Glossary of Ear and Hearing Loss Terms

The ability to recognize speech when it is presented at suprathreshold levels (levels loud enough to be heard).

The circuitry in the external part of a cochlear implant that converts analog signals from the microphone into digital signals which the brain understands.

Same as Speech recognition threshold.

The faintest level at which a person can understand simple two-syllable words (spondee words) 50% of the time. Also known as the Speech reception threshold (SRT), Speech threshold (ST) or Spondee threshold (ST).

See Speech Recognition Threshold.

Interpreting the spoken message by recognizing the movements of the lips, jaws and tongue as well as using additional cues such as body language, gestures and facial expressions. In addition a speechreader uses what he knows about the elements of sound, the structural characteristics of the language, the topic, and the context to figure out what the person is saying. Formerly called lipreading.

A two-syllable word that has equal stress on both syllables. Some examples of spondee words include baseball, cowboy, hotdog, icecream and railroad. Spondee words are used in Speech Recognition Threshold (SRT) testing.

See Speech Recognition Threshold.

The feedback sound a hearing aid makes when it does not fit tightly in the ear canal. Often the hard of hearing person does not hear this sound, but it sure annoys the people nearby.

See Speech Recognition Threshold . Formerly called Speech Reception Threshold.

See Steady State Evoked Potentials.

See Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss.

See Sudden SensoriNeural Hearing Loss.

Speech threshold and Spondee threshold. (See Speech Recognition Threshold.)

A surgical procedure to treat otosclerosis that removes all or part of the stapes (stirrup) that has been fixed in place by otosclerosis, and replaces it with a prosthesis.

The third (and smallest) of the three middle ear bones. It is commonly called the stirrup. It is the smallest bone in our bodies.

An objective measure of hearing that requires no participation from the child. SSEP provides detailed information about the child’s hearing acuity. This is a very new measure hat does not yet have widespread availability.

A device resembling a stethoscope, but used for listening to a hearing aid through a clear plastic tube that attaches to the hearing aid.

The third (and smallest) of the three middle ear bones. Technically knows as the stapes. It is the smallest bone in our bodies.

A hearing loss above 8,000 Hz. It can only be detected using a special audiometer calibrated to test hearing in the frequencies between 8,000 and 20,000 Hz. Conventional hearing testing only tests those frequencies between 125 and 8,000 Hz. Many ototoxic drugs cause sub-clinical hearing loss, at least in the beginning. That is why sub-clinical testing is so important, yet it is seldom done.

See Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss.

See Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss.

Hearing loss in the inner ear that occurs all at once or within only a few days due to such causes as an explosion, a viral infection or the side effect of some (ototoxic) drugs.

Sound levels loud enough to be heard.

See Otitis externa.