Why bother hiding hearing aids?
This morning, I came across an advertisement that got me thinking back to my childhood and some more recent experiences involving hearing aids. Sit back while I tell you a story that will get you laughing and thinking.
- For more fun, check out this website: Hearing aids in disguise
Taurus said,
August 18, 2008 @ 8:05 pm
I read an article a long while ago about a young boy whose CI was stolen because the robber actually thought it was a Bluetooth!
The website about hearing aids in disguise is hilarious! I was in awe of disbelief when I saw patents and pictures of hairstyles, along with scarves and hats, disguising hearing aids and other devices. Several girls ask me for advice/tips on how to place their CIs properly when it comes to hairstyles, especially updo’s, with thick hair!!!
Funny vlog you got there!
mcconnell said,
August 18, 2008 @ 8:32 pm
Well, I’ve never been embarrassed about wearaing my hearing aid even while as a kid with the full body kind. I even gave a demostration in my 6th grade class about my behind the ear hearing aid to my classmates, and about my hearing loss. Now, if hh people felt insecure or embarrassed about their hearing aid either they do not get much benefits out it and be proud about their amazing device or that they are unwilling to let people know they have a hearing loss and not offer them a little education about their deafness. It’s either you have the confidence or you do not. For many, hearing aids help offer greater empowerment and confidence to a lot of people, believe it or not. Including cochlear implants.
Recently I’ve begun to hear stories that cochlear implants are being stolen mistaking them to be the hands free Bluetooth cell phone device. So, I guess with CI users people will see those devices as “cool” and encourage more deaf people or hearing parents of deaf children get cochlear implants. Who knows. Stigma is a weird thing. It’s all about certain perception and fear of embarrassment.
Benno said,
August 18, 2008 @ 9:19 pm
If a person uses “bluetooth hearing aids,” everybody knows that the person is hearing and therefore s/he doesn’t need to hide it. But when a person uses real hearing aids, people know this person is either deaf or hard of hearing. Some person using these aids are embarrassed and some don’t. It depends how confident a person using hearing aids is.
dog food said,
August 18, 2008 @ 11:00 pm
Hello Don,
Nice post; i liked this one. I remember when i was a lad, i had these same body aids as well.
The only stigma i’m seeing now with hearing aids is that the older middle-aged folks who have bad hearing seem to avoid it cause it makes them look and feel “old”.
There was a guy i once had a beer with at a mexican restaurant and he couldn’t hear jack in his right ear. I encouraged him to try getting hearing aids for it; after all, he can afford it easy.
“for you, you were born with these ears… so it’s okay that you’re wearing one now. For me, its different; my wife will start blending all my food if i came home with one of those, hahaha”
What a shame… the same guy also admitted that when his mother died, she beckoned him to come close and said stuff to his ear. He couldn’t hear it, and wasn’t able to know what the last thing she said.
DrDonG said,
August 19, 2008 @ 12:10 am
McConnell– I actually got a lot of benefit out of my aids — all the way up to the point of understanding speech without lipreading — that is where they didn’t benefit me, but that is due to my sensorineural hearing loss (distortion issue I now know). My mother tried to make me feel being Deaf was ok, but I still got subtle messages that it wasn’t, from her and others around me.
But stigma is definitely a weird thing.
Benno –
Yes, I think that is what makes the difference — one is “enhancing” what one already has, while the other “helps” what one does not have anymore. And then there is the stigma issue of being “less than normal”.
Dog Food — You’re British, aren’t you? And yes, that last part is a crying shame. Would be nice if none of us had to go through anything like that, wouldn’t it?
MM said,
August 19, 2008 @ 1:34 am
Fear Don ! They hide aids because they are ashamed of it, to fit in, or simply pander to manufacturers who advertise “Hidden Hearing”, who themselves have latched on to the fear that aid wearers have “no-one can see you have a hearing aid…” is a major plug here for aids…
In part it contributed to smaller and smaller aids,which were a blessing and a curse, for those of us who remember the huge ‘box’ aids of the past and wires everywhere. Smaller aids cost huge amounts of money. Society has not accepted the hearing aid wearer (Or the deaf). One ‘advantage’ of ipods and such is people are more accepting, not of hearing aids ! but they assume your aid is something else. I remember when I was issued with one many many years ago, I grew my hair near to my waist ! this was to hide the wire and my ears. Being a young man at the time, being seen with a hearing aid was a horrible experience, hearing peers don’t take prisoners, to fit in was all. You would get ridicule. Ridicule will stop most wearing an aid, or at best force the user to isolate themselves. We live in an unforgiving and ignorant society that only accepts ‘perfection’ Well Don, where did THAT idea originate ? yep, America, land of the ‘image’ is all……
mcconnell said,
August 19, 2008 @ 7:30 am
Well, there is a difference between simply getting the benefits and being confident because of the hearing aid allowing you greater empowerment and thus not be embarrassed about wearing a hearing aid in public.
More and more adults who wear once hearing are wearing hearing aids out in the public. This is because of the intense campaign by the hearing aid industry to do away with the stigma or fear of wearing hearing aids over the last decade. The hearing aid industry is truly a multi-billion dollar a year industry, the cochlear implant industry is not even a billion dollar a year industry world wide.
mcconnell said,
August 19, 2008 @ 7:41 am
correction: “More and more adults are wearing hearing aids more often in the public nowadays.”
DrDonG said,
August 19, 2008 @ 8:19 am
Oh MM — Don’t be so shy to express your opinions! I hardly think we can blame America for our “unforgiving and ignorant society that only accepts ‘perfection “. The ideal of image perfection has been around for far longer than Madison Avenue has been around.
McConnelll — Someone did some research and told me once that one of the Cochlear companies (I don’t remember exactly which one, maybe Cochlear America?) was earning at the same level as Burger King. BK ain’t in McDonald’s earnings level, but they’re not doing too shabby, either! I don’t remember exactly how much money that was, but if it wasn’t in the billions, it was still around 700 – 800 million, and that’s still close enough for me to count…. And with current trends, it won’t be long before they do break that Billion dollar level, if they haven’t already.
RLM said,
August 19, 2008 @ 8:54 am
“V8″ about seeing various models of past hearing aids on ONE page from the University of St. Louis.
We ought to emphasize the naturalistic approach like accepting ourselves being DEAF, instead of
preoccupying with the burdensome stuff like hearing aids and cochlear implants. The presence of sign
language is really very cost-efficient and practical than spending thousandths of hours on the use of
hearing assistance and speech therapy. Being natural is really BEST within our human flaws and
adaption.
Culturally deaf people do not have to worry what the society at large think of them. Why we have to
make some corporations and audistic people richer thru exploiting our emotional and social insecurity?
Make deaf people wearing hearing aids will be more likely to damage the users of hearing aids/CI devevice’s pyschological self-esteem and congnitive abiltiies.
We, the Americans and the rest of deaf world, ought to follow the traditional Deaf French People
ritual by bringing hearing aids and bashed them with sledgehammer.
RLM
mcconnell said,
August 19, 2008 @ 9:22 am
Not just one cochlear implant company but all of them, hence “cochlear implant industry.” It’s a multi-million dollar a year industry, very close or at around a billion dollar a year industry. It is no way at the same level as the hearing aid industry. The volume produced is simply way too high compared to cochlear implants. Cochlear Limited of Australia produces 70% of all cochlear implant sales and they made 480 million in sales in 2007 up from 380 million in 2006.
http://www.cochlear.com.au/Corp/PDFs/AGM_Presentation_231007.pdf
On sales alone for hearing aids in the United States, in 2007, a little over 1.8 million units were sold. And if we a figure of $1500 (average) per hearing aid then that’s 2.7 billion dollars on hearing aids alone…annually! This does not include batteries sold each year which each battery lasts about a week, cost of audiology exams, hearing aid incidentals and cleaning supplies, ear molds (from $30 to $100), and hearing aid repairs.
http://www.audiologyonline.com/theHearingJournal/pdfs/hj2007_12_p11-16.pdf
Based on figures from the Director of Reimbursement for Cochlear Americas, in 2004, roughly 3,000 cochlear implant surgeries are performed annually in the US. Let’s put an upper figure of 5000 cochlear implant sold annually (increasing due to more bilateral cochlear implant surgeries and just to make you happy) right now and use a figure of $50,000 per cochlear implant unit. This price includes evaluation, the surgery itself, hardware (device), hospitalization and rehabilitation (if you’re not satisfied double the total amount to $100,000). 5000 units times $50,000 equals $250,000,000 (millions) annually or $500,000,000 million annually if you up the price to $100,000 per cochlear implant, just to make you happy.
According to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) 2005 data, nearly 100,000 people worldwide have received implants. In the United States, roughly 22,000 adults and nearly 15,000 children have received them. Currently the number is estimated to be around 120,000 the number of people with cochlear implants at this point right now.
http://www.cochlearamericas.com/News/2369.asp
The world’s hearing-aid market is estimated today (in 2005) with 5.5 million units sold totaling up to 4 billion dollars annually. The present growth is approx. 6% a year in volume and 9% in value according to Amplifon (www.amplifon.com). This is a true multi-billion dollars a year hearing aid industry, unlike the cochlear implant industry in the United States alone. Currently the cochlear implant industry world-wide is not quite the “multi-billion dollar a year industry” as some people would vehemently like you to believe. It is probably, altogether, very close to or around a “billion dollar a year industry” since sales growth has been around 20% a year right now. Phenomenal growth. Which means what? More babies with cochlear implants. Live with it.
The hearing aid market trumps the cochlear implant market on sheer volume alone on units sold every year in the United States alone! This is not counting the world which would be much, much higher in total as a multi-billion dollars a year hearing aid industry versus cochlear implantation rate of 5000 units a year world wide and compare that with 1.8 million hearing aids a year produced/sold in the United States. It’s the hearing aid industry, worldwide, that should be the multi-billion dollars a year industry, not the *cochlear implant industry* which doesn’t even touch as being the multi-billion dollars a year let alone one cochlear implant company that make up 70% of all sales made 480 million in 2007. Sure, give it another 5 to 7 years and they may become the first cochlear implant company to be a billion dollar a year company.
Do your research.
DrDonG said,
August 19, 2008 @ 10:11 am
McConnell — Thanks for that research. I don’t dispute that currently, hearing aid industry outstrips CI industry since obviously sheer volume alone would account for that. But as you yourself indicated, CI industry isn’t too far behind the hearing aid industry…. and if trends continue, then what? Sooner or later there is going to come a point where hearing aid and CI industry incomes reach near parity with each other, where BOTH will be in the billions range.
And meanwhile, what about us Deaf? Do any of us, or our companies see anything like that kind of money? Hardly. Does any of that money the hearing aid and CI companies make off of our bodies come back to us? Virtually nothing, if at all. Says something about society’s priorities, doesn’t it?
mcconnell said,
August 19, 2008 @ 10:39 am
You need to explain your meaning “come back to us.”
This is a problem with some Deaf people who think along entitlements or “rights” and that they are “owed” for something from hearing aid and/or cochlear implant companies. I swear, what you’re saying is almost tantamount to a reparation deal. Stop living in the past and move forward. They just sell the products, they don’t do any oral therapy or speech training where some have not benefitted from it at all.
Most of the sales of hearing aids are sold mostly to older adults with hearing loss. The same for cochlear implants where more adults receive implants than children. There is nothing that is “owed” to you or to any Deaf group out there that hearing aid or cochlear implant companies must provide. This emotional baggage is going to be many Deaf people’s Achilles Heel if they’re not careful with it. That sort of thing tend to bite back their rear end. We see this again and again.
MM said,
August 19, 2008 @ 10:49 am
‘Deaf’ do not need hearing aids do they, it is easy for them no longer, or never having been able to utilise aids, to say ‘It doesn’t bother us’. Their isolation amongst their own peers is ample proof they cannot move out of it, so not under the same sort of pressures those with residual hearing have to face daily, to hear something, anything, and then to try to avoid the ignorance and ridicule some will offer to a visble aid being seen. I fear once again ‘Deaf’ are trying to speak via non-expeieince and saying “I do OK…” it is all relative, i.e until you as a ‘Deaf’ person and signing step out on to the street alone and have to manage. Then you are in as poor a position as we are. You can perhaps opt out, we can’t, and a lot of us prefer not to. Image is all, I dobnt many Americans would say different ! From what we read over the pond, its your religion….. a number of ‘Deaf’ claiming it is the force behind CI’s.
John Mans said,
August 19, 2008 @ 5:53 pm
Wow… Very oppressive Deaf Identity. No wonder too long to oppress Deaf comunity for failing to reval a true Deaf Identity for other hundred years. It is good enough to oppress their true Deaf Identity.
DrDonG said,
August 19, 2008 @ 6:35 pm
McConnell —
I’m not talking “reparations” here (although that could be a topic for another day and time, and I think we did have a brief discussion of that idea a few vlogs back somewhere….)
What I am talking about is the money chain … we purchase the products, and they purchase ours, and the money flows around. Also, do the Hearing Aid and the CI companies have Deaf people in high executive ranks? I would bet not. So the money flows in one direction — from us to them.
Understand what I’m talking about now? The Black community has been complaining about similar issues for a long time — stuff is marketed to them, but the money does not flow back to the community on individual or societal levels. As I understand it, that’s one reason the FUBU line of clothes was created — FUBU stands for “For Us, By Us” (“us” being Black people).
Mishkazena said,
August 19, 2008 @ 7:34 pm
Hmm. the most interesting thing is that they showed pictures of ladies wearing lingeries back then. I didn’t realize that was permissable at that time
Actually Don, the cochlear implant corporations do hire c.i. users. I am aware of the good jobs offered to several Cochlear volunteers. They also donate a lot of money to Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and offer financial scholarships to c.i. users.
mcconnell said,
August 19, 2008 @ 8:34 pm
Again, John, they do not “owe” Deaf people anything. Using the black analogy is faulty reasoning since getting or buying a hearing aid or cochlear implant is to the benefit of those who get them whether they are deaf or hard of hearing regardless of race. You buy it because it helps you with your career. You buy it because it gives you enjoyment of sound. You buy it because it offers you better interaction with hearing people. You buy it because it help improves your speech and audition and so on. You are thinking in terms of what ought to be “owed” to Deaf people from hearing aid and cochlear implant companies. Balderdash. That would be in a sense a reparation of sorts. Entitlements. And so on. You focus too much on the companies and what they should have on board rather than you go out and bootstrap yourself by opening up a Deaf/deaf owned company with mostly Deaf, deaf or hard of hearing employees. Something that John Yeh and Jason Curry have done. You complain saying that there is no “justice” because those companies do not have Deaf executives? Then don’t buy their products.
DrDonG said,
August 19, 2008 @ 8:55 pm
MZ –
Hiring CI users — sure, at which level? low entry-level or lower management or upper management (VP or above)
Donating money to AGB — again, that is not to us, that is to AGB….
Scholarships? Sure, but that is EXTREMELY minimal investment compared to their total income.
McConnell –
The Black analogy is apt — Blacks need clothes or want the products that are being sold, just like the Whites do, don’t they?
I’m all for Deaf people opening up Deaf-owned companies and hiring Deaf people (by the way, what perceentage of Deaf people work at those other companies? Quite few, I’m sure — tokens, perhaps?
I definitely am not buying their products. If we all did, they’d go out of business boom so fast!
dog food said,
August 19, 2008 @ 9:19 pm
just wanted to throw a proverbial stick in the fire:
Isn’t the leader of AGBell a Deaf cochlear implant user?
Mishkazena said,
August 19, 2008 @ 9:30 pm
Don… I’m not sure as I’m not in the habit of studying c.i. companies. I stumbled on this fact recently..at least one position is in the management, but in the lower or upper level, I don’t know.
I know what you mean. AGBell doesn’t represent the Deaf Community, however, in the eyes of c.i. corporations, their donations which amounts to six figures per company, still help the deaf community.. this time. the oral deaf community. So they are still giving back part of their profits back to the community, just not the Deaf Community. Again it’s not the adult Deaf Community who are the major consumers of these c.i. products, just the Deaf toddlers/ children who are nowadays mostly trained the oral methods and the older folks who experience loss of hearing due to aging and chronic excessive exposure to loud sounds. Hmm, now to think of it, I don’t know if the c.i. companies are also sponsoring the oral educational programs and AVT clinics.
mcconnell said,
August 19, 2008 @ 10:11 pm
“The Black analogy is apt — Blacks need clothes or want the products that are being sold, just like the Whites do, don’t they?”
I’m sorry, Don. It is not apt. You can try but it is not an apt one, far from it. Hearing aids and cochlear implants are sold to those who need them regardless of race or anything else. If you have a hearing loss and have a need for an audiological device you buy it because you do have a need for it. Simple. You are attempting to turn this into a Deaf political issue solely because there is no Deaf executive on board. Remember, the population of Deaf people is in the very small minority compared to the rest of the hearing loss population.
mcconnell said,
August 19, 2008 @ 10:35 pm
Token? Not if they are qualified and can do the job.
DrDonG said,
August 19, 2008 @ 10:47 pm
MZ –
I wouldn’t be surprised if somewhere down the line, somehow, the CI companies are sponsoring the oral programs and AVT clinics. It would be self-defeating of them not to, wouldn’t it?
McConnell –
It is totally apt — you just refuse to see it in the proper light. You claim hearing aids/CI are desirable and a necessity. Fine. So is clothing. So is an IPod. So are cigarettes for those who smoke. The companies have and do target certain items (Nike basketball shoes, anyone?) to the Black community in particular as well as to the general society. The hearing aid/CI companies are targeting you, parents of Deaf children, and anyone else they think might have an interest in their product (which is certainly limited in its scope of reach). The parallel is there.
But I can see that you are going to refuse to see what I’m saying. You’ve said your piece, I’ve said mine. Find a different nit to pick, please.
As for tokens, they can be qualified and able to do the job, and still be tokens, if they’re the only ones there, or one of two or three.
mcconnell said,
August 20, 2008 @ 9:01 am
Hearing aid and cochlear implant companies target two different groups. One group that can benefit from hearing aids and one that get very little or no benefit from hearing aids, of course. Who else would they target? This isn’t a branding target based on a popular clothing style like Nike aimed at a certain ethnic group which has nothing to do with necessity but the status quo. MZ said it well by saying that most Deaf adults are not major consumers of these cochlear implants. And to a good degree many Deaf adults are not hearing aid consumers simply because hearing aids do not benefit them at all. So, it makes sense these companies donate money or offer scholarships to groups that obviously can and do benefit from their products.
This is not about me refusing to see what you’re saying. It’s a simple matter of me not seeing the parallel because it doesn’t make any sense to me at all. If it did, then I’d see it but I don’t in this case. It’s apples and oranges here. There is no real parallel to the hearing aid or cochlear implant side to that of clothing desire (and not a need) of blacks. Buying a $120 Nike shoe is not a clothing need, it’s a want, which is a highly coveted and stylish product to have. Yet you can still get the same benefit by buying a $20 dollar pair of shoes. It’s about the status quo in order to be a part of the “in crowd” which is not a need but rather a want issue here. This is why I don’t buy your parallel example. Just as wheel chair companies focus on groups that have a need for wheelchairs. This is the same for prescription glasses or contact lens. We’re dealing with medical products that provide a certain need to a particular group of people. So, if a hearing aid or cochlear implant does not or will not benefit a Deaf person then why complain where the money is going to? Why complain about the so called lack of Deaf executive in a cochlear implant company if the Deaf community at large would feel that a cochlear implant offers no real benefit for a Deaf person? Wouldn’t a Deaf executive at a cochlear implant company simply be seen as a traitor in the eyes of the Deaf community? I see this as a simple matter of Deaf politics at play and the sense of entitlement at work here. You seem to focus on the things you cannot have versus the things that you can do and have control over.
Speaking of tokenism, what is your position at work? Tokenism is like affirmative action which I’m against. Affirmative action is simply reparation in disguise designed to redress effects of actual or perceived past discrimination that was regarded as unfair. It’s talent and not tokenism we want and affirmative action simply hurts more than it does help. If you can get the job done and do very well then that’s all there is to it. You don’t simply hire somebody because he or she is different outside of the person’s ability to do the job. It wouldn’t matter if you happen to be the only Deaf/deaf/hh person in a company. If you are provided appropriate accommodations and you are able to get the job done just as well or better than your co-workers then you are a valuable worker and not a token one. I personally know a Deaf person who is a good friend of mine who works at corporation where he travels all across the globe doing contracting work worth millions. He is certainly not a token Deaf person. This company hired him based on his impressive resume and they already knew he was deaf. So, I’d be careful nowadays on the tokenism issue which a slippery slope issue to be sure.
Candy said,
August 20, 2008 @ 10:20 am
We know many companies put money back into the community that supports them such as donation to Gallaudet and NTID.
I don’t know the specifics, will have to look it up. But, I bet it’s right there in Gallaudet and NTID’s list of donors.
I’m kind of baffled by your thinking, DonG.
People buy things based on need and/or want. Free enterprise. And, I don’t think the majority of people (including the minorities) expects something back from companies that they buy things from.
Most companies see a demand for things and fullfill it. I for one, am forever grateful for these hearing aid companies that provide hearing aids to people like me. I don’t expect anything back, except, perhaps a FREE hearing aid!
Toby said,
August 20, 2008 @ 11:15 am
I didn’t read all the comments, but I wanted to add my two cents that I’m excited to get my next pair of hearing aids, and I want them to be as brightly colored as possible, and still look like hearing aids. I realized that the fact that I am deaf is not visible enough to hearing people, time to make it clear.
mcconnell said,
August 21, 2008 @ 8:22 pm
Again, about the tokenism issue, Don. What is your position and who or what do you work for? Are you a hired Deaf token who holds a doctorate degree?
DrDonG said,
August 21, 2008 @ 9:55 pm
I am Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Deaf Studies Program at the California State University, Sacramento. When I was hired, I was the only Deaf person in the Department (Full-time) and probably at the University. So I guess in a way, one could view me as a token, even though I am fully qualified for the job. I was probably hired in part because I am Deaf.
mcconnell said,
August 22, 2008 @ 6:27 am
So, i am guessing that you also support affirmative action, then? Tokenism over talent?
DrDonG said,
August 22, 2008 @ 7:50 am
McConnell –
Affirmative Action, when properly applied, is a good thing. It is a fact that minority groups have been prevented from acquiring jobs in favor of the White majority, or from promotions due to their race. It’s not’s not an issue of “tokenism over talent”, but the corporation in question still can make token gestures of inclusion without truly recognizing the value of diversity.
But that is a political question which belongs on a political blog, and we are here to discuss Deaf issues….
mcconnell said,
August 22, 2008 @ 9:53 am
Um, Don, affirmative action applies to any minority and disability groups to help them give a leg up on competition. It does not pertain to only people of race. In fact, there are affirmative action plans for the hiring and promoting of qualified people with disabilities, including those with hearing loss.
Now, Deaf issues do include talks about tokenism and/or affirmative action issues that pertains to Deaf people who are affected by those things. And it’s interesting that you have included political questions pertaining to one deafness issue covering ADA. Perhaps you have not realized that Section 504 and ADA are tightly inter-related under the subject of affirmative action? You can thank Section 504 and ADA that have allowed you to be where you are and work as an equal.
The question is whether affirmative action has hurt more people than it did help over those who are truly qualifed versus those who are merely “qualified.” This includes the hiring of Deaf people, too. Might be a good subject to bring up on your next vlog. After all, your specialty area includes “Deaf Education-Bilingual/Bicultural Education and Literacy.”
DrDonG said,
August 22, 2008 @ 10:19 am
You’re right, in that AA doesn’t apply to just race. My point is that your take on it is of the more political angle (conservative vs. liberal) rather than on whether it is beneficial to Deaf or not.
But I will consider your comments and MAYBE it will show up in a vlog sometime later.
mcconnell said,
August 22, 2008 @ 11:17 am
No, no political angle here but simply about the discussion on the affects of Deaf tokenism, ADA, and Affirmative Action and whether it hurts or helps people. You are the one who sees this as a political angle as an excuse/justification to not want to discuss this. It’s a social issue. Any social issues you bring up, Don, can be laden with political questions anyway. Even Deaf social issues. I understand if you can’t tackle this issue.
DrDonG said,
August 22, 2008 @ 1:20 pm
I’ll think about it, and you do raise interesting questions. Just gotta think about what I would say. Have to wait for the muse to inspire me.