For the average person, I am certain that mobile phone shopping is also time consuming. So many choices and with the prices and features, they’ve become a major purchase.
When I shop for a phone, I need to make sure I will be able to hear the
As a matter of fact, I can't hear you now. Or later.
other person on the phone.
There are hearing aid compatibility ratings but they mean nothing for me. I have the economy hearing aids ($2,100/each) that don’t have switch or volume adjustment capabilities. For me, I need to see if the ear piece of my aid is a good match for the speaker location on the phone. Sometimes the shape of where the speaker is occludes my aid and I can’t hear a thing. And, as popular as texting and email on smartphones have become, I do occasionally need to talk to someone.
So, this weekend, you could have found me in any of the major mobile phone carrier stores placing calls from sample phones to my husband. So many calls that my husband continues to receive anonymous calls and texts from other phone testers who click spontaneously and dial or message the last number called. Overall, it was challenging to really get a good feel for the best hearing match given the testing situation of a busy store. However, there were some immediate no-ways.
I made a phone selection based on what I felt would be most helpful to me in managing my work, parent volunteer, and social activities. I selected the HTC Touch Pro2. It’s a really awesome phone. You can use Excel and Word right on your handheld and the browser choices blow my 3 year old Blackberry browser away. After a couple of hours familiarizing myself with my phone and customizing it for my needs, I needed to make a quick run to the Pharmacy. From our driveway, I called my husband to test out my phone’s original purpose capability. My heart sank. I could hardly hear him and no matter how strongly I wished for it to be different, it is what it is. It’s going back tomorrow.
I wasn’t prepared for how quickly strong emotions overcame me. It sucks. I don’t want to be limited by my deafness. Even when it’s something as superficial as a phone – I want equal physical access as everyone else.
An emotional day that is wearing out my already fatigued body. Hopefully I can tap into the general strength of my emotions to the benefit of my novel. I’m much further behind than I want to be. Nevertheless, none of my characters are deaf, chronically ill, or have ever been robbed with a gun. And, it’s staying that way.
Thank you for reading and best wishes for a wonderful day. Comments are encouraged.
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | chronic illness, deafness, hard of hearing, mobile phones for the deaf and hard of hearing
*hughughug*