Glossary of Hearing Loss Related Terms

 ADA – Americans with Disabilities Act - 1990 Public Law 101-336 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by private and public entities

ALD – assistive listening devices to help people with hearing loss hear better with or without hearing aids

Alerting Device – visual or tactile alerting products to alert hard of hearing (HOH) or deaf persons to door knocks, phone rings, smoke/fire alarms, etc.

Amplified Phone – a phone with volume control typically for incoming calls, although some phones have volume control for outgoing speech as well.   Some amplified phones also have a tone control for clearer understanding.

ASL – American Sign Language

Audiologist – an health care professional who is trained to evaluate and rehabilitate 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 for hearing.

CART – Communications Access Realtime Translation (also known as Captioning)   Cart is similar to court reporting in that someone types the spoken word on a court reporting machine so that the text is displayed on a TV monitor or screen in the room for the deaf or hard of hearing to read.

Certified Hearing Dog – a dog that has been trained to alert his owner to a variety of sounds, much like a seeing-eye dog helps those with vision loss.  These dogs are typically identified by a bright orange leash with black lettering.

Closed Captioning – text display visible to those using a caption decoder or TV with a built-in decoder chip.  Many new TV have this capability.

Cochlear Implant – a device that is surgically implanted into the cochlea of the inner ear, typically in individuals with severe to profound hearing losses that do not gain benefit from amplification or hearing aids. This device allows these individuals to perceive sound through the implant.  T-coils are commonly found in cochlear implants, further increasing benefits from assistive listening devices and induction loops.

Conductive Hearing Loss –  one of two types of hearing loss, this type of hearing loss is due to a lack of sound transmission. An obstruction in the eardrum, outer ear or middle ear can keep sound vibrations from reaching the inner ear.

Deaf – refers to the inability to hear

Decibel - Unit used to express the intensity of a sound wave in logarithmic ratios to the base of ten. Sounds of different frequencies need to be from 0-20 dB in intensity to be heard by normal ears. If more than 20 dB is needed, further hearing evaluation is recommended.  Sounds of more than 85 dB can result in hearing loss immediately or over time.

FM signal – a signal broadcast by radio waves from the sound source to a receiver worn by the listener. FM transmitters can range several hundred feet and pass through physical obstructions.  FM signals do not have standard frequencies but vary from place to place.

Hard of Hearing (HOH) – refers to someone with any degree of hearing loss, from mild to profound but can still hear speech.  Many HOH persons wear hearing aids to improve their hearing and understanding.

Hearing Aid – a device to amplify sound for hard of hearing (HOH) individuals.  Hearing aids can be behind the ear (BTE), in the ear (ITE), in the canal (ITC) or completely in the canal (CIC).  Hearing aids do not cure hearing loss.  Programmable aids help the user in different situations.  T-coils help hear on telephones and in induction loop settings. A basic hearing aid consists of a microphone, amplifier and receiver.

Hearing Impaired – a generic term to include deaf and hard of hearing individuals.  There are approximately 36 million hearing impaired individuals in the United States.

Hearing Instrument Specialist - A person who sells hearing aids and is licensed by the state to do so. They are required to pass a test for licensure to guarantee a minimal level of competence.

Hearing Loop (Induction Loop) – a magnetic field created by “looping” a room with wire plugged in to a loop amplifier which is plugged in to a TV, phone or other sound source to block out ambient or background noise, resulting in clear sound through the user’s t-coil equipped hearing aid or cochlear implant.  Those without hearing aids or t-coils can use special headsets to benefit from the induction loop.

Infrared Signal - a signal is transmitted by an infrared light signal, similar to the remote control on TVs or VCRs. An infrared system is often used in the home to amplify the TV or in movies, theaters, or public speaking situations. The infrared system requires a clear line-of-sight from the transmitter to the receiver.

Late Deafened – refers to someone that has lost the ability to hear and understand speech through their ears after being able to hear previously in their life

Meniere’s Disease – an inner ear disorder that can cause tinnitus, vertigo, nausea and hearing loss.

Ototoxicity - medication induced hearing loss.  Ototoxic drugs include antibiotics such as the aminoglycoside gentamicin, loop diuretics such as furosemide, and platinum-based chemotherapy agents such as cisplatin. A number of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) such as Meloxicam have also been shown to be ototoxic. This can result in sensorineural hearing loss, dysequilibrium, or both. Either may be reversible and temporary, or irreversible and permanent.

Presbycusis  - hearing loss related to age.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss – one of two types of hearing loss, this type of hearing loss is due to deterioration (often part of the natural aging process) or damage (usually caused by exposure to loud sounds like rock concerts, industrial equipment, lawn mowers, etc.)  to the inner ear’s hair cells.

T-Coil – a magnetic coil in many hearing aids that can be used with a hearing aid compatible phone, assistive listening device, induction loop system and neck loops to help make speech more understandable without background noise.  Also known as tele-coil or telephone coil.

TDD/TTY – Telecommunications Device for the Deaf and Teletype refer to text communication over a phone line using an operator to assist in the conversation by typing the text to one or both parties

Telecommunications Relay Service or Toll Free Relay Service (TRS) – a government mandated service allowing a text phone user to communicate with a non-text phone user via an operator.  This is a free service to hearing impaired individuals.

Text Telephone – a “phone” that shows the conversation in text.  Text phones are used to send text over the phone by someone who cannot hear and then they can read what the other party says on the text display.  Text phones use either Baudot encoding standard or ASCII coding for computers.

Tinnitus – also known as “ringing in the ears”.  It is defined as the perception of sound in the head when no external sound is present.  It can accompany hearing loss or be independent of hearing loss.

VCO – Voice Cary Over Phone – phones for those who can speak but cannot hear well.  The person with the VCO phone does not have to type their end of the conversation and can speak directly to the other party while the other party’s message is typed by the relay operator to be read on the VCO phone.