“Georgia is having amazing outcomes from her early intervention therapy and is experiencing above average speech and language development,” Carolyn said. “It is a testament to her family who have been highly motivated through her journey, taking up the strategies we have suggested.”

Part of Georgia’s family is Jennifer Flint, her grandmother. Here, Jennifer pens a letter about her granddaughter.

The Taralye family offers thanks to Jennifer and the team at Sew What – for the kind words and incredible fundraising efforts. You are amazing!

As the grandmother of a little girl who has a profound hearing loss, I will be eternally grateful to the support of staff at Taralye in Blackburn, Victoria. My granddaughter Georgia attends early intervention sessions there on a regular basis and is making excellent progress.

I am a member of the Mornington Peninsula Patchworkers Inc.’s friendship group ‘Sew What’. Recently, we made a patchwork quilt to raffle, raising money for Taralye. I’m delighted to report that our small group effort raised $1,000! We donated the money to Taralye which support children and families like ours to access these vital services. $1,000 provides a range of therapy sessions for children with hearing loss, teaching them to listen and speak.

Georgia's Journey

It was only shortly after Georgia was born that parents Allison and Russell received the news that she was profoundly deaf. She was two weeks old. At the time we had never heard of a ‘profound bilateral sensorineural’ hearing loss.

A blur of appointments followed

At four weeks old Georgia was fitted with hearing aids to stimulate that area of the brain. Later, when she was nine months old, she received cochlear implants.

A life-changing invention

I want to offer thanks to the dedicated and life-changing work of Professor Graeme Clark and his team – the inventor of the cochlear implant. Georgia – like many other children with hearing loss before her and countless more to follow – has been given the priceless gift of access to sound.

Georgia is really excelling

Fast forward three-and-a-half years. Georgia is a delightful and outgoing girl with a friendly disposition. We get excited and blown away daily by her expanding vocabulary, perception, detection of sound, and inquisitive nature.

She loves singing, dancing, playing, and cooperating (or not, as three-year-old’s do) with her older sister, Sophie.

Georgia amazes us everyday

To hear Georgia respond to conversations is amazing, like the time when I suggested that we “Make small biscuits and not the large ones that we made last time” and Georgia, clear and determined, said “NO! We’ll make medium biscuits!”.

Playing in a rotunda at a park recently, Georgia insisted that “We can’t leave.” When I asked her why, she said, “We’ve got to use gel” and pretended to push the pump and gel her hands with sanitiser! Right now, her favourite saying is, “When the coronavirus is over, we can…!”

Georgia continues to reach and surpass, in many instances, the language and communication milestones for her age.

Thank you, Taralye

This is all thanks to the ongoing support of Taralye and the wonderful Taralye staff who care so deeply about the progress that children like Georgia make in language and speech development.

Thanks to Taralye, life is exciting for Georgia and will continue to be so!

This week we launched Loud Shirt Day for 2020. Although Loud Shirt Day may look different this year, there are many ways you can get involved – at work, school, or with friends. As well, your support is needed more than ever.

This news article was created prior to 22 March 2021 when NextSense was Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC).