A role model for the deaf
As Love Island has its first deaf contestant, PRUDENCE WADE discovers all you need to know about cochlear implants
AMONG the line-up of singletons looking for romance on Love Island this year is Tasha Ghouri, the show’s first deaf contestant.
The 23-year-old dancer and model said her family and friends describe her as inspirational because of “my hearing and my cochlear implant. I’m really open about it.”
Tasha was born deaf, and got a cochlear implant when she was five years old. In 2021, she went viral for modelling earrings for ASOS – with her cochlear implant in full view. At the time, the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) tweeted: “Representation. Matters. So. Much. Well done, @ASOS!”
Annie Harris, advocacy officer at RNID (rnid.org.uk), who is deaf, says: “It’s great to see Natasha wearing her cochlear implant with pride, and her appearance on Love Island will be another boost for the deaf community.
“This is a fantastic opportunity to increase public awareness and understanding about the different experiences of deaf people and people with hearing loss, which we hope will lead to positive change and break down more of the barriers they can face.”
Cochlear implants are different to hearing aids – how do they work?
Bev Carter, senior audiologist at Hearing Direct (hearingdirect.com), describes getting a cochlear implant as “a very invasive procedure – a bit like having a pacemaker fitted. It’s implanted surgically – attached to an electrode array placed into the inner ear. When the sound comes in, it sets off an electrical impulse that simulates what the hair cells do.” The patient wears a hearing aid hooked over the ear. This is connected to an electrode – “a round bit that attaches magnetically to the skull. The hearing aid picks up the sound, the electrode transfers the sound to the electrode array within the skull, into the inner ear”.
Who might benefit from a cochlear implant?
“A cochlear implant is for those people where a traditional hearing aid is not going to help them, because the damage to their hair cells in the cochlea is too severe,” explains Bev.
She indicates it’s much better to get the implant sooner rather than later, adding: “If a person has a cochlear implant from a very young age, then probably they can talk really well – the younger it’s done, the better.
“Most people with an implant will also lip read to a degree, so they will always like to be facing you when they talk to you.”
Bev says Tasha’s implant is “not going to be a problem for her” in the villa – “other than she would have to take it off to go swimming, because water would affect it”.
How far have cochlear implants and hearing aids come?
“With hearing loss, there’s not the stigma attached to it that there used to be,” says Bev, but she still wants more people to get a regular hearing check-up.
“We have our eyes checked every two years – why do we not think about getting our hearing checked every two years? I think it’s because in bygone days when we only had analogue hearing aids – they were great big, monstrous things you had on your ears. It left people with that stigma – but the younger generation coming through are on board with it – they’re quite happy to wear things in their ears.”
And Bev emphasises how far technological advancements have come for both cochlear implants and hearing aids. “A lot of devices now have Bluetooth technology, which is fantastic as it means people can connect directly with their mobile phones,” she says. “There’s a lot of really funky assistive hearing devices – there are hearing aids that look like Airpods.”
Ultimately, Bev says getting your hearing checked is easy. “You can get it checked for free, and if you don’t want to book an appointment to go anywhere, there are online tests you can do that will at least start a conversation.
“The earlier hearing loss is treated, the better.”