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Australian Hearing http://www.hearing.com.au How is hearing loss described? Different terms are used by different people to describe the varying degrees of hearing loss. Hearing impaired The term hearing impaired is used to describe people with any degree of hearing loss. Hard of hearing Hard of hearing is used to describe those who have a hearing loss and communicate mostly orally. Deaf Deaf is a medical term that describes a significant hearing loss. Some people who are deaf view themselves as a part of the Deaf community (and use a capital D to describe Deaf). Hearing loss is often described as mild, moderate, severe or profound. Here’s what the terms mean for a child’s hearing. 0–20dB: Range of normal hearing Hearing thresholds in this range are “within normal limits.” 21–45dB: Mild hearing loss Without hearing aids: • The child might understand speech okay if the room is quiet and they are close to the person speaking. • They might not hear someone talking if they are more than a few metres away, even if it is quiet. • They might have difficulty understanding speech in noisy places. A young child with a mild loss might need hearing aids and early intervention to develop good speech and language skills. Even if their language progress in early childhood is satisfactory without aids, they might have difficulties once they start school. Classrooms and playgrounds are often noisy and the teacher is usually speaking from a distance. They might need hearing aids and/or remote microphone technology to hear well. 46–65dB: Moderate hearing loss Without hearing aids: 1/3 Australian Hearing http://www.hearing.com.au • A child with this loss will have a lot of difficulty understanding conversational speech, even in a quiet room. • They might not hear speech at all if someone is talking from more than a few metres away. • They will have a lot of difficulty understanding speech in noisy places. Early fitting of hearing aids, consistent aid use and early intervention will be crucial to good speech and language development. Remote microphone technology will be important for school and very helpful in many other situations where noise or distance make listening difficult. 66–90dB: Severe hearing loss Without hearing aids: • A child with this loss usually won’t hear normal conversation. Their speech and language skills won’t develop without intensive help. Early fitting of hearing aids, consistent aid use and early intervention help most children with severe loss to develop good language skills and participate in regular schooling. Visual cues, such as lipreading, can help them to understand speech, especially in noisy places. Children who do not progress well with hearing aids might need a cochlear implant. Remote microphone technology will be very important for school and many other situations where noise or distance make listening difficult. 91dB+: Profound hearing loss Without hearing aids: • A child with this loss won’t hear even loud speech. Their speech and language skills won’t develop without intensive help. Early fitting of hearing aids, consistent aid use and early intervention will be vitally important. Hearing aids might not help enough for the child to develop speech and language. Many children with profound hearing loss are offered early fitting with a cochlear implant. This can dramatically improve the ability to hear and understand speech. Visual cues, such as lip-reading, will still apply in difficult listening situations. Remote microphone technology will still be very important for school and many other situations where noise or distance make listening difficult. What about the percentage hearing loss? Sometimes people give their hearing loss as a percentage, for example, “I have a 50 per cent loss of hearing.” This might seem easy to understand, but it’s not the most accurate way to describe hearing loss. A 100-decibel (100dB) hearing loss is considerable, but it certainly doesn’t mean 100 per cent loss or total deafness. Percentages are only used for the purpose of compensation for 2/3 Australian Hearing http://www.hearing.com.au hearing lost in a noisy workplace or in an accident. Types of hearing loss Hearing loss is categorised into three different types: 1. Conductive This is caused by blockage or damage to the outer and/or middle ear (eg, a middle ear infection). It can often be helped by medical or surgical treatment. 2. Sensorineural This results from damage to, or malfunction of, the cochlea (the hearing organ) or the hearing nerve. This type of hearing loss is permanent and hearing devices are often recommended. About 10 per cent of children with sensorineural hearing loss have auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD), which disrupts the transmission of sound from the cochlea along the hearing nerve. 3. Mixed This is a hearing loss where there is a problem both in the conductive pathway (outer and middle ear) and the nerve pathway (inner ear). Despite the type or degree of hearing loss that the hearing test shows, each hearing loss is unique, so your audiologist will help guide you towards the appropriate treatment. 3/3 Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)