Here we go again with the “danger” word. All of you self-programmers should really be scared now. Hah!
The only danger that I am aware of is using a power instrument (or a power receiver) when your loss doesn’t require that amount of power. The manufactures provide warnings for this when you use power products. Please show me another danger if I am wrong.
Generally, I believe you can get more benefit from self programming than you can get from a person who went to school and obtained a government license to practice. Why? Because many audis are working with a large conflict of interest. They need to make a profit from you. I can point out many of these conflicts-of-interest problems here in this forum and the common result is that your ability to hear better is compromised/sacrificed.
My wife’s hearing has vastly improved since I took over the task of selecting hearing instruments and programming them myself.