WHEN Julie Churchill was told the news that her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter was profoundly deaf, she found it difficult to take in.

Just 10 weeks before, in January 2003, little Charlotte had been her usual bright and breezy self until she had to be rushed into hospital because she started being constantly sick and had a very high temperature.

When she was diagnosed with pneumococcal meningitis it came as a huge shock to everyone.

However, she battled through and soon returned to her Crowle home with no apparent problems.

When her routine hearing test came round - because deafness is a common side effect of meningitis and the antibiotics administered during the illness - Julie wasn't particularly worried as Charlotte had been chattering away quite happily and had shown no signs of having any hearing difficulty.

But the results told a different story. They showed that Charlotte, who is now six, had severe hearing loss. The meningitis had left her profoundly deaf in her left ear and had moderate to severe hearing problems in her right ear.

Julie said: "It was hard to take in. Charlotte had a good grasp of language and had carried on communicating with the family as normal. We hadn't noticed anything was wrong with her hearing at all.

"Once we were told that she was profoundly deaf it made us look back over the previous weeks and the only difference was that she had wanted to sit on a certain side when she was read a story."

For a while, Charlotte's family tried to carry on as normal.

"It was hard to admit anything was wrong," Julie remembers.

"Charlotte wasn't born deaf and there was no one else in the family with hearing difficulties."

But, soon after, Julie met a member of Worcester Deaf Children's Society and the Churchill family's life changed for good. "We met and got talking and she told us that there were other mums and dads in the same position as us who would be able to talk to us about what we were going through and what we could expect in the future," she said.

"We were invited along to the Saturday morning kids club that the society holds once a month at Perdiswell Young People's Centre.

"As soon as Charlotte saw other children with hearing aids she thought it was great, and she realised she wasn't the only one.

"Up until then we had given her beige, skin-coloured hearing aids, but there were kids with transfers on theirs, and all different colours, and we thought why are we hiding this'? Charlotte then told us she thought she had boring' hearing aids, so we got her some shocking pink ones which she loved."

As well as helping Charlotte, the society also proved to be an invaluable source of information and advice for her mum and dad.

Julie said: "It was daft things really that the society helped with.

"For instance, how to keep sand getting in the hearing aids when going on a family outing to the beach! Little things like that you would never think about.

"Members were also able to tell us things about problems that they had come up against and subsequently dealt with - so we know we will cope when the time comes.

"We also go on lots of group outings and it makes it easier to let Charlotte do things that might otherwise be difficult if we were on our own - for instance, swimming."

Julie has got so much from Worcester Deaf Children's Society that she is now chairman, and helps to organise a variety of events to keep families entertained.

Every first Saturday in the month the members meet at Perdiswell Young People's Centre for the kids club, and there is a Hallowe'en and Christmas party coming up.

And the society has just celebrated its 10th birthday with a party.

"We have children with hearing problems ranging from glue ear to unexplained congenital deafness, and we make sure that the society helps them, their parents and brothers and sisters," said Julie.

"But there are still lots of people that don't know that we're here and we want to get the message out to them that they may find it useful to come along and see what we do."

Meanwhile, Charlotte has recently received a cochlear (inner ear) implant and is getting to grips with hearing new sounds for the first time. Julie said: "She's doing really well - she has had to learn to identify new sounds but is currently enjoying the noise of rustling leaves and birds singing."

To get in touch with Worcester Deaf Children's Society call Julie on 01905 381575 or email WDCS@hot-mail.co.uk

CHILDHOOD DEAFNESS: THE FACTS

There are three types of deafness, each with different causes and implications. Conductive deafness is the most common type. It means that sound cannot pass efficiently through the outer and middle ear to the cochlea and auditory nerve. Sensori-neural deafness (or nerve deafness) usually means that the cochlea (inner ear) is not processing the sound effectively and mixed deafness is where a child has a mixture of conductive and nerve deafness.

Conductive deafness is often caused by blockages such as wax in the ear canal or fluid in the middle ear - commonly known as glue ear. Often, the cause of sensori-neural deafness is unknown, but hereditary factors are often present.

It is essential that deafness is diagnosed as soon as possible after birth. By the age of three, a hearing child will enjoy a vocabulary of 700 words, whilst a deaf child the same age with undetected hearing loss will know less than 25 words.