Cochlear Implants Attractive to Thieves
Monday July 14, 2008
As soon as I read the Los Angeles Times story "That's not a Bluetooth headset" I wondered how much of a problem this is nationally? This story tells about a young deaf child whose cochlear implant speech processor has been stolen twice by thieves who thought the processor was a Bluetooth headset.
Designers of speech processors and hearing aids (todays hearing aids could also be mistaken for Bluetooth headsets and in fact some do have Bluetooth capability!) may have succeeded too well.
I doubt this will ever happen to me because I use an ear mold with my bte speech processor (I don't use one with the body worn). But deaf people with implants should not have to use ear molds to ward off thieves. The parents in the story now use a strap to hold on to the processor, but what about deaf adults who do not want to have to use straps to ward off thieves? Any ideas from readers?
Comments
Poor younng boy! Here is the link about Bluetooth chip with Hearing Aids information by audiologists.
http://www.audiologyonline.com/articles/article_detail.asp?article_id=1715
I assumed Theives cares about bluetooth chip than hearing aids itself for money.
Yikes! What came to my mind is the future possibility of radar-sensing glasses being snatched off blind peoples’ heads, stylized wheelchairs or Segway-based transports snatched from under mobility disabled people, and future models of CI’s swiped off deaf childrens’ heads–all by theives thinking they were the latest in geeky toys.
What may be needed could be special legislation mandating stiffer penalties for swiping disability aids, similar to stiffer penalties for hate crimes or violence against defenseless people.
Grow the hair out to cover it?