Amelia’s Story

Specialist toys from Newlife can help children’s development in a wide range of ways – which is something two-year-old Amelia Pepper and her mum Sian Lawrence from Newark in Nottinghamshire knows all about, after receiving four of Newlife’s pods containing different sensory toys to stimulate her senses and encourage play.

Amelia is the only recorded person with her unique genetic sequence, and she has already faced many challenges including needing heart surgery when she was just five months old. She is exclusively tube fed a specialist prescription milk and is at high risk of breathing in fluid into her lungs, she is partially sighted and has decreased muscle tone so can’t sit up on her own, walk or crawl, but her head control is developing and despite doctors believing she would never speak, she now says a few words, including hello.

Sian said: “Amelia is a true miracle. She loves lights, music, and cuddles! Her favourite time is when she’s in her sensory room, which was fundraised for through family and friends, and she loves being in there. The sensory toys on loan from Newlife are great additions and help her development – it’s lovely for us to see her interact, play and learn. The toys always arrive quickly and it’s always a lovely surprise to see what’s in the box – there are so many kinds of pods and toys to explore!

“Her favourite so far is the elephant with the switch buttons attached she can tap with her fingers and toes to make it sing songs, but she especially enjoys all the colourful toys with music and lights which help incorporate play in her day-to-day development. This has helped her be able to track things with her fingers as well as her sight as well as develop her hand and eye co-ordination and her head control. Newlife’s sensory toys are also a great distraction when she’s in pain or we are waiting for appointments, especially little toys which encourage her to use her hands.

“There are so many toys we just wouldn’t have known about without the loans from Newlife. They help us discover what really appeals to Amelia, which can sometimes be a real surprise, and there have been several which have made it on to her Christmas and birthday lists as we know she gets a lot out of them, which with the current cost of living is better than buying things we don’t know for sure she will enjoy.”

With a new baby brother for Amelia, the sensory toys mean Sian and dad, Callum, can look forward to seeing their children play together, helping them to interact and build their own bond.

“I imagine the pod being opened and Amelia showing him the sensory toys inside. It will be lovely to watch them both, she can share her toys with him and when he’s older he can show her different ways to play and interact with him, we can’t wait.”