My new hearing aid tattoo

[kestrell]

Thanks to David who originally said, "You don't own it until you alter it," and to Alexx for making the tat sticker, and to Carla for the comics.

The tat is actually a very small sticker with the finder glyph from the graphic novel Finder (yes, this is another prosthetic mod based on a graphic novel featuring a character with shapeshifter abilities).
You can see a picture on Alexx's LJ
http://alexx-kay.livejournal.com/307388.html

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

Very styling!

But the important question is: does it help?

[kestrell]

Yes, the hearing aid does help, if only because I now have a left side again (when I couldn't see it and couldn't hear it, it was just this "blind spot" that stuff disappeared into and appeared out of). It doesn't help with hearing any better in what is just a poor acoustic environment--the bad acoustics room at Readercon was still mostly just noise to me, although it helped a lot when the panelists used the microphones correctly, or used them at all. I still sometimes mishear what people say, but it's often funnier/weirder than what they actually did say, so I'm not holding that against the hearing aid.

Bottom line, it was a good decision for me, but I understand why some people opt out.

[jesse_the_k]

I'm glad that it's got definite benefits. Do you feel more confident outdoors (or will that take some time?)

I particularly love the ear mold color — it's the perfect intersection between cobalt-as-express-in-glass and the petals of coneflower (Echinacea).

Panelists and microphones — an eternal battle. Did you hear about the Access Crafts at WisCon this year? boxofdelights came up with this great idea: a paper-fan that said "Show us your lips" on one side and "Use the mic" on the other. At the gathering people created these, as well as long sticks with ribbons, balls and other shinies on one end. The resulting tools lived at the Reg Desk. I found that hoisting the "Use the mic!" sign did wonders during panels (no blind panelists I knew of). The sticks enabled us sitters to "stand up" when needed.

[kestrell]

I love the fans idea--perhaps I will point it out to the Readercon folks, who are very dedicated to access issues (this year Readercon even had a blue zone).

I think the confidence issue is going to take a while, in part because the computer chip has probably only just attained it's default volume (it's programmed to gain volume over a number of weeks), but also because sounds don't sound just like they do with biological ears, so I'm still learning to identify sounds, judge distances, and prioritize importance. It's nowhere near the learning curve for understanding TTS, but it is a learning process.