DEAN LAIRD has worked in the hearing industry for nearly four decades but believes his latest project is one of his most important; reducing stigma through beautiful and functional jewellery and accessories for hearing aids and cochlear implants.
Adelaide audiometrist Mr Dean Laird is on a mission to accessorise hearing devices, which in turn reduces stigma for children and adults. The stunning Deafmetal statement pieces he sells enable people to transform the look of their hearing aids and cochlear implants into personalised jewellery and allow them to be secured with style.
Glasses are now fashion statements, with stylish, designer pieces reducing stigma around wearing spectacles to correct vision.
Laird wants the same principles to apply for hearing aids, cochlear implants and bone-conduction device headpieces, so those with hearing loss can feel empowered and not embarrassed by their condition or the assists they use to aid communication.
The journey began three years ago when he stumbled across a LinkedIn post about Deafmetal jewellery and accessories for hearing devices designed and created by Finnish fashion designer Ms Jenni Ahtiainen after she developed hearing loss in 2018.
The post was by an American audiologist who had taken up distributorship of Deafmetal in the US. He contacted her and she put him in touch with Ahtiainen in Finland and from there, he became the Australian and New Zealand distributor.
The Finnish designer says, on her deafmetal website:
“In 2018 when I got my hearing aids, I put them behind my ears and started to think. First, I innovated a small holster you adjust around the hearing aid and into the holster I added some leather strips and suddenly the hearing aids looked like me, they felt more like me and I looked like me, so Deafmetal was born by the hands of a hard of hearing designer.”
The main innovation – the flexible holster – is the linchpin and insulates dampness or sweat absorbing into the battery locks. It attaches to behind-the-ear hearing aids and cochlear implants. Earring chains, safety rings and other designs are attached into the holster.
“Deafmetal makes your hearing aids look like jewellery so it decreases stigma experienced my many hearing aid users and it looks like normal jewellery but the earring chains are also safety chains to stop hearing aids falling out,” she adds.
Rings that clip onto the ear and hearing-aids through the holster also stop hearing-aids falling out.
Reducing stigma and celebrating hearing aids
Laird, who has worked in the sector for 36 years and owns My Hearing clinics in South Australia, says he has always looked for new ideas and innovations in the hearing sphere.
“I’ve worked in various positions, have sold a business, worked in vertically integrated operations and for hearing aid manufacturers and done the full circle back to independent business again,” he recalls.
“What really resonated with me was that being a hands-on clinician for 80% of my career, stigma around hearing loss has been there all the time. It’s what everyone talks about and says if we could get rid of stigma, why wouldn’t we? How do we do it? It’s brought up in every conference I’ve attended.”
Ahtiainen says in a video on the website: “Why is it that people can get glasses to fit their style and personality yet hearing aids don’t individualise people? This is one way that people can be themselves, add on and be more proactive about being proud, not hiding that they’ve got a hearing problem.”
Laird adds: “It shows their personality and how they want to dress up their hearing aids. The mission is to change the thinking, I guess, so that hopefully in a few years it will be common for hearing aids to have adornments, we’re not worried about them being seen, in fact they are celebrated.”
Although products are high quality and European design, prices are reasonable for a reason.
“We want them to be accessible to everyone and don’t want to discriminate against anyone. It’s not about money, this isn’t about making a profit but it’s part of the journey of being in the industry. I’m 57 and maybe in 20 years, this sort of thing might be more common and viewed as a fashion statement like eyewear,” Laird says.
The designs started with a women’s range of earrings for hearing aids, and cochlear implant transmitter coil covers or ‘hats’ for children followed by a men’s range which includes darker, thicker rings that look more modern and tougher. Collections evolve as fashion and style changes.
To spread the word, Laird has shown the products at conferences including ACAud inc HAASA and Audiology Australia events and marketed the product to the profession in New Zealand. Various audiologists have stocked them in Australia and supporters include NextSense, but sales of the products are mainly online.
Making people feel good about themselves
Best sellers include safety rings that clip on the ear as they don’t need a piercing, are unisex and help hold the hearing aid in place so it isn’t flicked off or becomes lost with masks or jumpers coming off. Silver chains that click to the back of the hearing aid on the holster and attach to a stud or combine with a stud are also popular.
“At some schools children can’t wear jewellery but it’s almost like kids with hearing aids and cochlear implants can get away with more because they can wear the jewellery and say it’s to help them not lose their hearing aids. It flips it on the head because instead of being singled out for their hearing aids they’re allowed to be cool, wearing jewellery,” Laird says.
“They can have many designs or for the cochlear hats which stick on the transmitter with velcro, there are unicorns, colourful puppies, or Pow! covers which make them feel important. I’ve had so much good feedback from people, even hearing professionals for instance who’ve lost hearing and they think it’s amazing to be able to put something on themselves and feel good about themselves and look good, so it’s a no-brainer. You wonder why it hasn’t been done before.”
Testimonials from happy customers are on the website. Laird’s son Rory plays for the Australian Football League team the Adelaide Crows, and another idea he’s considering is football covers or stickers for cochlear implant caps and headbands.
Laird adds: “It’s fantastic to help people with their hearing. That’s why we exist and we get a thrill out of that and satisfaction that we’re helping people. But it’s also enlightening to get responses from people saying this is what’s been missing. This is a missing link where the hearing impaired can be themselves and help to reduce any stigma associated with a hearing device. For first time users and kids, it makes them more comfortable and confident. It’s that simple!
“Nowadays, every second person’s got something hanging off their ear whether it’s an ear-bud or an earpiece for their phone so let’s celebrate it like we do with vision and glasses and make it normal and accepted.”
A SHIELD OF COURAGE: INDIGENOUS ARTIST BRINGS AUSTRALIAN FLAVOUR TO DEAFMETAL
Indigenous hearing impaired artist and LGBTQI Gadigal and Wonnarua man Mr Daniel McDonald is the talent behind the striking Shield artwork that brought an Australian flavour to Deafmetal two years ago. Shield features on the cover of the August September 2024 Hearing Practitioner Australia magazine and is the main photo at the top of this story.
McDonald has exhibited his vibrant dot paintings in Australia and Japan through his business Deadly Hand Talk (deadlyhandtalk.com). ‘Deadly’ is Indigenous slang for proud or awesome while ‘hand talk’ means communication by hand.
Mr Dean Laird recalls: “I was looking for an Indigenous influence to make some of the jewellery Australian and one day I was watching TV and saw Daniel. The show mentioned he was hearing-impaired so I approached him about using his stunning art on the cochlear hats.”
A partnership enabled Deafmetal to turn Shield into a cochlear implant transmitter coil cover and Laird says it has driven a lot of interest. McDonald says: “Shield is a good word for our community. The U shape means person and ‘l’ means spear. The circle means campsite for all different diversity of LGBTIQ and others. The artwork uses some Indigenous symbols for protection and has LGBT colours. I hope it works as a match with cochlear implants. I want to help people to overcome their barriers and to never give up.
“When I put the shield on and walk out with it, people look at my shield cochlear implant and ask me where I got it from. I have shown people the Deafmetal website. It made me happy that they know I have a cochlear implant with my artwork on it. I am proud of it. It helps people to see and know that I am hearing-impaired and they won’t ask me because it stands out and makes a point. It is a great idea for the future from Deafmetal; they can make cochlear implant covers to suit different kinds of people.”
