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Recipe for success
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Former Outpost student and new chef Skye McKennay is cooking up some plans for her life.
Like most 20-year-olds, Skye McKennay is unsure about what she wants to do with her life. A qualified chef working at Urban Forrager, she can feel her feet beginning to itch and the call of the great wide world growing louder in her ears.
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“I don’t see myself staying in the food industry for the rest of my life,” she says. “I have this urge to try something new. I’ve been contemplating studying to become a paralegal, but then I’ve also been thinking about travelling for a while now. I’m toying with the idea of going over to Canada for a working holiday, but then I’d also like to explore Europe.”
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So much choice awaits Skye; as it should for all our young adults. The difference for Skye, however, is how different her situation could have been, had it not been for newborn hearing screening and early intervention.
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“Skye was born six weeks early and weighed just three pounds 11 ounces,” recalls her mum, Sharon. “She was so tiny that we dressed her in dolls clothes and some home-made clothing.”
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At King Edward Hospital she was tested almost immediately for hearing loss and, at six weeks of age, the results confirmed Skye was profoundly deaf.
“When she was first diagnosed, we had so many mixed emotions,” says Sharon. “We were scared, we felt guilt and there was sadness due to the unknown.
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“We spoke to professionals at WAIDE and Telethon Speech & Hearing. At both places the staff were kind and caring and gave us reassurance that, with early intervention, Skye would be able to lead a wonderful life. We decided to commence her early intervention as soon as possible.
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“We started her at TSH at 12 weeks old and, with the services and the programmes available, Skye flourished. We spent countless hours attending programmes and services and other hearing appointments.
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Skye loved the interactions she had with the other children who attended and everyone who facilitated the programmes. It wasn’t always work and it was also made fun along the way.”
Before her first birthday, Skye’s parents decided that it was time to take the next step on her journey to hearing.
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“When we heard about an incredible device that gave the gift of hearing, we were extremely excited and interested,” says Sharon. “We did a lot of research and made the decision that a cochlear implant would be the best option for Skye.
Skye McKennay's love of the kitchen and cooking started at an early age.
"We are very blessed she was able to receive her Cochlear a week before her first birthday. This device has given Skye the opportunity to reach her potential and given her so many opportunities we never thought possible.”
With her cochlear implants in place, Skye was exposed to speech and language from an early age.
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“I’m lucky that it was picked up so early because, thanks to my implants, I’ve essentially only ever known life with hearing,” explains Skye. “Thanks to my classes at TSH, my speech, language and communication skills have always been on par with my hearing classmates.
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“I’ve grown up knowing how to hear, so I don’t consider myself any different to my peers. I’ve been able to do everything that everyone else was able to do. I played netball and other sports at school, and I simply removed my cochlear device if we went swimming.”
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Skye continued attending TSH until Kindy, where she joined her mainstream peers at Armadale Primary School. Her high school years were spent at John Wollaston Anglican Community School in Perth’s south east where, as part of TSH’s Outpost program, Skye was able to access additional supports for her studies, including an FM device in class to help amplify the sound of her teachers’ voices.
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“It was fantastic to have Outpost at our school,” she explains. “The Teachers of the Deaf, educational assistants and note takers would be there to provide the extra support and help where I needed it with subjects at school.”
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Her interest in cooking came about at an early age.
“I know my dad had always wanted to be a chef and he is a great cook, so I grew up watching him in the kitchen,” she explains.
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“When I was about 15 years old, I saw an advert on TV – I think it might have been for Masterchef - and I decided at that moment that I wanted to be a chef.”
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Skye’s parents met with the John Wollaston’s (Vocational Education and Training (VET) program coordinator, Mrs Susan Leach, who put through the application for Skye to begin her School Based Apprenticeship.
As part of the program, Skye completed a Certificate III in Commercial Cookery and she won a School Curriculum and Standards Authority VET Certificate of Excellence for Tourism, Hospitality and Events.
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“I was able to confidently push myself to achieve many of my goals throughout my schooling career. One such goal led me to apply for an apprenticeship as a Chef and pursue my dream career,” Skye said.
She began her apprenticeship to become a chef in December 2018 and, after four years in the kitchen, including stints at Avocados in Kelmscott, the Kalamunda Hotel and pan Pacific, graduated earlier this year.
Now she’s preparing to travel and experience the big, wide world.
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“Skye has been extremely independent when it comes to her equipment and visiting appointments on her own,” says Sharon. “She has made a few trips to different states in Australia on holidays on her own, and one day she woke up and booked a ‘Skye diving’ adventure. Nothing holds Skye back, and she is always up for a challenge. We are very proud of her.”
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Skye hopes that her journey might be inspirational to other children and families dealing with hearing loss.
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“I know I was lucky that my hearing loss was diagnosed early on,” she says. “Some families have it much harder, but if I had any advice for them, I’d tell them to persevere, to keep forging ahead.
“Having a hearing loss is not the easiest challenge to deal with but if you have a goal in mind, you can reach it. There is nothing stopping you.”