The Essential Guide to Hearing Loss

The Essential Guide to Hearing Loss was created to answer the many questions that friends, relatives, and people with hearing loss have. Among the topics covered are:

  • how our hearing works
  • what can go wrong
  • why persons with hearing loss can often hear the words in a conversation but cannot understand them (speech intelligibility)
  • what an audiogram is and how to interpret it

In addition, it provides:

  • dozens of tips and strategies to enhance communication
  • details on how to make the physical environment more hearing-friendly

I hope you'll enjoy reading this guide and welcome your feedback and suggestions.

Part 1: Understanding Hearing and Hearing Loss

Sound and speech
The nature of sound and how speech is produced.

How we hear
How the outer, middle, and inner ear work together, enabling us to hear an incredible array of sounds.

Types and causes of hearing loss
The differences between conductive and sensorineural ("nerve") hearing loss and common causes of hearing impairment.

Informal tests and checklists
Observational checklists for very young children and self-tests for older children and adults help you decide whether to take the next step.

Hearing tests for infants and young children
How the audiologist tests for hearing loss in patients too young to respond the usual way.

Hearing tests for older children and adults
How the audiologist determines the nature, cause, and degree of hearing loss.

Decibels and the perception of loudness
What it really means if we increase or decrease the sound by a certain number of decibels.

Ranges of hearing loss
Definitions of mild, moderate, severe, and profound hearing loss.

Part 2:  Understanding Audiograms, Hearing Loss, and Speech Intelligibility

Introduction to the Audiogram
How to read an audiogram.

Hearing loss and speech intelligibility: the role of vowels and consonants
How hearing loss affects our ability to understand speech. ("I can hear the words, I just can't understand them.")

Better Communication: tips for friends and family
Over a dozen visual, verbal, and environmental strategies to communicate more effectively with the hearing-impaired person.

Better communication: tips for teachers
Dozens of ways teachers can more effectively communicate with the hard-of-hearing student.

Part 4: Better Hearing: Creating a Hearing-Friendly Environment

Principles of acoustics
How sound travels in a room, and where the problems arise.

First Aid for Noisy Classrooms (as well as home and office)
Things you can start doing today to reduce the noise and raise the understanding.

Part 5:  Better Hearing: Electronic Aids

Hearing aids,  cochlear implants, and  assistive listening devices (ALD's)
A multitude of electronic devices, for general use as well as specific listening situations, can help you hear better and interact with others more effectively.

Part 6: Action Steps

A summary of things you might consider doing -- starting today.

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