A mum has praised the 'amazing' reaction of a fellow mother while she was at Edinburgh Zoo with her son.
Jemma Nisbet was left overwhelmed and emotional after the woman didn't shy away from her son's questions while Jemma was tending to her disabled son.
Visiting the zoo for her daughter's 10th birthday, Jemma had arrived with her aunt and five-year-old son Aaron, who is severely disabled.
Diagnosed with Temple-Baraitser syndrome, a developmental condition, at 15 months, Aaron is the only person in Scotland with the condition and just one of 16 around the world currently recognized as having it.
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Currently non-verbal, Aaron is fed via a feeding tube, with Jemma and her partner administering a blended version of their own meals.
After taking a picnic to the zoo, the family had begun the process of feeding when Jemma spotted another mother and her young son sitting next to them.
Curious about the procedure, Jemma explained the little boy had been loudly asking his mum about what was going on, to which she gave an "amazing" reaction.
Used to many families in similar scenarios "staring" or "telling their kids to shh", the 38-year-old was overjoyed to hear the mum explain the process to her son, with no shame or awkwardness.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, she said: "We tube feed Aaron but he eats pretty much exactly what we do, he's on a tube fed diet but it's just a blended version of what we're having too.
"It only takes us around ten minutes and for lunch it could easily be the same sandwich we're having just blended. But normally it takes some time as we're attaching tubed to his tummy and things.
"Often people will just stare but not say anything, but we know they're looking, and other times people will tell their kids 'stop looking'.
"Little kids are always curious and in this situation the mum explained that Aaron was probably just eating the same food as we were in a tube. It was really sweet and it seemed like she knew what we were doing which was nice. The little boy even asked 'could he have my babybel blended down', which was lovely.
"She also told him that he might not be a baby, just because he was in a buggy, and told him he was actually a big boy who's legs might not work properly."
Reaching out to the woman online, Jemma explained that it can be difficult for people to know how to react to Aaron and their family, but was refreshed to have someone treat them normally.
She said: "People normally say things in that situation like 'shhhh' or 'stop looking don't look at the baby', and he's not even a baby.
"I see it from both sides, we're very open and happy to have people ask us things but I understand there might be people who are more reserved.
"I think people just get apprehensive about asking, and often it's the adults not the kids that aren't sure and are a bit stuck."
Currently living in Inverness, the family are originally from Kirkcaldy, with Jemma's partner's army job causing them to move around the country.
The pair had seen Aaron arrive five years ago, with doctors initially noticing that he had been born without any thumbnails.
After being referred to the Edinburgh Sick Kids and then the Western General, the family were told he had the rare condition which would affect his development.
Jemma said: "It is tough, he's non verbal and severely disabled, he's recently learnt to walk with a gate trainer and he also has a global development delay, which means we don't know how much he understands.
"How he communicates is usually through when he cries and it's a guessing game as to what he needs."
However, after posting on Facebook about her experience at the zoo, Jemma reached out to try and find the other mum, and was amazed at the reaction.
Within just 12 hours the post had seen over 1,400 shares and comments, with Edinburgh locals able to find the woman who she had met at the park.
The mum of two added: "I woke up this morning and my phone had just blown up. We've exchanged a couple of messages but we've both been busy this morning getting our kids sorted so I think we're going to catch up later properly.
"At the time I was so taken aback and overwhelmed I couldn't really tell her how good she was, she was honestly amazing."
