Ways to mitigate deafness?

[Tvarog]

So, a character who is deaf has a -4 penalty on Initiative and opposed Perception checks, and automatically fails Perception checks based on sound.

However, the SRD text for the Deafened condition states that characters who remain deafened for a long time "grow accustomed to these drawbacks and can overcome some of them".

Assuming the character isn't simply affected by a Blindness/Deafness spell (which can be easily removed) and is innately deaf... which of the drawbacks can be overcome, and how does it happen? The one I'm really concerned with is the autofail on sound-based Perception. Is there a magic item that causes sound to be translated into (the sensation of) light, or something else that would help out?

[AndIMustMask]

linguistics skill lets you read lips for a language that you know each time you take a point in it.

that's really the only thing i got.

[Hawktitan]

Only thing is DM fiat. Making a deaf or blind character is pretty lousy, even if it would fit a concept, unless you are making an Oracle.

[Shadowdweller]

I think the passage in the SRD PROBABLY refers to deaf characters gradually losing or reducing some of that -4 penalty to initiative and Perception checks. Perception still being used, for example, to detect someone making Stealth checks or to search for traps. The autofail on sound based Perception checks is never going to change, but the deaf individual will learn to pay better attention to other stimuli when making a multi-sensory based Perception check.

[Tvarog]

Yeah, I was looking at the deaf oracle curse. You get some benefits, but unlike most of the others, that one never really gets better. Ah well.

(And by "gets better" I mean becomes a limitation that can actually be overcome.)

[StreamOfTheSky]

Arise thread! Arise!

So, what's with the -4 perception penalty (on top of auto-failing hearing-based checks) for Deaf Oracles? Can this just go away due to growing accustomed to being deaf? The only thing related to Perception the Deaf Oracle gets is a +3 competence bonus on checks that don't rely on hearing.

a) This doesn't even make up for the penalty!
b) And it's a bonus, not reducing the penalty! Which makes me think they intended you to have a net +3 on non-audible checks in the end.

So...can you get rid of the -4? Honestly, for a life-long deaf person, the penalty doesn't even make sense.

[Choon]

Indeed. As an interpreter for the deaf, that -4 should not apply to someone who has been deaf for life (or at least a few years). Deaf people tend to have crazy awesome eye sight, smell and touch. If I DMed a deaf oracle (or pc) I would probably bump that +3 to a +5 or so after removing the -4.

Becoming suddenly deaf (via the spell or some trauma) is a whole other story.

Side note: an infinite-use Item of Silent Image can allow your Deaf PC to use sign language with captions for the linguistically impaired. :)