Rania Saab
Rania Saab was three years old when she was diagnosed with a moderate to severe hearing loss. She spent her pre-school years at the Catholic Centre for Hearing Impaired Children at Strathfield.
Rania went to mainstream primary school and high school. She was the only student with a hearing impairment in her year, if not the entire school! She received the Dux of Year 12 award for scoring the highest mark in her assessments and exams for the year. She went on to score the second highest UAI for her year.
Rania studied two bachelor degrees, Journalism and Law, at the University of Technology, Sydney. She graduated in 2005 and became admitted as a Solicitor later that year. Rania has always been passionate about helping people, especially those that are disadvantaged. Since becoming a solicitor, Rania has largely worked for Legal Aid NSW. She has had a variety of roles with Legal Aid but is currently happily settled in her position as a family law solicitor.
Being a solicitor has been very challenging for Rania, especially because she is required to represent clients in court. Ordinarily, Rania is not able to hear in a court room without an assistive listening device and she has overcome many challenges to get a system set up for her to access the assisting listening device when she needs it.
Rania has always been an advocate for people with disabilities. She is an Ambassador for of the Australian Network on Disability, an organisation dedicated to educating and training the private, public and not for profit sectors on recruiting and retaining people with disabilities.
Rania got a cochlear implant in November 2010 and is discovering a whole new and exciting world! She never knew that there is no such thing as total and complete silence in the real world until she was 'switched on.' While the many new and louder sounds intrigue and captivate her, she feels very fortunate that blissful silence is only an off-switch away.
