WORDS TO KNOW

The links below are to an alphabetical glossary of words and terms which you may find useful as you help your child and build your child's team.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Glossary -- A

acquired deafness - a hearing loss that was not present at birth.

air conduction (AC) - air-conduction testing is performed by sending sounds to the ear through an earphone or loudspeaker.

air-bone gap - a difference between hearing responses for earphone or loudspeaker (air conduction) versus bone vibrator (bone-conduction) stimulation. A gap or difference between air-conduction and bone-conduction responses indicates conductive hearing loss due to problems in the middle ear.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) - signed into law in 1990, this is a "civil rights act" for persons with disabilities. The ADA requires public services and buildings to make reasonable accommodations to allow access to persons with disabilities, including hearing loss.

American Sign Language (ASL) - a visual/gestural language with its own word order and grammar, used primarily by people who are deaf.

amplifier - an electronic device for increasing the strength or gain of an electrical signal.

assistive listening device (ALD) – a device that is used to assist people who are deaf / hard of hearing function in daily activities such as hearing aids, TTY, door bell signalers, and others.

audiogram - a graphic representation of hearing loss, showing the amount of hearing loss (in decibels or dB ) at different frequencies (250 - 8000 Hertz or Hz).

assessment - also called evaluation

Audiologist - a health care professional who is trained to evaluate hearing loss and related disorders, including balance (vestibular) disorders and tinnitus, and to rehabilitate individuals with hearing loss and related disorders. An audiologist uses a variety of tests and procedures to assess hearing and balance function and to fit and dispense hearing aids and other assistive devices. As of 2007, the minimum academic degree will be a Doctorate. State licensure is required to practice audiology in most states.

Audiology - the study of hearing; the profession is concerned with measurement and rehabilitation of auditory and communication problems.

audiometer - a device for presenting precisely measured tones of specific frequencies (or speech and recorded signals) and intensity levels in order to obtain an audiogram.

Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) test - a test that can be used to assess auditory function in infants and young children using electrodes on the head to record electrical activity from the hearing nerve. Other terms are: Brainstem Evoked Response (BSER), Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potential (BAEP), and Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response (BAER).

Auditory Neuropathy/Dysyncrony - a term that describes a pattern of abnormal findings for a number of audiometric measures, e.g., auditory brain stem response (ABR), pure-tone and speech audiometry, and/or acoustic reflexes, yet normal findings for otoacoustic emissions (OAE). The most common pattern is the absence of an ABR with normal OAE.

auditory nerve - the cranial nerve (VIII) that carries nerve impulses from the inner ear to the brain.

auditory training - listening to environmental sounds, music and speech to practice recognizing and understanding what has been heard.

aural (re)habilitation - specialized training for people with hearing loss to help them learn spoken communication skills through speech reading and auditory training.