Since the last significant drop in my hearing, it has become more challenging to carry out tasks such as using a screen reader, boiling water, or waking up in the morning. Many of the adaptive products made for the blind assume the user has typical hearing, and those made for the deaf assume the user has typical vision. Tasks requiring adaptations are greatly complicated for the person who may be losing hearing and vision as they age or who is deaf-blind and wants to maintain their independence. For the deaf and hard-of-hearing, there are alarm systems like those made by Sonic Alert and many others. As a person who is deaf-blind, I've found there are few options available for those with a dual-sensory impairment. One solution is to leave my iPhone under my pillow and hope its vibration feature will be enough to wake me. Whether it does or not depends on how heavily I sleep and whether the phone shifts during the night.
There is a product on the market that inadvertently addresses the inaccessibility of its predecessors, as well as notifies a user of incoming texts, alarms, and calls on their smartphone. The DreamZon LightOn is a signaler originally designed for the deaf, which flashes a light to alert the individual that their phone is vibrating when it is placed on top of the device. There is an add-on which allows a bed shaker to be plugged in which can act as a signaler when put in a pocket. One drawback to this system is that it can easily be set off by loud noises such as car stereos, slamming doors, or thunderstorms that vibrate the room you are in. There is also no way for someone who is blind to adjust the sensitivity of the system. Also, this device is battery-operated, with the battery status indicated by lights, making it inaccessible to a person who is blind. In and of itself, this may not be a large concern, but because of the aforementioned sensitivity issue it certainly can be. There are other solutions, each presenting their own set of problems, such as the Helen Vibrating Alarm Clock, the Reizen Braille Quartz Alarm Clock with Vibrating Option, and the Amplicom Talking Digital Alarm Clock with Vibrator just to name a few. I considered and dismissed these options for various reasons. The Apple Watch is also a solution, though much more expensive than other possibilities, and has its own limitations.
The TCL Pulse: A Description
The TCL Pulse is a very small square-shaped piece of hardware with rounded corners measuring 2.8 by 2.8 by 0.8 inches, and weighing just 5 ounces, which makes it great for traveling. It connects to your iOS device via Bluetooth. The TCL has three buttons on the top side. From left to right, they are:
- A Pairing button with two bumps on it
- A small, concave Reset button
- A small, smooth button for turning off the alarm
On the top of the unit is the Snooze button. This device is controlled with an iOS app, and can serve as either an alarm or timer. The type and frequency of alarms is wide-ranging. You can have soft noise with a strong vibration, loud noise with no vibration, and almost any other combination you could want. You can set alarms to go off every day of the week, weekdays only, only once, or any combination in between.
The TCL Pulse: Alarm Performance
First, insert the three AAA batteries that came with the TCL Pulse, and replace the battery door. Next, download the iOS app, as this is how you will pair the alarm with your iOS device and control it in future. Once the app is installed, press and hold the Pairing button for five seconds until it vibrates or you hear it beep indicating that the TCL Pulse is in "discoverable mode." When the app is launched, find the Pair New Device button, and double tap, or press a cursor routing button on a braille display, to begin the search process.
Using version 2.0 of the app, setting and editing alarms, managing timers, and all other functions are very accessible using speech or braille.
Staying Connected
One of the challenges of some of the iOS solutions in the past has been their tendency to come unpaired. Two vibrating wristbands I tried, the Lark up and the Ditto, could not stay paired reliably enough to be considered viable options. With the TCL Pulse, you need not be in range of your phone or tablet once the alarm has been set using the app. As long as the alarm was set to go off at a designated time, it will continue to do so whether the TCL Pulse is in range of your iOS device or not (assuming the batteries do not die). Finding out how much battery your device has remaining is a problem with many of the products mentioned in this article. Users of the TCL Pulse do not struggle with obtaining this information, as it can be had from the app's main screen when the Pulse is connected.
Conclusion
After having the TCL Pulse for two years, I've found it to be the most reliable and cost-effective solution for waking up as a person who is deaf-blind. The only criticism some may have is that the alarm's vibration may not be strong enough to wake those who sleep very heavily. Since I've been using the TCL Pulse, it has failed to wake me twice while serving its purpose very successfully over 200 times.
Product Information
Product: The TCL Pulse
Available from: A T Guys
Price: $39.95
Related articles:
- Feel the Buzz of the BuzzClip by Janet Ingber
- When Hearing Causes More Vision Loss by Deborah Kendrick
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