LIVED EXPERIENCES THERE'S A GENUINE DRIVE TOWARDS INCLUSION'

To mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3 December, OK! spoke to six women about inclusivity, looking at how far we have come and the work that still needs to be done

- OLIVIA DEVEREUX-EVANS, SERENA LACEY-BROWN, LUCY EDWARDS, LUCY ROBINSON

In 2022, Tasha Ghouri, 25, who had a cochlear implant fitted when she was five, became Love Islands first deaf contestant

When I was younger, I compared myself to others in such a negative way. I went to a normal public school where I was the only deaf student. Imagine that pressure as a teenager. I put so much pressure on myself to the point where I wondered what I was going to do with my future. I really stopped believing in myself.

While I was at performing arts college, my W cochlear implant broke and I couldn't hear for months.

I remember my dad trying to change the spare parts but it wouldn't come back on. At the hospital we were told that the inside was broken and I needed an operation to fix it. They said there was no point wearing a cochlear implant until then.

I wanted to do as much as I could despite the circumstances and went to college every day but it happened in the middle of my A-levels so it was really hard. I missed out on so much in my first year. Every day was difficult. My mental health took a hit and I wouldn't even leave the house. It was tough, but these things happen. I had to get up and keep going.

When Love Island asked me to go on the show I was in complete shock. I didn't think they'd have someone with a cochlear implant. Growing up, I didn't feel represented on TV except when Rose Ayling-Ellis went on Strictly Come Dancing [in 2021]. That's when I started to see the walls break down.

One big misconception about having a cochlear implant is that it's an "easy" fix. That's 100% not true.

It doesn't fix my ears and it doesn't fix my hearing. It's like having a robot device that gives me that hearing.

There's a lot of side effects too. It can be so draining having to lip read and in noisy environments I get bad migraines. I get a lot of concentration fatigue and I'll be so tired that I need to take two or three days to recharge.