Untreated hearing loss eventually causes an individual to withdraw from difficult listening environments. Audiologists intervene to stop the isolation by empowering the hearing loss sufferer to engage in the relationships, social activities, and hobbies that have been avoided or neglected due to the effects of hearing loss. Therefore, the ultimate goal of an audiologist is re-connection.
Modern hearing aids contain many features that make re-connection possible. In our last blog, we discussed how a hearing aid equipped with multi-channel programming makes speech clearer in the presence of background noise. Another feature that amplifies an individual's remaining hearing capacity is volume control. Some hearing aids are equipped with an actual button that serves as a volume control. When the button is pushed, the volume can be increased or decreased to the individual's preference.
Many digital hearing aids are now equipped with an automatic volume control. This feature enables the hearing aid to automatically analyze sounds in the environment and adjust the volume accordingly. Loud or harsh sounds are "softened" and soft sounds are made audible. An audiologist adjusts the dynamics of this feature to account for an individual's particular type and degree of hearing loss.
For more information about volume control and other features of modern hearing aids, read this document from The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
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