Woman with Hearing Loss Makes Hearing Aid Inspired to Ear Cuff of Catriona Gray
Hearing aid accessories inspired by Catriona Gray’s ear cuff and Filipino folklore were made by a woman in Canada who has a hearing loss.
A creative woman with hearing loss has become well-known in British Columbia, Canada, after designing a custom-made hearing aid that was inspired by Ms. Catriona Gray’s ear cuff when she won the Miss Universe competition in 2018. According to a CBC News article, Ruzzelle Gasmen, a Vancouver speech pathologist, designed the hearing aid.
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Gasmen suffers from hearing loss herself, so she understands the difficulties faced by those who do not have access to hearing aids. Gasmen, on the other hand, confessed that her hearing aid designs were influenced by her Filipino ancestry.
“It can be very isolating,” she said. “I hear words, but sometimes they don’t make sense because some of the sounds are missing.”
One of the most popular and best-selling hearing aid types is reported to be similar to Catriona’s ear cuff. Another famous and frequently ordered pattern is supposed to be modeled on the wings of the Filipino monster or “mananggal,” which is also often told in Filipino mythology stories.
“I … really wanted it but I knew it wouldn’t work well with the hearing aid, because the metal would clink and it would impact my hearing. So I just decided to make one for myself, for my hearing aid,” Gasmen said.
In British Columbia, such hearing aid designs are too pricey. Gasmen intends to donate a portion of her sales revenues to the Wavefront Centre’s program, which offers repaired hearing aids to those who cannot afford them.
“It’s very therapeutic for me,” she said. “It allows me to embrace my heritage and culture in a way that I never really did before growing up.”
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