Deafie Blogger: Christmas Present Inspiration for Deaf friends and families

With Christmas fast approaching, I’ve come prepared with the best Christmas gift ideas for your friends and loved ones with a hearing loss… these ideas are deaf-initely unique!

Stocking Fillers

Bits and Bobs

From jewellery to keyrings and badges, this shop has everything BSL engraved, a cute little keepsake with an extra meaning for that special someone.

www.thetrinketbox123.co.uk/ourshop/cat_1320551-British-Sign-Language.html 

This shop has a variety of everyday lifestyle products with BSL on! Stamps, keyrings, mugs, and so on, you name it, they have it!

http://thegiftstogo.co.uk/shop 

Ear Gears

A little gift but is ever so useful daily, particularly in the winter months are Ear Gears. These ‘mini socks’ cover hearing devices to protect them from the wind, rain and snow. Also great for sporty people to keep sweat and moisture at bay.

www.gearforears.com 

Popsockets

A cute little idea is a popsocket, which fits on the back of a mobile phone for easier grip and they can also be used to prop phones up when on video calls – fantastic and has multiple uses! This one has “I love BSL” on – cute!

www.royaldeaf.org.uk/product/phone-pop-sockets

Accessible Activities

With cultural activities becoming more and more accessible, what’s better than gifting them with a voucher or tickets to something they can enjoy with you?

Accessible Theatre Shows

Why not go and see a panto?

Check out Stagetext website for captioned showings: www.stagetext.org or TheatreSign for BSL interpreted showings: www.theatresign.com and book your tickets for the next show!

Subtitled Cinema Showings

Christmas captioned movie?

YourLocalCinema website is a fantastic place to find the nearest subtitled showings to you, if you see one, purchase a couple of tickets!

www.yourlocalcinema.com

If there aren’t any, do try asking your local service to see if they can put an accessible showing on for 2020!

Brilliant Books

Name something better than relaxing in bed with a good book in hand, all these good reads have a deaf character or storyline featured…

Books for Children

Huawei Storysign app works with some famous books which feature BSL integrated characters signing the story.

https://consumer.huawei.com/uk/campaign/storysign/

Harriet Versus the Galaxy – Samantha Baines

www.amazon.co.uk/Harriet-Versus-Galaxy-Samantha-Baines/dp/1999642589/

Max and the Millions – Ross Montgomery

www.amazon.co.uk/Max-Millions-Ross-Montgomery/dp/0571333486

Books for Teenagers/Adults

You’re Welcome, Universe – Whitney Gardner

www.amazon.co.uk/Youre-Welcome-Universe-Whitney-Gardner/dp/0399551417 

A Quiet Kind of Thunder – Sara Barnard

www.amazon.co.uk/Quiet-Kind-Thunder-Sara-Barnard/dp/1509810986 

Pretty Prints

These adorable hand drawn sign language prints are perfect for any decorating any home and make a great gift for a family or parents.

www.etsy.com/uk/shop/LoveHarryXXX 

There’s a few BSL fingerspelling alphabet prints which are a great addition to rooms and encourage guests to get learning some basic sign language.

www.etsy.com/uk/search?q=british+sign+language+print

Subscription to Streaming Services

Streaming services such as Netflix are ever so increasingly popular now. With Netflix, most of its content is subtitled – incredible! Why not treat them to a yearly subscription?

If there’s another service, please research to see if it’s accessible to the deaf person before purchasing!

Stylish Clothing

New brand on the block is DEAF IDENTITY – they have some awesome deaf related t-shirts and hoodies, which make the best gift and are suitable for any ages.

www.deafidentity.com 

Another cool line is these hearing aid pride t-shirts with some awesome slogans on.

https://shop.spreadshirt.com/phonak/

Tech-Savvy Technology

If you fancy digging a little deeper, there are some wonderful technologies out there which although pricey are super beneficial for deaf people and may be much appreciated in the festive season!

Smart watches and wearable tech

You’d be surprised how secretly accessible smart-watches and wearable tech can be! From vibrating alerts, receiving texts and much more. There’s so much choice!

www.johnlewis.com/browse/electricals/smart-watches-wearable-tech/view-all-smart-watches/_/N-5nmc

Deaf-friendly alarm clocks

There are vibrating and/or flashing alarm clocks on the market which give deaf people independence by being able to wake themselves up. There are portable ones suitable for travelling, or electrical ones to plug in at home.

Streaming devices and assistive listening devices

There are streaming devices on the market which can help some deaf people to listen to music or connect to phone calls, or assistive listening devices like microphones or direct input leads for conversational situations. It’s always best to check what their audiologist recommends for compatibility with hearing technologies.

Phone stand

There are tons of phone stands on the market, from portable ones to bigger ones for use at home for video calling or even propping phones up to watch videos.

Terrific Toys

There’s nothing nicer than combining fun and inclusion with this amazing range of toys with disabilities, incredible to make deaf children feel special and to help them understand their deafness! This website lists retailers which sell toys with diverse needs.

www.toylikeme.org/toys/ 

Vouchers

After all these suggestions, if you’re still stuck on ideas, you can’t go wrong with vouchers!

Why not treat them to App Store or Google Play Store vouchers so they can purchase some assistive apps to help to make life a little easier! Amazon vouchers are brilliant to help contribute to products that they can use in their daily lives.

If you have any ideas you’d like to share, please comment below!