‘Why Did You Forget About Him?'

Naomi was determined to stand up for her twin brother...

- Emmie Harrison/Bart Dickson

Miriam Gwynne, 40,

South Lanarkshire

Peering out of the window, my two kids could hardly contain themselves.

‘Look, Mummy, it’s nearly finished!’ my daughter Naomi, 8, said.

Her twin brother Isaac smiled and pointed.

It was last summer, and they’d waited weeks for the new park to be built.

‘I wonder what there’ll be,’ Naomi said. ‘Slides, climbing frames, swings!’

At the mention of swings, Isaac’s eyes lit up, and he clapped and grinned. 

Isaac never speaks, he can’t. 

You see, both he and Naomi are autistic.

Diagnosis

The pregnancy and birth were all fine.

But as the twins approached a year old, I noticed they were developing slowly.

If I pulled silly faces, smiled or pouted, they wouldn’t copy me.

They didn’t understand facial expressions.

Isaac was formally diagnosed at 3.

My husband Nigel, 59, and I were both upset.

Then, six months later, we noticed milk spots on Isaac’s face.

He was having seizures, too.