On October 17 Isla, who was born profoundly deaf, and her family will dress in their boldest and brightest shirts to support children with hearing impairment.
The Telethon Speech and Hearing campaign challenges everyone to wear their loudest outfit to work or school to raise funds for the centre.
Elise Richardson said she and husband John felt ‘shocked and devastated’ to discover they were both carriers of the gene and had passed it on to their first child.
‘You go through a grieving process, you have no idea who’s there to help you, you have a million and one questions and no one to answer them,’ Mrs Richardson said.
Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOW
‘When we sat down with the team at Telethon it was such a relief and it made us feel somewhat normal because they were able to answer the questions and reassure you that everything was going to be OK.’
Isla will have the first of two cochlear implants this year. Host a morning tea on October 17 to raise funds for the Telethon campaign. Visit www.loudshirtday.com.au