FOR the first year of her life Laura Greenfield used to laugh, cry and lose her temper in silence.

She would grin with happiness or wipe tears from her cheeks, but the emotions were never accompanied by sounds because Laura was born with a condition that paralysed her vocal cords.

Doctors warned she might never be able to speak properly but her determination proved them wrong.

Now Laura talks with the same confidence as other three-year-olds, and is learning to say new words and sentences every day.

Her mother, Fiona said Laura, who breathes through a tube in her throat, has developed speech by simply being around her four

brothers and sisters and through a sheer determination not to be left out.

She said: "We did fear there was a chance she might never be able to speak but it was something we did not want to think about. We wanted her to learn.

"Laura would make the face of crying but no sound would be coming out. She would have the expressions but not the noises.

"You would realise she had fallen over when you found her on the ground. She could not tell us what was wrong.

"It was really heart-wrenching. She had developed in every other way but she just had no voice. We had to watch her all the time.

"We wanted to keep wrapping her up in cotton wool. But we realised at the end of the day it was not going to help.

"Now we are over the moon. Laura copies her brothers and

sisters. She just wants to make the noises they make."

Laura, of Brighton Road, Shoreham, was born with a condition called vocal cord palsy, which affected her ability to speak and breathe.

When she was seven weeks old doctors gave her a tracheostomy, where a tube was inserted into her windpipe to help her breathing.

She was sent to Great Ormond Street Hospital, in London, on the advice of Meredydd Harries, an ear, nose and throat surgeon at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, and Dr Paul Seddon, a paediatrician with the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Brighton.

Full-time mum Fiona, 34, and her husband Peter, 40, who works for Tesco, still credit the two Brighton specialists with helping to open up the world of speech for Laura.

When Laura wants to talk she covers the tube that protrudes near the top of her throat with her chin, in a technique known as chin-dipping.

She stops herself from breathing but still has enough air left in her lungs to articulate words.

Fiona said:"She tries so hard and she's got so much courage. She doesn't let it get to her at all.

"When you listen to her voice it sounds slightly robotic. But it is still very loud. You can hear her on the telephone and people can work out what she is saying."

Laura had started learning sign language to help her communicate but no longer needs the skill.

Doctors hope by the time she is seven or eight the tube could be removed for good.

Like most little girls, Laura loves swimming, dancing and singing. Her parents are so delighted with her progress they are planning a family trip to Disneyland as a celebration.

Laura started speaking when she was one. Her first words were "eh-oh", which she picked up from watching the Teletubbies.

Her brothers and sisters are aged from nine to 16. Laura also has twin cousins aged three who have been one of the strongest influences on her language development.

Fiona explained: "The twins visit most days. When they started

coming over she was a noticeably different child. She just wanted to communicate with them."

In July, Laura's great-grandfather, 69-year-old William Miles, of Lancing, completed a 270-mile sponsored walk along the Pennine Way and raised £400 for the Royal Alexandra Hospital.

Fiona said: "We are so pleased with the hospitals and everyone in our family. Everyone has helped Laura so much.

"She is going really well. She has picked up a lot from the television and songs and conversations going on around her.

"It is so lovely to see her responding and hear her communicate. She can't read yet but she knows what words mean."

Fiona and Peter have tried to instill in their daughter a sense of being different but not disadvantaged. It is a sentiment she clearly understands.

Laura said: "I'm special because I have my tube, and it helps me speak. Mummy doesn't have a tube. Only me."

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