The first thing I got was a necklace. It's bluetooth. I can connect it to my mobile phone. That way, if I want to call someone, or someone calls me, the phone automatically connects to the necklace, which in turn connects to my hearing aids. There's a microphone in the necklace, and whoever I'm talking to is talking directly in to my hearing aids. It's as if I'm wearing headphones. I love it! Of course, I do get some strange looks, as it looks like I'm walking around talking to myself. Quite a few times people have stopped as they're walking past me as they think I'm talking to them.
I can also connect the necklace to my Ipod, which is great. Again, it does have its disadvantages - since my hearing aids act as headphones, I can't hear if anyone is talking to me. A few times people have come up to me and asked me why I ignored them in town, to which I reply I was listening to music. Of course, they then say they didn't see any headphones, so I have to explain that I don't wear headphones, but for all intents and purposes, my hearing aids are the headphones. It's great.
The necklace also connects to my landline at home. So as long as I'm wearing the necklace, I can talk on the phone. I love it! It's horrible having to rely on other people to make important calls for you. If I wanted to order a taxi, call my doctors, order a take-in etc., I always had to rely on other people to make these calls for me, as I could never hear on the phone. So, as long as I'm wearing the necklace (and I remember to charge the necklace!), I can talk on the phone and listen to my Ipod whilst I'm out and about. It's fantastic!
Another one of my gadgets which I got from Dot is a different necklace. This one is quite big, and it works on a loop system. Hearing aids have an option where you can change it to the 'T' mode. If you're ever out and about and you see a sign on doors etc., with an ear with a line through and a little 'T', it means there is a loop system. They have them in banks, churches, some lecture halls etc. So you turn your hearing aid to the 'T' mode and again, it is as if the speaker (priest, bank teller, lecturer etc) is talking right in your ear.
Anyway, back to my gadget. There's a little box that is connected to the TV at home. When I'm wearing this necklace and have it switched to 'T' mode, the sound from the TV is directed straight to my hearing aids - again, as if I were wearing headphones. It's great for programmes that don't have subtitles (that's another entry for another time). The only problem with this one, is that the necklace has to be facing the box, so I have to sit in a certain way and hold the necklace in a certain place, otherwise all I hear is static. And I have to remember to charge it!
I've also been given a gadget for in my room, again from Dot. Now this gadget took a while to set up. It's a deaf alerter. It sits on my bedside table and is connected to this round white ball thing by a wire. The white ball thing is under my pillow. The main box is connected to the doorbell, the telephone and the fire alarm. It took the electrician quite a while to figure out how to connect it all properly - he was there for more than half the day trying to set it all up.
It means that when I'm sleeping and the fire alarm goes off, the white ball will vibrate (and believe me, it vibrates a lot - no one, not even the heaviest sleeper, could sleep through that) and alert me. I then look at the box which has a few different buttons, and can immediately tell what I'm being alerted to - the fire alarm, the telephone or the doorbell. Deaf parents have it connected to their babies' rooms as well, so they can be alerted to when their baby is crying.
In this box there is also a little pager. So if I'm not wearing my hearing aids - which if I'm alone at home I often don't, I carry the pager around, which again vibrates if either the fire alarm, telephone or doorbell goes. It's a very handy little thing. I just have to remember to put it back in the box every night to charge it. And it's very reassuring as well - it's nice to know that I won't sleep through a fire alarm because I couldn't hear it! I know it has reassured my parents, as it means they don't have to come and wake me up in case of a fire, my deaf alerter will have woken me up.
Of course, like all gadgets, it's not without its problems. For example, the doorbell alerter. There's a receiver which is connected to the doorbell to pick it up, which then wirelessly transfers that to the alarter. However, it picks up any loud noise. So if my parents or anyone is standing where the receiver is playing loud music, my alarter tells me that the doorbell is going. So I often open the door to find no one there. But all in all, I would say that is a small nuisance to pay for not dying of smoke inhalation!
There are other gadgets available - bluetooth radio, a music collar (basically, it vibrates in tune to the music), deaf phone and many other things. But for now I'm happy with the three gadgets I have. Especially since getting more would entail me having to remember to charge them, which I'm quite bad at remembering... It's quite annoying when I'm in the middle of a conversation on the phone, and my necklace suddenly dies!
But it's very nice to know that there are so many options out there, and that there are people out there working on how to make a deaf person's life easier. It's a very nice feeling.
Deaf Girl.
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