SINGAPORE: Despite being born with hearing loss, 12-year-old Eden Falk is inspiring other teens with disabilities to be proud of who they are – and chase their dreams no matter what.

At the age of 12, Eden Falk is not only spreading awareness and raising funds for other kids with hearing disabilities, but he may just be the youngest Australian to be crowned a Westfield Local Hero thanks to his keen entrepeneural instinct and an undeniable passion for advocacy.

Sydney-based Eden, who has a hearing impairment in both ears, spoke to News24.com.au on Friday about his incredible idea to repurpose Crocs charms as a way to encourage other kids to wear their hearing aids with pride.

“I thought, ‘If you can decorate your shoes, why can’t you decorate your hearing aids?’” he said, calling his invention ‘Hibbitz’.

Looking back on his hearing journey so far, Eden admitted that it was “twice as hard” to learn and read when he was younger, having to juggle school life while also navigating a hearing disability.

“Especially in school, you’re using twice the amount of energy to listen to the teacher. It can be incredibly hard to actually focus in general and just hear,” he said.

However, learning to listen and speak with the Shepherd Centre, a pediatric audiology non-profit, inspired him to use his own experience and advocate for others, while showing off his creative flair in the process.

Taking a Croc Jibbit, removing the stump and attaching a small tube to the back, Eden transformed the popular shoe accessory into an inspiring business venture, one that has seen him nominated for the Westfield Local Hero awards.

One of 70 applicants, Eden is now a finalist in the competition, which aims to “help a local hero create an even greater impact”.

Reflecting on his nomination, Eden shared that he didn’t think he would make the top three, let alone become the competition’s “youngest finalist”.
“It was just insane,” he gushed.

Since being nominated, a video posted on Reddam House’s Instagram page has gone viral, gaining more than 690,000 views and receiving comments by Sylvia Jeffreys, Sally Obermeder and Suzan Mutesi.

Along with the title of local hero, Eden is hoping to scoop up the $20,000 prize to donate to The Shepherd Centre’s Hear For You program, which organises skills workshops and creative activities for kids with hearing disabilities.

“Basically, Hear For You is a program for deaf teenagers like me, where you can hear from amazing deaf mentors [and] you can connect with other deaf kids.”

“You get to do once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. Last time, I did filmmaking; it was really fun,” he added.

The program taught Eden new skills and introduced him to other children navigating similar hearing impairments. However, more notably, it left a lasting impression on him, that inspired him to give back to his community.

“After my first ever Hear For You program that I did, I said to my dad, ‘Finally, I don’t feel alone’.”

Eden urges other kids with disabilities not to be afraid to chase their dreams, because “what’s the worst that can happen?”

“You fail? All successful people fail and that’s how they achieve because they learned from their mistakes.”

He added: “I feel like kids, especially disabled kids, can do anything. They can achieve,” he said.

“A disability doesn’t define you.”