Christine McGuinness took to Instagram to share her heartbreak after a stranger complained about the noise her autistic twins were making at a play centre.
Christine is mum to five-year-old twins Leo and Penelope, both of whom have autism and two-year-old Felicity. Paddy and Christine are very open and honest about the struggles they face and were delighted earlier this year when they made it away on their first family holiday.
After making such huge progress as a family, Christine was understandably upset when a complete stranger complained that her children were being too noisy while at a play centre.
Christine overheard the woman remarking that 'there must be something wrong' with her children which was heartbreaking for her to hear, especially as her children were just having fun and being happy.
Posting a video on her Instagram feed explaining the situation, Christine also wrote in the caption: 'Little rant from yesterday.. 😒 When you’ve had or have non verbal children or children with delayed speech you appreciate any sound they make. Because whilst everyone comments on how wonderful and quiet your child is, all’s you wish for is that one day they can communicate and speak for themselves.'
Christine continued: 'I consider myself very fortunate that my children are now verbal, their vocabulary is not like other children their age but they’re doing absolutely amazing and catching up quickly with support. I had silent children for years so to hear someone complain about their noise, when they’re inside a play centre which is another challenging environment for them.. it’s heartbreaking. Their ‘noise’ was just happy squeals and laughter!
'Yes my children can sometimes be louder than others, even though they don’t like noise themselves, but let children be children! We are not in a library here we are in a play centre, this woman moaned about my children 4-5 times! The sound of my children will always be music to my ears. I wish the woman complaining could have just opened her eyes to see my very happy, content children simply expressing their joy.'
The post has been viewed over 36,000 times and has hundreds of messages from Christine's followers all offering their support and sharing their outrage at the woman who complained.
One person wrote: 'I can't understand what would make someone complain about children in a play centre, it's a place for children!!!'
Another said: 'Unbelievable in that environment someone would complain about noise. Did she think she had gone to the library? If I walked into a soft play centre with my girls and it was silent with kids running around, it would be very uncomfortable because it would sound like no ones having fun.'
A third added: 'My little pudding, is still none verbal, but my god when he’s happy you know about it! And to my ears it sounds beautiful, people just need to let children be children and worry about they’re own kids xxxx'.
