Young people demonstrated the power of advocacy at a Young People’s Committee for Speech, Language and Communication, held at Parliament on Tuesday 23 June 2026.
The event, organised by the Speech, Language and Communication Alliance, offered a unique platform for young people to share their experiences and ask questions with MPs including Jen Craft, Helen Hayes, Jess Phillips and Saqib Bhatti.
Among them was Maxwell Letts, a student at Moor House School & College, who spoke honestly and passionately about his lived experience of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), and his wish for greater awareness. This is what Maxwell said:
"Hello MPs and everyone in the room. My name is Maxwell Letts and I would like to talk to you about DLD and the struggles that I’ve had. DLD means Developmental Language Disorder which means I struggle with understanding what people say and communicating with others. I have had DLD for my whole life but I was diagnosed very late in year 6. For some people, diagnoses are even later, for example secondary school, college and adulthood. It’s said that 80% of teachers don’t know about DLD which means not a lot of individuals know and might mistake it for other reasons, such as Dyslexia or bad behaviour. Before I got my diagnosis, I was picked upon, I was left out of groups and my teachers didn’t understand how to help me. That was very frustrating for me. I was lucky enough to go to a school where everyone knows about DLD, which was a life changer. It has helped me to become more confident in speaking to people and to read and write more fluently. For me it took a while to know about what DLD was but as soon as I knew, I just wanted to make sure that other people knew. DLD is quite common, with 2 in every class of 30. That’s a lot of people! So my question to you, MPs is how are you going to raise the profile of DLD and spread awareness so more people know about it?"
Here’s Maxwell discussing his experience of the day:
We’re all incredibly proud of Maxwell and all the young people who contributed to this important event. Their willingness to speak out, share their experiences, and advocate for change is truly inspiring. Their actions are helping to raise awareness, challenge misconceptions, and push for better support in education and beyond.
For more information on DLD visit our dedicated page WHAT IS DLD?
You can also hear from Maxwell, who was a recent guest (‘Episode 5 – Dyslexia & DLD’) on the DLD DownLoaD PODCAST.