Classification System Used

After having a hearing test you may not be deaf, as there are many degrees of hearing impairment. Here is a brief outline of the classification system used.

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Mild hearing loss

This category suggests that a person cannot hear soft sounds, and has some difficulty hearing speech in a noisy environment. May hear sounds from another room.

 

Moderate Hearing loss

This category suggests a person is unable to hear soft and moderately loud sounds, and has considerable difficulty in perceiving speech especially in noisy environments. A person with a moderate hearing loss may not be aware of sounds from another room.

 

Severe hearing loss

Especially when crossing a road. Hearing the phone can also be an issue, particularly if there is more than one phone in the house. A person with a severe hearing loss cannot hear speech from another room.  Such a person will also find it difficult to hear someone speaking even behind them, that is, out of the visual field.
 
Title Speech range should start one paragraph up.  Profound hearing loss section is only one paragraph long.

Profound hearing loss

A person in this category can hear or feel very loud sounds but communication with people without a hearing device becomes impossible.  Words would need to be written down and you need to tap them to make sure you have their attention before you start trying to communicate in some way.

As you read this text you may start to realize that hearing loss has a dramatic effect on a person’s ability to understand speech. If high frequency hearing loss has been detected from the audiogram, then sounds such as s, f, sh, t may not be heard properly. Hence, such sounds can play a key role in our ability to understand speech clearly, so frequently we hear people report to us that ‘I can hear but I don’t understand what’s being said’

 

Speech range

Speech consists of vowels and consonants, so healthy ears register speech sounds easily, however, someone with a hearing loss will struggle to hear speech.  That’s where a hearing instrument becomes vital, so a hearing impaired person can monitor their own voice and other people’s voices as well.