Hard of hearing
There are people who can hear quite well, but may need a bit
more volume or clarity. They may miss the occasional word or
vowel which can lead to mistakes. Hearing aids are often
helpful in quiet situations. They are often referred to: “hard of
hearing”. Sometimes people will call themselves as “very deaf”
when they have a lot of trouble hearing things. Medical people
also use the term “hearing impaired” for this group as it is
considered a more acceptable word than either deaf or hard of
hearing.
Deafened
This is often used to describe people who suddenly lose their
hearing in adulthood. This could happen after illness or injury.
The term “hearing impaired” or a person with “hearing loss” is
also used for this group.
Partially hearing / deaf
Traditionally education authorities have separated out children
into different categories. This describes children who have
quite a lot of useful hearing but still need a hearing aid or a
cochlear implant to help them hear well. Many can use the
telephone with people they know well (and often it will not be
realised that partially hearing people can’t hear everything).
Many people do not even realise that the partially hearing
person can’t hear everything.
Profoundly / severely deaf
These are two terms that education authorities have also used. They are used to
describe children who are unable to understand speech sounds by listening. The
latest cochlear implants are changing this and many children are now able to hear
speech sounds so these two terms are now falling into disuse.
Cochlear Implants - provide a sensation of hearing to people who have permanent, severe to profound deafness, and cannot hear the full range of speech sounds with standard hearing aids. A Cochlear Implant is different from a hearing aid. It has two parts: one is worn like a hearing aid, behind the ear or clipped on to clothing, and the other is surgically implanted.
Comments
Post a Comment