My deafness is one of my superpowers

LOVE ISLAND STAR AND STRICTLY COME DANCING FINALIST TASHA GHOURI TELLS ELLA WALKER HOW SHE REVISITED TOUGH TIMES IN HER NEW SELF HELP GUIDE

- 

WE'RE not X-Men, able to fly, read minds, control the weather, lift cars and stop time. Instead, we're putting the bins out at non-superhuman speed and taking the bus instead of teleporting - it’s a sad state of affairs all round.

But, says TV personality and disability campaigner Tasha Ghouri, we're doing ourselves a disservice. We do all have superpowers, whether it’s a disability, quirk or skill, and we can make the most of them.

“Remembering who you are as a person, that’s the whole root of the book,” says the model and dancer of her new self-help guide, Your Superpower: Embrace What Makes You Different.

Calling it “a very vulnerable, raw” read, she weaves together personal struggles and tips on everything from dealing with bullying and break-ups, to the perils of social media and why it’s so important to believe in yourself.

Tasha, 26, had a “fun” childhood (“I was a kid that would play hopscotch outside,’) but it was “tough” too. From Thirsk, North Yorkshire, she was born deaf and had a cochlear implant fitted aged five.

“My deafness isn’t a weakness, it isn’t something that should be seen as a negative, but something that should be celebrated. It really is my superpower,’ she says.

Tasha has also learned to “embrace the silence”.

“I have the option to be deaf or hearing, which I love. When I go to sleep, I always take [my cochlear implant] out. I have the best sleep ever,’ she says delightedly.

“Even in my downtime, I just love to take it out and watch TV with the subtitles on”

“There's so much beauty in silence,’ she adds. “I wish everyone had it, because it really is such a lovely thing, to be able to switch off, recharge your batteries and ground yourself again.”

When Tasha was in the middle of her A-levels though, the internal element of her cochlear implant broke and needed replacing, requiring an operation. Suddenly she had no choice about how much silence she experienced.