Glossary of Ear and Hearing Loss Terms

The general method used for fitting hearing aids in which more power is provided at the pitches where a person has greater hearing loss and less power is provided at the pitches where the hearing is closer to normal.

Any of the three tubes that form the vestibular labyrinth in the inner ear. The canals are filled with fluid and contain hair cells sensitive to fluid movement, which assist with your sense of balance.

In cochlear implants, the sensitivity control determines how sensitive the microphone is. High sensitivity settings cause the microphone gain to increase. This can be good in a quiet environment, but in a noisy environment, it results in poor loudness relationships between soft and loud sounds. The general rule of thumb is to set the sensitivity about halfway.

(sen-sor-ee-NOOR-al) A hearing loss caused by damage (abnormal function) of the cochlea and/or auditory nerve. Often called “nerve deafness.” Typically a sensorineural hearing loss is the result of damaged or dead hair cells (nerve endings) in the inner ear. More than 90% of adults with hearing loss have this kind of hearing loss.

Inflammation of the middle ear with an accumulation of thin, watery (serous) fluid.

The person selected by an early intervention team and designated in an IFSP to coordinate and facilitate early intervention services and integrate the family into the process. The service coordinator must demonstrate understanding of the laws and the nature of the process.

A public or private agency designated to provide early intervention services for an eligible child and the child’s family in accordance with an approved IFSP.

A hearing loss ranging between 71 and 90 decibels (dB).

See Sensorineural Hearing Loss.

A manual system of communication by which concepts and language are represented visually through hand movements, gestures and facial expressions rather than spoken words. In the United States and Canada, the most common signed language is American Sign Language (ASL). Most hard of hearing people that learn some sign (not that many do in the first place) typically use signed English (pidgin signed English) to supplement speech when communication becomes difficult.

The relationship of a primary signal (a person talking) to the level of the ambient background noise. People with hearing loss need a much better signal-to-noise ratio than people with normal hearing.

A form of sign language that uses signs in English word order, often with added suffixes and prefixes that are not present in American Sign Language. Signing Exact English and Seeing Essential English are two examples.

An flattened coil of wire that looks like BTE hearing aid that a “steam roller” rolled over, placed behind the ear and used with a hearing aid equipped with a telecoil. It works similar to a neckloop or room loop.

A software speech strategy for running cochlear implants. The SAS speech strategy feeds current to all of the electrodes all the time, thus giving continuous stimulation along the entire length of the electrode array. This is an analog stimulation, meaning that the current levels at each electrode are smoothly increased or decreased rather than switched on or off like in CIS.

The shape of your hearing loss as displayed on your audiogram. If you have a ski-slope hearing loss, your low frequency hearing is normal or near normal. Your hearing loss quickly drops to profound by the mid to high frequencies. It looks like a steep ski-slope from the left side of your audiogram.

A hearing loss ranging between 16 and 25  decibels (dB).

See Speech-Language Pathologist.

See SensoriNeural Hearing Loss.

A channel through the earmold where sound is received from the hearing aid and delivered to the ear canal.

An FM system that has a small loudspeaker near the listener to amplify the speaker’s voice. The speaker wears a wireless FM microphone. Sound field systems used in classrooms may have several loudspeakers focused on different parts of the classroom so all students can hear better.

The lowest hearing level in decibels at which a person can detect the presence of speech. Also knows as the speech detection threshold (SDT).

See Speech Awareness Threshold.

Those frequencies within the 200 to 6000 Hz area that are most important for hearing and understanding speech.

The ability to be understood when using speech. As hearing loss increases, typically speech intelligibility decreases.

A health care professional (minimum of a Masters degree in Speech-language pathology) whose professional practice includes the evaluation, rehabilitation and prevention of speech and language disorders. Speech and language delays are frequently seen in children with hearing losses.