Qhawe Mazaleni On How She Became A Speech Therapist
Qhawe Mazaleni On How She Became A Speech Therapist. At a young age, many dream of becoming doctors, pilots, soldiers, teachers, and all the common professions. For Qhawe Mazaleni, something happened during her Matric, and she knew what she wanted to become.
Qhawe holds a degree in speech, language, and hearing therapy from Stellenbosch University. Currently she is pursuing her Master’s in speech language pathology at the University of Pretoria with a focus on autism. The beauty queen has also published a children’s book in isiXhosa to promote early language development. She also aims to expand educational resources in indigenous languages.
How It Came About
“Long story short, in matric (grade 12) I had no idea what speech therapy was. I asked some speech therapists in East London if I could come watch what they do so I could see if I was a good fit. The session I ended up sitting in on was with a mid forties Xhosa-speaking man who had a stroke and was in the brink of losing his job as a result. He had lost his ability to speak, but could understand some language. His speech therapist spoke mainly English and Afrikaans. Although she was trying her absolute best to build understanding between them, the language gap was too big to conquer in that session,” Qhawe said.
From then on, she, set off on a mission: To bridge the gap of language in healthcare and (later) education. Seven years later, Qhawe is living her dream.
“I honestly didn’t have the words to describe exactly what I wanted to do back then or what it would look like. I just had stubborn persistence 😂 Argh, but I knew the calling on my heart even then which is still tugging and guiding now,” she added.
