Back in 2015 our eldest Hettie was born and whilst she was a perfectly healthy baby we knew that something was not quite right from the first night when she slept soundly despite the other babies screaming on the ward.  Sure enough, in the following days and weeks Hettie underwent test after test eventually getting a diagnosis of severe sensori-neural hearing loss.  Fast forward 12 months and a chance conversation at work saw us travel down to meet Julie at The Elizabeth Foundation (EF) in Portsmouth.  Hettie joined the toddler class soon afterwards which saw us making the Portsmouth road trip once a week.  Whilst it was an early start and a long drive the work that EF did to help Hettie develop her listening skills and her speech was amazing.  As the summer of 2019 approached and Hettie made her preparations to start school we thought our time at EF would be coming to an end.  However in August 2019 our youngest, Maddie was diagnosed with similar hearing loss at the age of 20 months.  EF have again been brilliant with their support helping Maddie adjust to life with her aids and us to adjust to life with 2 hearing impaired children.  Without the support of Julie, Nicki, Rachael and all the other staff in Portsmouth neither of ours girls would have made the progress they have so far.  This is borne out by the success that Hettie has had in her first term of reception in a mainstream primary school where she is flourishing both academically and socially.  We could not be prouder of our 2 special little girls.