Durban – A hearing disability did not deter Elana Solomon from achieving her goals.
Solomon, who recently graduated with a Master’s degree in human rehabilitation studies from Stellenbosch University, plans to use her degree to empower and enrich the lives of children with hearing disabilities.
Her Master’s thesis looked at the various challenges faced by teachers in the implementation of vocational programmes in special needs schools for learners with severe intellectual disabilities.
Currently employed with the Western Cape Education Department as a school-based occupational therapist, Solomon said she was thrilled to be able to work at a school she had attended as a child.
In addition, the principal was her Grade 2 teacher.
“I’ve come full circle. It is such a privilege to be able to work alongside the school’s principal, who was my Grade 2 teacher.”
Solomon wants to use her research to contribute to policy revisions and the development of key actions needed for the strengthening of various rehabilitation and disability-related programmes.
“My hope is to improve the rehabilitation programmes within the South African education system so that learners with disabilities, teachers and the schools as a whole can feel supported.”
She was 9-month-old when her parents suspected something was wrong.
However, after many tests and at the age 5, she was finally diagnosed with a profound sensorineural hearing loss in the right ear and a moderate to severe sensorineural hearing loss in her left ear.
“My parents were devastated as they felt that the late diagnosis of my hearing loss had disadvantaged their child. I was then fitted with the hearing aid on my left ear.”
After attending Mary Kihn School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Solomon’s hearing deteriorated in her pre-teens and she had to receive a cochlear implant in 2002 at age 13.
She enrolled at the Wynberg Girls’ High School and described the move as quite an adjustment, going from a school of 80 to 900.
“I worked incredibly hard and had a positive attitude. I developed my own strategies on how to support myself academically. I used to wear an FM system to be able to hear my teachers.”
Apart from her academic work, Solomon is quite a skilled athlete.
In high school she represented Western Province in cricket and she started playing tennis and soccer.
She has completed five Two Oceans half marathons and five Cape Town Cycle Tours.
Having personally experienced the difference a supportive school environment can make, Solomon decided to study occupational therapy.
“It’s wonderful to be able to give back, be a role model and to inspire the learners with hearing impairment and deafness to believe that they can achieve success at school, higher education and employment.”
Solomon describes her parents, mother Ruth and late father Ruben, as her greatest role models.
“They motivated me to do my best, to believe in myself, to never give up and to always follow my dreams. They taught me compassion, humility and to be kind towards others, which are valuable attributes for my profession.”
IOL