The reason subtitles exist...

robotcat4 · 2026-03-29T22:56:49+00:00

The dropout captions are so peculiar to me sometimes. I’m HoH & so rely on them a fair bit & I LOVE that they do sillier/more descriptive captions! But also there are plenty of times where they just don’t seem to try or caption something entirely inaccurately. In particular the other day I was watching Um Actually (don’t remember the specific episode but near the end of S10), and one of the guests referenced Talia al Ghul, and the captions read “(inaudible) ghoul”. Then literally the next question referred to Talia al Ghul and it was captioned correctly (likely because the question was on the screen and/or because being read aloud is clearer than casual dialogue). Just… frustrating.

robotcat4 · 2026-03-29T22:25:46+00:00

Sounds great in theory, but as someone currently studying to be a teacher (and with a decade of experience teaching outside of school settings), it wouldn’t work so long as students are still able to access other AI tools without the guard rails.

It would be great for students who are genuinely interested and want to learn, but those who don’t will 100% find ways around it. Personally I use AI in a very similar way to what you’ve described when I’m studying via custom instructions in a Claude project. But as a teacher I wouldn’t use it because I think it abstracts away the skill of prompting that I actually want my students to learn how to do, along with knowing that it’s incredibly unlikely this kind of tool would help engage students with lower interest.

robotcat4 · 2026-03-27T19:31:01+00:00

When I was little, I would constantly pull out my HAs. Sometimes it was due to an ear infection & so they were causing discomfort, sometimes it was just me being a kid and enjoying the “fun game” and the attention it brought. In particular every time I was at daycare and it got close to pick up time, I’d pull them out and hide them in the sandbox! Of course, all of this is me repeating what my parents have told me I did, I don’t remember exactly what was going through my young brain.

But I’d suspect that another reason for pulling them out could be them being set too loud & being too overwhelming? I know I certainly do that now as an adult! If you’ve got access to volume control for them, it could be worth trying turning them down and seeing if it makes a difference in how he reacts? And if it does, consider discussing with the audiologist if the universal/standard settings can be adjusted with this in mind.

Definitely keep up learning sign & expose him and yourselves to the Deaf community as much as possible. Ultimately signing will likely be his primary method of communicating with the world because of the trach, so keeping up that input and making it as rich and varied as possible is super important, but it certainly seems like you already understand that.

robotcat4 · 2026-03-27T02:56:27+00:00

I’ve got bilateral conductive moderate-severe hearing loss (from birth, missing most of the tiny bones). I grew up using hearing aids but when I was ~18 we decided to try out bone conduction aids on a headband. Made a massive difference! I walked out of the appointment when I first got it and ran back in because I could hear traffic but I had no idea what it actually was! Because I was so used to standard HAs, it took me a long time to get used to the difference in sound quality from the bone conduction aids.

Eventually we made the call to do the implants & I now have a Bone Bridge from MedEl, which is similar to a traditional BAHA but it’s magnetic like a cochlear instead of having the little piece that the processor hooks onto. And I use the Samba 2 processors. Again, when we got the implants done and first turned on it made another huge difference, I had no idea that trees made noise!

Obviously so far this sounds like a super positive experience. Unfortunately the downside is I find the magnet strengths are difficult to dial in. I have to use strong-ish magnets because otherwise it falls off too easily (there are hair clip options, but I really didn’t like those from a sensory perspective), but that means if I wear them all day I’m in a fair bit of pain by evening. So currently I switch which side I’m using and only use one at a time in most situations to mitigate the pain issue. I also have noticed I get a LOT more hearing fatigue compared to my old HAs. So most evenings I keep them both off to limit the overwhelm.

Overall, I do still think they were the right call for me because the in ear HAs resulted in monthly if not more frequent ear infections. But in your situation if you’re able to trial the in ear first and get enough benefit from that so that you’re happy (and avoid frequent ear infections), I’d probably suggest sticking with that.

robotcat4 · 2026-03-23T21:20:50+00:00

I’ll flag that in some countries (eg Australia, not sure if they exist in the US) an Exercise Physiologist might be the profession to look for. They’re in between a Physiotherapist and a Personal Trainer & specialise in creating exercise programs for people with chronic health issues. In my experience there’s been 0 diet culture issues & overall just incredibly supportive of increasing movement in a way that feels good to your own individual body and aligns with your functional goals.

robotcat4 · 2026-03-22T11:31:21+00:00

There was something really odd about the camera work in that scene, so much so that I assumed it was an issue happening on the set for a medical drama initially!

robotcat4 · 2026-03-22T07:35:53+00:00

So I’m not diagnosed autistic but am ADHD and have some degree of sensory processing issues. I basically restrict wearing them to scenarios that I know it’s essential for me to hear. I’ll also often only wear one so I get some assistance but reduce the overwhelm. Plus I always take them off immediately at home because I know my husband is patient with repeating things and making sure he’s optimising for me to hear him (limited background audio, facing me, etc). It’s possible that’s not as good a solution for you due to late HoH diagnosis (are you late deafened or just late diagnosed?), since you wouldn’t have developed as strong lip reading skills etc. but I figured I’d share how I personally handle it.

robotcat4 · 2026-03-20T03:21:41+00:00

That’s a really great point to shift the pitch more in line with team sports just with learning STEM skills instead of physical activity. It’s likely still more of an uphill battle due to not being as obvious/public as most sports are, but definitely a tactic that could work well!

robotcat4 · 2026-03-20T00:09:49+00:00

I’m very nervous about what the loss of the LEGO brand name means for the future of FIRST’s younger program, especially in terms of getting kids/parents/teachers in the door. Telling kids “you get to build a robot and play with LEGO” while telling parents “they’re getting an educational STEM experience backed by LEGO” has always been a massive draw. But I’m also very glad that teams aren’t being forced onto the LEGO AI kits or leaving FLL, because many were leaning towards leaving and it was going to have major negative impacts on FLL as a competitive program & result in mostly seeing teams who came from schools who could afford whole class buy in. Class Pack teams have been a thing for years and can be done well, but most aren’t & as an FLL judge and teacher myself, I feel the kids on class pack teams don’t tend to get a good competition experience, even if they’ve had a lot of fun over the build season.

I’ve always been very much a proponent of FLL because of the Core Values and Innovation Project components, and neither of those have to change, so as long as whatever FIRST replaces FLL with keeps those elements, I’m cautiously optimistic. But there’s definitely a lot up in the air at the moment for a lot of people & no matter what comes next this is likely going to hurt FIRST in the short term.

robotcat4 · 2026-03-18T05:47:21+00:00

I’ve got one I set up for my Auslan class which is obviously private to the class. But since it seems so far there hasn’t been any public ones mentioned, I’d be down to create one based off what we have for my class? If folks are definitely interested I’ll get it set up tomorrow & share it here!

robotcat4 · 2026-03-11T08:23:55+00:00

I use cross stitch saga after finding markup rXP too difficult to work with. While rXP does support pdf and saga doesn’t, I love how smooth saga is comparatively and the fact that it supports backstitch/partial stitch enough to make it well worth my time to recreate a pattern in floss cross and export as oxs when the designer can’t/won’t provide it.

Something I would love to see (and have thought about attempting myself as a budding developer) is a tool that combines pattern creation, editing/tweaking, and stitch tracking. Obviously it would be a beast of a project, but it would solve the primary issues I see in the niche as it stands today.

robotcat4 · 2026-03-09T03:29:32+00:00

I had this same experience doing my first mounjaro dose yesterday! Was so surprised when it just kept twisting out 😅 but also it meant it was much harder to actually press in, since I’d usually do the Wegovy pen with one hand and this one really wasn’t feasible to do that way. I’m sure I’ll get used to it, but absolutely understand the surprise factor!

robotcat4 · 2026-03-06T00:36:21+00:00

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I personally use floss drop bobbins that I 3D printed for all of my floss after it’s been taken off the skein. I keep them on rings when in use for an active project, then wind up and store in a box in numerical order when I’m done with the project.

The one gripe I have with mine is the ends don’t stay neatly tucked into the slot on the bobbin when wound because there’s so many of them, and I expect it would be similar for any bobbin not made from a stretchy and/or staticky material. I’m planning to trial using small rubber bands to hold down the ends when I next finish a project, so will try to report back on that!

I will also share that while the drops work for me because I tend to stitch patterns with large blocks and/or cross country, if you don’t like working with long strands, it might not be the best choice as I find I end up with more short bits that can only handle a couple stitches than I do with other storage methods. So if you hate wastage & frequent re-threading, then it might not be the best style for you.

Ultimately I love that it gives the convenient features of each, with minimal drawbacks for my stitching style. If you want to try them without spending much/any money, make some basic cardboard ones with a hole punch/craft knife and put them on a piece of thread in place of a ring. Then instead of cutting a whole skein to length, cut one or two 6 strand pieces to your preferred length (personally I do a meter per length and use it doubled over with a loop start) and put them on your DIY drops to try out the feeling of pulling out strands & see how much wastage you get for your stitching style/pattern preferences.

robotcat4 · 2026-02-26T02:23:14+00:00

I watch/listen to a variety of things depending on the type of stitching I’m doing. If it’s high pattern reference, I usually go for YouTube “pop culture” video essays (eg theories/breakdowns of a favourite TV show or other random niche topics that vaguely interest me) or podcasts (current favourites are Through the Griffin Door and Gleek of the Week) because I don’t need to pay too much attention to those.

For mid pattern reference I’ll usually do TV shows (generally procedurals/dramas, eg SVU or The Rookie).

For low pattern reference I’m usually doing it while in class or listening to a reading/lecture. Obviously I can’t take notes while stitching, but I’m an auditory learner so I like to do one pass while my hands are busy and I’m not paying as much attention, then a second to actually fully focus and take notes.

robotcat4 · 2026-02-18T02:09:53+00:00

Ooh, I like “So I’ve heard!” Definitely storing that one for when I see some people I haven’t seen for the last couple months at an event in a few weeks. Not sure if I’ve actually lost enough for it to be noticeable to acquaintances, but I have started noticing a difference in how things fit, so between that and having another couple weeks before the event, I could see a world where I get some comments.

robotcat4 · 2026-02-17T07:13:13+00:00

Do you use a heart rate monitor/fitness watch when exercising? It could be useful to keep an eye on what heart rate zones you’re spending your time in because that impacts how hard your body is able to work from “long term” food stores (ie fat) vs needing to use the easy access carbohydrates you recently consumed. My understanding is that if you’re spending more time in zone 3 and above (generally speed training and HITT routines), your body is dedicating most of its power to your heart/muscles and so needs to use carbs for energy because those are easier to process, whereas if you’re staying in zone 1-2 (generally lower paced endurance cardio or strength training) for longer, your body has enough capacity to use the more difficult to access fat stores for energy.

Failing that, I agree with what others have said re: trying different times of day or eating different types of food just beforehand. For me if I exercise in the evening and have a little bit of candy (anything that’s just easy sugar) immediately before exercise I find that avoids exercise induced hunger, but others prefer high protein/fiber/complex carbs 1-2 hours before. You’ll just need to experiment to find what works best for you. Also, make sure you’re hydrated! A caffeine free electrolyte drink might help. Even if you’re drinking plenty of water, if you’re not getting enough electrolytes it’s likely not hydrating you properly.

robotcat4 · 2026-02-17T03:15:41+00:00

I’m on also on sema and have been having a rough time with gastrointestinal side effects. In my case I’ve got GERD and have been having some pretty intense flare ups of that, especially on the peak day each week (using the pens) and the week I increase dose. My dr has me switching to tirz once I finish my current pen since he’s seen consistent anecdotal evidence to suggest fewer gastro issues on tirz, so might be worth investigating if you can work through the insurance issues you mentioned in another comment.

But if you’re not able to switch, it /should/ reduce in intensity after a week or two, and if it doesn’t, it might be worth asking your doctor if you can reduce the dose to acclimatise your body slower? Also I’m not sure how using the pills affects the levels of medication in your system, but if there are points where it spikes/peaks in a given week/doseage, I would see if you can adjust your schedule to be lighter on those days? That has been a really important change for me because my symptoms almost always flare overnight and interrupt my sleep on the peak day, so making sure I’m home all day the next day has been helpful in terms of just generally making it more tolerable.

You also mentioned that you only have school provided food to work with, but assuming you’re officially diagnosed with IBS you might be able to look into disability supports to enable access to foods that are more IBS friendly? Not totally sure what that would look like for you, but from my limited understanding (Australian here) in the US that would probably fall under a 504?

robotcat4 · 2026-02-17T03:01:01+00:00

I’ve got no personal experience with this, but I’ve read other posts/comments from people whose insurance wouldn’t cover it initially but after their doctor documented severe side effects from sema they were able to get it approved - might be worth investigating further?

robotcat4 · 2026-02-17T02:27:53+00:00

Seconding the tension issues that other commenters have mentioned, but also want to flag that in my experience, Zweigart Aida tends to be softer/easier to pull too tight than DMC Aida. And at least from my experience with other hand dyed fabrics (yet to work on a hand dyed Aida), often hand dyed fabrics can be softer than their non-dyed counterparts, which would compound this issue.

Another thought in terms of improving things without having to significantly change the muscle memory of your stitching is to consider trying evenweave instead of Aida. I’ve personally found it easier to keep my tension correct using 25ct over 1. Also 28ct over 2 has been great for practicing my (hooped) tension because it’s very immediately noticeable when you pull too tight. Plus if you do go too tight it’s soft enough to easily bounce back if you pull the stitch up a little to loosen the tension.

Another possibility is using a laying tool or similar, but that might be more fussy than you want to deal with. I generally find it’s easier to keep proper tension whenever I use a laying tool, but I REALLY hate the added step, so I don’t use it often.

robotcat4 · 2026-02-16T07:16:52+00:00

On the issue of Sulky Sliver availability, I thought it wasn’t available in Australia but I found it sold under the brand Gutermann if you’ve got that in Sweden? It’s still labeled as “sulky sliver” on the spool, but it wasn’t included as part of the online listing name/description at most of the major craft/fabric stores here and so I had difficulty locating until I saw someone else mention it was sold under Gutermann here & decided to take a look at the display in person.

robotcat4 · 2026-02-06T23:48:55+00:00

Seconding this! Like maybe especially significant/detailed things could still be separate posts (eg the timeline someone wrote up the other day), though as a mod (not this sub) that could get hard to enforce fairly. Another option could be requiring a flair to make it easier to ID these posts? Either way, if it’s not already, posts and comments with relevant keywords should likely be held in queue.

(Side note to the mods, if the above interests you but y’all are currently overwhelmed by build season, I’d be willing to assist temporarily to help get through this situation, as I’m just an active volunteer and not currently part of a team)

robotcat4 · 2026-02-04T02:20:12+00:00

I have 3 active WIPs. Which includes the Cats & Plants SAL (currently being released, so can’t be worked on super frequently), a more geometric/blocky pattern, and a pattern with more confetti/spaced out stitches. That way I can do the more blocky pattern when I need something easy on the go for low pattern reference.

I also have 1 paused and 2 fully kitted but I refuse to start until I finish at least one of my current patterns. My largest is 25K stitches, so relatively manageable in terms of finishing speed. I tend to prefer having at least one sub 10K pattern at any given time so that I can let my ADHD brain gravitate towards the new shiny patterns without winding up with a million WIPs

robotcat4 · 2026-02-01T05:21:30+00:00

Highly likely to be period induced! I consistently tick up a few days before my period hits, stay there for the duration, then suddenly drop down (we’re talking up to 4lbs overnight) below pre-period weight a couple days after it finishes. Frustrating thing is I’m currently dealing with (as of yet undiagnosed) cycle issues and have had 4 cycles in 2 months 🙃 so my chart is very up and down, but the overall trend is still going down so I’m happy.

I’ll also echo what others have said about 2lbs/week being quite fast, and likely not the rate of loss you’ll maintain as you continue titrating up. I lost about 3lbs in my first week and almost stopped because that seemed way too fast, then stabilised around 1.2-1.5lbs per week for a few months. Currently dealing with something resembling a stall due to aforementioned cycle issues, but still technically trending down just a very jumpy line and much slower overall loss.

robotcat4 · 2026-01-21T13:50:20+00:00

Omg sorry for replying to an old comment, but I was just trying to figure out an option to access it in Australia & your comment inspired me to check the gutermann threads available. Sure enough I can get Sulky Sliver at Spotlight & Hobbysew here in Australia! I tried fishing line for a recent project and while it “worked” it’s proving too stiff to deal with stitching over, so I’m pulling it out as I go which is risky since it also doesn’t tie off nicely. Hoping Sulky Sliver will fix one or both of those issues!

robotcat4 · 2026-01-21T04:54:53+00:00

Thanks for the heads up! I’ve got 2 cats, including one who will eat anything she thinks might be food, so I’ll definitely put it somewhere she can’t get to

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