Watch Daisy's story

Daisy's story

"My daughter Daisy is four years old and she's profoundly deaf in both ears.

"We found out at seven weeks that Daisy had no hearing activity between her ear and her brain. When we were first told about Daisy's deafness is when we met Julie from the Foundation. She came into the room where we were and introduced herself. This transitioned us between finding out about the deafness and then giving us that support.

"When we started coming to the Foundation, Daisy was only about eight or nine weeks old. Coming to the Foundation was the highlight of our week as a little family. The baby group felt like we were having that big hug every week. Being told all the things that we just wouldn't have known about. Lots of sound things, lots of sensory activities.

"Daisy, myself, Daisy's brother Charlie and Daisy's dad, we all came in weekly to the group. It was just a great chance to feel like we were with everybody that was in the same boat as us.

"Daisy was 13 months when she had her operation for the cochlear implant and 14 months at switch on. And then when we came back, we were in toddlers. It made things a lot better for Daisy because she was getting access to the sound more. In the toddler group, parents still come to the sessions. At this point me and Daisy’s dad swapped each week. He came one week and I came the other week, which was nice as it got us both to meet all the families.

"Daisy moved into preschool with Rachel last year. She just loves learning and listening to Rachel and doing all their activities. Daisy’s got all of her new friends that she's met, and talks about them all the time.

"Daisy comes to the Foundation two days a week and she also attends a mainstream nursery for three hours of the week. And she absolutely thrives there. It's her time to mix with hearing children as well as being with deaf children at The Elizabeth Foundation.

"Looking back to when Daisy was a baby, you go through so many feelings and emotions. If I could project anybody to here, now, it’s just unbelievable, because you just don't realise at the time how OK it's going to be. It's amazing the support that we've had here. Daisy has thrived and her speech is great, her vocabulary is great. It's just amazing.

"Daisy leaves this year in July, so we only have a few months left. She will be going to a mainstream school, which is close by to where we live. I would say to other parents how important it is to come here. As an all-rounder to the parent, the child, the family – you need to come here!"

Sarah, mum to Daisy

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