As a toddler, she began attending an early intervention group program at NextSense to foster her communication and language development. And she continues to receive speech pathology and audiology support.

Isabella’s mum Nicole says early support for her listening, language and social skills helped ensure her daughter “had the foundations there for when she transitioned into primary school,” and says she has become an advocate for hearing loss amongst her peers.

“Isabella’s very confident with her hearing loss. If any kids say to her, ‘Oh, what’s that in your ears?’, she says they are things that help her hear, and they don’t make her any different.”

Over the past few months, Isabella and her family have been dedicating their spare time to tie-dyeing special Loud Shirt Day t-shirts, with all funds raised from the purchase of the shirts going to NextSense to support more children with hearing loss like her.

This year, they have even extended their range to the animal community, with colourful dog bandannas proving to be a big hit.

When she’s not dedicating her time to the Loud Shirt Day cause, Isabella loves doing arts and crafts, playing netball, and developing her dog-sledding skills.