Lecture 4

Question 1

What is a hearing aid?

Answer 1

ear level device that amplifies sound in an individualized way for each person’s hearing loss

uses signal processing to automatically adjust the level of bass/treble and limit levels of sound

mitigate impact of permanent hearing loss

available for most types/degrees/configurations of hearing loss

Question 2

What are over the counter hearing aids?

Answer 2

can be obtained by adults with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss without need to see a hearing health care professional

quality and efficacy is up for debate

Question 3

What are the components of pediatric hearing aid fitting?

Answer 3

assessment
- hearing levels, ear canal acoustics

prescription and selection
- desired sensation level (gain), right device

verification
- measures done by audiologists

evaluation/validation
- QOL questionnaires for parents

Question 4

How are hearing aids verified in children?

Answer 4

RECD = real ear to coupler difference

very brief measurement taken which then gets applied into Verifit (rather than longer measurement on the child in real time)

hearing aid then put in coupler to make verification measurements

Question 5

What does an SPLogram showing peaks and valleys look like?

Answer 5

normally hidden and only targets and lines shown

can shown +12/-18 dB on either side to represent peaks and valleys
- speech is dynamic - greater range than just the line shown