Supported by BBC Children in Need
13th November 2017
It’s thanks to organisations like BBC Children in Need that we’re able to help children all over the UK experience the magic of books. In recent years, Children in Need featured the story of one of our young library members and how our Touch to See books helped her rediscover her love of reading.
Introduced by singer Ellie Goulding, Tayen’s film saw mum Kali talking about how Living Paintings became a lifeline for Tayen and the family.
Tayen’s film, told by Ellie Goulding
I want you to meet a really brave little girl called Tayen. Tayen’s condition means she has an uncertain future. Right now, it’s caused her to go blind. She has many challenges, but with a loving family around her, I can tell you Tayen’s holding up pretty well and thanks to you she can still do something that seemed impossible after losing her sight. Where should we go today? Legoland! I want to go on a rollercoaster. Reach forward, what can you feel? Whats that? It’s the camera. Hello. Tayen was 22 months old when she had a seizure. It was a big one. I felt very helpless. I wanted so very much to pick her up and cuddle her. That one thing. Doctor’s soon discovered what had caused the seizure, tumors were growing in Tayen’s optic nerves, and they were attacking her brain. She needed chemotherapy to save what little vision she had left. We were only six weeks into chemotherapy when she lost it all in a space of a week. Nearly two years on and thankfully the tumors are not causing any other problems, for now at least, but Tayen will never be able to see again. Before her illness, Tayen loved books and we’ve really felt that that love of books for her had gone with her sight. What can you feel on there?
Thanks to the Living Paintings library, a charity supported by children in need, Tayen still loves books as much as she ever did. They have raised images in them. All the pages are also brailled, which is great because Tayen now can seek out the braille. She knows that that means something and to feel the pictures, it brings the book back to life again for her. Where’s the snowman? She will seek Lucas out if she wants to do reading and they will sit down together and just it’s beautiful. A mouse took a stroll through the deep dark wood. Living paintings has adapted over 200 kids classics lending them to blind and partially sighted children across Britain. Peppa pig, More Pants, Grufallo, Very Hungry Caterpillar. We have no prognosis for Tayen so we treat every day as it’s our last. To make those memories with the boys and us as a family, It’s amazing. Can you feel Peppa? And to encourage her love of reading books again, it’s so precious.
