Good Gifts for Deaf People

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This is short collection of ideas for gifts for deaf or hard of hearing people.

This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. Thanks for helping to support this site!

I should have written this post a long time ago, because I have a LOT of ideas about what would be useful to receive as a gift! But now is a start, right? Let’s dive in.

Apple Watch

I’m putting this first because it’s incredible useful:

• Taptic System, which includes the Taptic alarm (- it literally taps you to wake you up, no volume necessary), the Taptic alert (which also taps to tell you to turn when you are following a driving instruction, or taps to tell you a text message is in, etc)
• The breathe app: helps keep us mindful and calm
• The rings: really do get us moving and tracking. Apple watches also include the mindfulness tracker now.

Read more on how Apple watches are great for us deaf/hard of hearing people  here.

• Find the Apple Watch on Amazon
• Find it at Target

Apple AirPods

I got AirPods for free with my laptop and for kicks, I tried it out. I seriously doubted I could hear anything with them, but I was wrong. Even though I am profoundly deaf, I could, if I cranked up to max.

This is obviously not going to work for everyone, but it is interesting, especially since:

• The sound in the AirPods is completely different than sound streamed through bluetooth/my hearing aids. It’s not tinny or mechanical. It is pretty amazing.
• “Live Listen” with the AirPods is perfect for people who have hearing loss but for whom hearing aids might not be an option yet (- read more on how you can use AirPods as a hearing aid here)

Both regular AirPods and AirPods Pro have the “live listen” capacity. AirPods Pro have better fit for ears. I myself can’t use the AirPods unless I attach these rubber grips and ear hook extensions to them.

• Find the AirPods Pro on Amazon
• Find AirPods at Target

Otter Voice to Text

Buying your loved one (or yourself) a subscription would make a great gift. I wrote a post on fantastic speech-to-text apps, but Otter is the one that I myself use, because:

• With a subscription, there are no time limits – I can get 3 hour long conference speeches transcribed
• It’s really accurate
• It actually saves what is recorded, so I have running notes as well (that I can download to Word/GoodNotes/Evernote and are searchable)

Get Otter on iTunes 

Clear Communication Mask

I like these ones because they are not as freaky as those ones that just frame the mouth part (am I the only one?! Tell me that mouth cut out doesn’t make you shudder a little?!)

There are a ton of options out there now.

Find this on Etsy

“I’m Deaf” Mask

I like these because I lipread.

Find this on Etsy, linked here.

I also liked, “I’m deaf; if I don’t respond, it’s because I don’t hear you” – linked here

Great Deaf Related Books

With the exception of El Deafo, all of the books listed here are really geared for the adults among us (and El Deafo is for both adults and kids). I think you’ll like these:

• Mean Little Deaf Queer
• El Deafo
• Seeing Voices
• Deaf Empowerment
• If You Could Hear What I See
• Five Flavors of Dumb
• Finding Zoe
• Signs of Attraction

Deaf-Made Art

Support our artists!! Lots of d/Deaf-made art out there.

Just please be sure to poke around and make sure it’s ACTUALLY made by a d/Deaf artist, and not a hearing artist who is using  ASL in their art.

Find this shop on Etsy, linked here.

Sonic Alarm

I used to use this (before I discovered the Apple Watch and the Taptic Systems). Sonic is the way to go if you don’t want a watch.

Just be careful, because you could wake up your entire neighborhood too! I just used the bed shaker, personally. And holy cow does that thing work!

Find Sonic on Amazon, linked here.

Deaf Movies

I love movies myself, and I think purchasing a movie as a gift is pretty sweet.

Here’s a collection of more than 20 movies with a d/Deaf focus – it’s linked here.

Dragonfly Anything

You get dragonfly anything, not because you want to channel your hippie boomer-Karen, but because dragonflies are deaf. How cool is that?!

From Etsy:

• Metal dragonfly for your garden
• Dragonfly chakra pendulum (omg)
• Dragonfly earrings
• ALL THE DRAGONFLY stuff!

From Amazon:

• Dragonfly mug (I actually have this one, a gift from my dear friend Katherine)
• Dragonfly shirt (I like how big it is)
• Dragonfly notebook

Gifts for Deaf or Hard of Hearing People

There you have it, a smattering of gift ideas… I hope you know that you don’t HAVE to give something that is specifically hearing (or deaf) related to someone who is deaf/hard of hearing! You know that, right?! (right???).

These are ideas are just for if you think it’s legit-cool, and that the person you are giving to would really like it or could use it.

If you have ideas for more cool gifts (especially if you know or have a d/Deaf-run business), please drop the link in the comments!

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