The family of a young deaf boy have donated new signage to the charity which has helped them come to terms with his diagnosis.
Action Deaf Youth on Holywood Road, East Belfast have helped the family by teaching them British Sign Language and offering them support.
Solène Nugent explained that the support her family received was so invaluable that she and her husband, as owners of Signscript, a sign manufacturing company decided to donate a new sign to the charity.
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"There is a whole deaf community there who empower the children to become confident," she said.
"They have different play sessions and parents can avail of properly accredited BSL classes.
"My son is six years old and I would be unable to communicate with him if it wasn't for Action Deaf Youth."
Solène said that she approached her husband about the possibility of donating a sign to the charity and he got a few of their suppliers on board who donated the materials for free.
"Our son was wrongly diagnosed with autism because he was non-verbal and when he started nursery school, they saw a deaf, autistic child," she said.
"He was only allowed to attend nursery for 55 minutes a day and it was always problematic which made me feel deflated.
"At the same time, he was attending Action Deaf Youth every Friday for four hours and there was absolutely no issues with him.
"They embraced who he was, taught him nursery rhymes through signing and it was very much child led."
Solène told us that the staff at Action Deaf Youth are themselves deaf which helps them understand the needs of the children.
Brendan Nugent added: "I'm so grateful to ADY for all their help in our journey with our son, it only made sense to offer my expertise in return and produce new signage to give them more visibility.
"I was very pleased our amazing partners and suppliers Amari, Trimwel and CP Hire were immediately on board to take part in this genuine cause.”
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