince and other MPs to help raise awareness and push for more provisions”.

The condition commonly causes children difficulties with understanding and/or using spoken language. 

Bury North MP James Daly, who organised the trip, was invited to hear from Maeve at Guardian Angels back in October during DLD awareness week.

He said: “Great to welcome the brilliant Maeve to Westminister to discuss and raise awareness of Developmental Language Disorder. 

"On average two children in every classroom will have DLD but it can often go undiagnosed. 

"She is truly a remarkable person and I'd like to thank her, her mum and the fantastic teachers at Guardian Angels for the fantastic campaigning they do on the issue."

James Daly (Right) and Maeve Gooding (Left)

Conservative MP, Lia Nici, also spoke to Maeve, recording a video of her to show to Prime minister, Boris Johnson.

Since the trip, the registered charity and, a national organisation of professionals, NAPLIC  has commented on Twitter to say: “Brilliant! We need policymakers and educators to understand that Developmental Language Disorder has big impacts and is not something children grow out of. They need support and understanding.”

Thank you @JamesDalyMP for organising a meeting with @GA_Bury in Parliament yesterday afternoon to discuss Developmental Language Disorder and the #SENDReview

A pleasure to meet and confirm my ambition for early identification, diagnosis and support for all children with SEND. pic.twitter.com/l9DAtdWNpK

— Will Quince MP 🇬🇧 (@willquince) April 28, 2022

Will Quince also Tweeted: “Thank you @JamesDalyMP for organising a meeting with @GA_Bury in Parliament yesterday afternoon to discuss Developmental Language Disorder and the #SENDReview. A pleasure to meet and confirm my ambition for early identification, diagnosis and support for all children with SEND."

Maeve outside number 10 Downing Street