15/05/2026
Look! It’s me 🥹💜
Thank you National Deaf Children's Society for sharing my story and for supporting me over the years 🙏❤️
"There's something extra special that happens sometimes when another deaf person buys one, wears it and loves it."
Adi shares how her own deaf identity journey led her to create an Etsy shop.
"I've worn hearing aids since I was 2. They're just part of me – as normal as my hands or my hair. I've never really understood why some people want to hide theirs. I've met young people my age who tuck their aids under their hair so nobody can see. I understand that those feelings are real for them, but I've never felt that way myself. For me, my hearing aids are just me – part of my identity, something I'm proud of.
When I was very little, I needed chemotherapy to get rid of a brain tumour. The treatment I needed to get better affected my hearing, and it's been getting worse over the years. I started out with moderate hearing loss, and now, I’m profound in one ear, severe in the other. Right now, I'm going through assessments to see whether a cochlear implant might help me. It's a big thing to think about. But my deaf identity – that's not something I'd ever change. It's me.
When I started making things with resin – colours, glitter, tiny shapes set inside clear resin – it felt completely natural to start making something for hearing aids. Not because I wanted to make them less visible. But because they're already visible, already part of me, so they might as well be beautiful.
The first charm I made was for myself – a little crescent moon in deep blue resin with tiny stars set inside it. I attached it to my hearing aid and loved it immediately. Not because it changed how I felt about my hearing aids, but because it was fun. And it made me smile.
I recently opened an Etsy shop called Glitter Glow Resin. I make handmade resin charms that clip onto hearing aids and cochlear implants, as well as jewellery and keyrings. Every charm is unique – no 2 ever come out exactly the same, which is my favourite thing about making them. In fact, I do my best to make each one special. I particularly love it when customers ask me for their favourite colours, a bit of extra sparkle or a detail that means something to them.
The hearing aid charms are what I love most. I make them because they're genuinely fun to make and fun to wear. But there's something extra special that happens sometimes when another deaf person buys one, wears it and loves it – when someone who shares that identity chooses to put something I made on their hearing aid. That feeling is hard to describe. It means everything.
To me, hearing aids are nothing to be embarrassed about. They never were. And they might as well sparkle. 💗"
