This might end up having a huge impact on the entire field of treatment for hearing impairment. A big problem in the field is getting products to patients who could use them, but won’t because of stigma. This particularly true of young patients and unfortunately many might go even decades with a known hearing problem and still ignore it, and this can lead to social isolation and has a huge negative impact on their quality of life. Breaking the stigma of having hearing impairment might lead to these patients seeking out help much much sooner, and even if the AirPods aren’t perfect for everyone they might serve as an easy “on ramp” to getting traditional hearing aids for those who need them.
I had stigma before getting my hearing aids. I thought the hearing aids would be easy for others to see plus often the perception is that only elderly people get hearing aids. But the reality is that most people don't easily notice you are wearing hearing aids. Even my family has to stare closely at my ear to tell I'm wearing them.
Can you elaborate more on the stigma? From my perspective, if I were talking to someone with hearing aids I wouldn't give it a second thought (or I would try to speak more clearly). Talking to someone with Airpods in, I might assume they're listening to music and ignoring me.
> Can you elaborate more on the stigma? From my perspective, if I were talking to someone with hearing aids I wouldn't give it a second thought
I think it's mostly perceived stigma (or self-stigma) rather than actual stigma from others, and partially a generational thing where there was more stigma in the past. Attitudes to sight correcting glasses have also massively changed in the last few decades.
> Attitudes to sight correcting glasses have also massively changed in the last few decades.
That's because in the 70s only 25% of the population wore glasses but now 80% of people need to wear them (or contacts). What's the point of making fun of someone who needs glasses when the majority of people around you are in the same boat.
There's a gulf between how people treat workmates/strangers/friends and mate selection. Modern cultural ideas of discrimination go flying out the window for the second category. They might not appear to treat you any worse but will be less inclined to want to have your babies if you seem disabled.
sorta like crocs: god awfully ugly but really comfortable. there's groups (not the groups you'd initially imagine) who are against them because they're 'lame'.
hearing aids are kinda lame. they fix deficiency whereas cool things usually raise normal baselines.
again, a lot of old people wear them and young people often reject old people things reflexively, regardless if it's beneficial or not.
As someone who has had success at turning people you wouldn't expect to like crocs, on to crocs, do you mind sharing: Who are the groups you wouldn't initially imagine to be against crocs who are?
I only have experience proslethyzing, I have little understand of who has fallen.
Everyone said crocs were so comfortable so I got some. Feels like I'm walking on styrofoam, in a bad way. No where near as comfortable as my Birkenstocks though certainly more affordable. I don't hate them, but after trying them I definitely don't "get it."
I have no strong feelings about them, don't find them more comfortable than any other shoe, and while I'll admit that can be rather ugly they aren't all that way.
The most common thing I hear against them are that they are "prison shoes" and so wearing them is like wearing orange jumpsuits. If it isn't wanting to avoid looking like a convict, it's that they leave blisters.
fashion heads. they wear tabi runway shoes but find crocs too much? puzzling. gen z fashion heads seemed to embrace crocs fine however, it's the older ones
Yeah it's a big generational thing, my 90 yr old grandmother wouldn't wear hearing aids despite losing 80% of her hearing in both ears. Said they looked ugly.
My problem is that I'm right at the edge, I can hear most conversation but if it's noisy or someone is talking more quietly I have problems making out the words. So, 95% of the time I'm fine, and it's hard to convince myself it's worth the thousands of dollars traditional hearing aids cost, plus the futzing with wearing them. I have some Air Pod Pros 2 in my cart that I almost pulled the trigger on, but I'm an android guy so I need to see if I can get one of my wife's old iPhones up to configure it.
