When she was born Katie didn’t pass her newborn hearing screening and after being diagnosed as moderately deaf was fitted with hearing aids which she wore until she was 18-months old.

But her hearing began to deteriorate and she eventually had cochlear implant surgery just before her third birthday.

Based in Belfast, Mum Abbie explained: “Katie was a little girl who always wanted to talk. She said her first word at 13 months and when her hearing began to deteriorate, we knew she would need some additional support which is when we found out about the Auditory Verbal therapy programme offered by charity Auditory Verbal UK.

“As well as supporting Katie to learn to listen and speak, AVUK were also invaluable as we battled to get cochlear implants for Katie. The difference their support has made to not only Katie but us as a family is phenomenal.”

Katie graduated from AVUK’s family-centred Auditory Verbal therapy programme aged five with spoken language skills ahead of a hearing child her age and has always attended mainstream school. She is now at a high performing grammar school in Belfast where she has a wealth of friends and interests.

Abbie said: “Katie is the youngest of three children and by far the most confident and independent. She has always wanted to do everything on her terms and been determined that being deaf will not stop her doing anything at all.”

Katie and her Mum attended Taylor Swift’s concert in Edinburgh in the summer of 2024 and sang along like all the other teenage fans. She is also a talented footballer playing for Crusaders Strikers, Glasgow Rangers Girls Training Academy and is part of the Northern Ireland Girls National Performance Programme for football.

Her ambition is to gain a scholarship to America and play in the National Collegiate Athletic Association soccer league.

There are currently no speech and language therapists or teachers of the deaf qualified in Auditory Verbal therapy working in public services in Northern Ireland, so when Katie was younger, she and her Mum had to travel to London once a month to attend their Auditory Verbal therapy sessions at AVUK.

In an effort to help other families like hers, Abbie to set up a local charity, The Newtownabbey Hearing Hub, along with other parents of deaf children. In 2014, she secured National Lottery funding for an outreach project in collaboration with Auditory Verbal UK. The Belfast Project  enabled a small number of deaf children in Northern Ireland, including Katie, access to Auditory Verbal therapy. The project not only supported deaf children directly, but also enabled professionals to attend training sessions to learn more about the early intervention approach which is delivering excellent outcomes for deaf children whose families want them to learn to listen and talk.

Inspired by her daughter, Abbie, who works in Higher Education, combined her service to education with her desire to support more deaf children have the same opportunities in life as their hearing friends. In 2015 she launched “Getting AHEAD”, a collaborative project with Action Deaf Youth and Ulster University which combined Abbie’s belief in the transformative effect of higher education, the under representation of deaf young people in higher education and parental hopes. It produced a reusable resource to encourage deaf students to attend higher education.

These efforts and her outstanding service to higher education were recognition with an MBE in the Queen's 2019 Birthday Honours.

Abbie added: “Deaf young people in Northern Ireland are still at a disadvantage to both their hearing peers and deaf young people in England. This has to change.”

After a fantastic summer holiday in Florida where Katie rode all the rollercoasters, swam with Dolphins and snorkelled with Manta Rays. It was back to school in September to start second year (Year 9) where Katie will continue to work hard in both her academic studies and sports as she strives towards her goals.