Hello everyone! Let's talk about Christmas gifts for children who are deaf or hard of hearing
today! Hello, my name is Emily. I have a moderate to severe hearing loss and I wear hearing aids.
I love them! Guess what? I just got new gold earmolds and they sparkle and I love them so much!
I created this channel as a way to increase awareness for the deaf and hard of hearing
and because we are in the holiday time of the year we are going to talk about ideal christmas gifts
that you can give to a child who is deaf or hard of hearing. These are gifts I wish I would have
had when I was little and I think I really would have enjoyed so I thought I would compile this
because sometimes it's hard as you know, a parent or an aunt or an uncle or a grandparent to know
what to give your young child for christmas and so if they are deaf or hard of hearing here's some
specific ideas for them. If you haven't already, please take a moment to subscribe to my channel
I look forward to making more excellent content to increase awareness for the deaf and hard of
hearing. I hope you stick around to the end of this video, because if you do I am going to share
my most memorable Christmas present as a child. This is a present that when I think of one
gift that I got when I was a child I remember this one. You're not gonna believe it, it's kind of got a
funny story behind it. All right, let's talk about these 12 Christmas present ideas for children who
are deaf or hard of hearing. Number one: new ear molds so earmolds are things that you have to get
changed pretty regularly with a child but you can get them another color think about being able to
mix and match ear molds with fun outfits and maybe giving them that option if they have plain pink
get sparkly pink, if they have white maybe consider getting a fun blue or something like that. You'll
definitely want to talk to this child's audiologist, and know that they may need mold impressions taken
in order to order a new pair of molds. I want you to know that molds can be expensive, they can be
anywhere from $80 to $100 each and so this would be a very big present that I'm sure they would love.
Number two: hearing device skins! So what do I mean by this is, there are some really cool
safe stickers for hearing devices so hearing aids, cochlear implants, and bone anchored hearing aids
that you can put on your hearing devices to make them look cool. Some of the best skins that I have
seen come from JajaCreations on Etsy. I'll include the link down below. Check them out, she has so many
skins, she has some like from Marvel to generic to princess to colorful rainbow... you name it! It's just
a fun, inexpensive way to personalize hearing devices, and I know that the child in your life
would love this idea for their hearing aids for Christmas and the fun part is you can get lots
of different skins and interchange them and have fun with them. Just make sure when you order them,
that you understand what model of hearing aid you are getting them for, every hearing aid is
different and it's important that you understand the child's hearing aid and that you understand
which skin you're getting for that particular hearing device. Make sure you get the right one.
Number three: ear gear sleeves! These are awesome because they're little sleeves that you put on the
hearing aid they also have a little clip safety clips to make sure that if they fall off they stay
with the child so it's like a pacifier clip; they're just for hearing aids. These are great for any child
because children are mobile and at any moment they could lose their hearing aids but this could
be more of a gift for a parent that has a child with hearing loss or that has a hearing device but
I have to say that if it's colorful the child will love it and look forward to using it.
Number four: headbands or ear suspenders! There are so many fun headband or ear suspender designs and
these are just fun because they help the child increase confidence in wearing their hearing
aids and showing them off and showing that these are not something to hide. But draw attention to them,
start conversations, educate people about what it means to be hard of hearing. As we talk more about
hearing losses, it chases away the taboo factors and helps people realize that yeah I can't hear
the way a hearing person can, but I'm just as awesome as they are and I have so many fun
unique skills and talents. Number five: you can get hearing devices for your child's doll or action
figure! There are so many fun options. I found some just generic 18-inch doll hearing aids on Amazon
you can see them in the link down below. I've actually tried these ones before they don't stay
on very well so be prepared to like have to super glue them or something or you can buy hearing
devices for a doll right on Etsy. Check them out, there are so many Etsy creators that are making
dolls more diverse including hearing devices on them just also realize that you can make your
own hearing aid for any doll or action figure that the child in your life may appreciate or like. I
hope to make a video on that someday. I have not done it yet but know that creating a doll that
looks like your child of an action figure or hero or princess that they look up to is amazing and
they will love it. Number six: you can get a hearing aid dry aid kit. You can get a manual kit or an
electronic kit. Dry aid kits are the best chance anyone can have in saving hearing aids after they
come in contact with water so it's always good to have one of these around. A child might wonder
like what do I do with this but you can also call it a safe place for your hearing aids when
you're not wearing them. So this brings me to item number seven: item number seven is a hearing aid
safe place. What this is, is it's like a little box or a treasure box that when children are not wearing
their hearing aids, they put them in the box so then that way, their hearing aids don't get lost
and also pets or other children in the house don't get a hold of the hearing aids and mistreat them.
I found two hearing aid boxes on Amazon that would be great for this. They're kind of like a
craft activity so this child could make the safe place spot and then they could put their hearing
aid in the box whenever they're not using them. I can promise you the parents of the child will love
this idea as well. Number eight: you can get books of children with hearing losses for this child. It
just brings the hearing loss reality to life when you have a book with a child that has a hearing
device. It helps the child realize that they're not alone and put themselves in the place of the
the person in the book and realize that "If they did it I can too" some books I recommend are "Now Hear This."
"Cosmo Gets an Ear" and "Mya gets her Super Ears", I'll include the links in the description below:
there are so many books out there go ahead and do your research and find the one that seems to be
the most similar to the child that you would buy this book for. Number nine: okay this one's super
fun, I really wish I had these growing up they were kind of a new and upcoming thing in the mid 2000s
now they just kind of seem like they're storming the hearing device world specifically hearing
aids. They are called tube riders! Tube riders are little silicone figures that children place
on the tubes their hearing aids that sit there so it can be really fun to have spiderman or
Belle, the Disney princess, on your hearing aid tube. It makes hearing aids more personalized and fun to
wear and like I mentioned earlier it makes them a discussion item and when people talk about
hearing aids and talk about hearing losses of what they mean, it chases away those taboo factors that
we deal with on a daily basis. These tube riders can increase the confidence of a child in their
hearing devices so I'm going to include some links below, Little Auricles are great, Purple
Cat a Charms on Etsy is great, and also, Hear with the Heart on Etsy, those are great resources
for tube buddies and tube buddies are actually quite inexpensive, so if you're on a budget, of say
ten dollars, a set of tube buddies is definitely something you can get within that budget.
Number 10 hair accessories! Getting a wide variety of hair accessories for a child
with long hair is just so fun because it pulls the hair up and out of the way you can add little gadgets and gizmos
and all these sparkly things that again make them proud to wear a hearing aid the bottom line of all
these Christmas presents is give the child something to embrace
their hearing loss and maybe even not even think about it just enjoy being then this brings
me to item Number 11. Number 11 is dress ups! What does this child want to be when they grow up? Give
them that dress up or give them some other dress up so that they can make-believe and play, and be a
child and dream big. The best thing my parents ever did for me is they never told me "oh you can't do
that because you have your hearing loss." They told me here are the supplies, have fun, dream big, I
personally was into art and they supplied me with art supplies for days. Literally every birthday I
was asking for more paper and more scissors and tape because I was always running out. And how did I run out of scissors? I have no idea, I just was always asking for more art supplies,
so dress-ups. What does this child want to be when they grow up? Get them that outfit,
and last but not least Number 12: consider their talents, consider their interests, get them
kits or things that will help them explore these interests and talents.
It is so important for a child with disabilities and specifically a hearing loss, that you encourage them to dream big
and that you do not hinder their dreams in any way. They have a hearing loss, all that
means is that they have decreased access to sound compared to anyone else but as long as they get that hearing assistance
which is available in today's world by miraculous hearing devices
they can and will be successful and if that child that signs will be too just ensure that you foster
their talent and encourage them to dream big. So there are 12 Christmas ideas for children who
are deaf or hard of hearing. Do you have any other ideas? I would love to hear in the comments below.
Please let me know, I hope that these have helped you and that you enjoy buying a Christmas present
for your loved one. Thank you for sticking around to the end of this video. The Christmas present
that I got when I was a child that has been most memorable to me, is it was a dog feeder.
It was like a two pan dog feeder that was... you could like raise it and lower it and it had a
section in the middle where you could like put the additional food, so I would open it up, put the food
in put the water in, put the like the kibble in, and I loved it. I had a dog growing up, I actually
ended up having two dogs when I grew up and I just loved those dogs. They were completely outside dogs
because my family was so allergic, I was allergic, I was like the number one allergic person but
I would go outside in the rain, snow, lightning, thunder, hail, you name it, and I would like sit
with my dogs, and I loved my dogs so much for Christmas I wanted a just really high-end dog
feeder and my parents got me that, and I loved it. It was really awkward when I'd go to like
church and school and everyone would be talking about their new you know mp3 player they got and
I got like a dog feeder, so I would never say what I got because I was kind of embarrassed
compared to other kids, but I was so happy I got this dog feeder because every time I would have
like this A+ dog feeder to feed my dogs, and I can tell you, I don't mean my dog's cared but
it made me really happy that they had a really great dog feeder. That's really random it's just a
funny, little present. Did you ever get a random present that you just loved or have remembered
over the years? If so, I would love to hear in the comments below. I hope this video helped you, please
let me know if you have any questions or comments, I want to hear in the comments below, please don't
forget to like this video and subscribe to my channel. I look forward to making more wonderful
content and I've got some other gift videos coming up soon! I hope you have a great day! Bye!