Valerie James Abbott is a parent-advocate, an award-winning author, and a champion for pediatric late-onset hearing loss awareness. She is employed by the Infant & Toddler Connection of Henrico, New Kent, and Charles City as a certified Early Intervention Case Manager, and previously worked at the Center for Family Involvement at the Partnership for People with Disabilities supporting families of children recently identified as deaf and hard of hearing and leading various projects. Valerie is a past board member of Virginia Hands & Voices, past board member of the Henrico Area Mental Health and Developmental Services CSB, and past chair/co-chair of the Virginia Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program Advisory Committee. Valerie is a frequent guest speaker at colleges, universities and civic organizations about the facts and impacts of postnatal hearing loss on early childhood development.