While hearing aids provide necessary and effective treatment for many people with hearing loss, it is also important to look beyond the hearing aid to maximize success in difficult listening situations. Although hearing aids amplify and modify sounds entering the microphones in a huge number of ways (e.g. various noise management algorithms, frequency compression, directional microphones), the sound that comes out of the hearing aid still has to travel through a damaged hearing system before reaching the brain. Additionally, for the majority of people fit with hearing aids, the auditory cortex has been receiving limited input for multiple frequencies for a number of years. For these reasons, the brain has to be “retrained” in order to process all of these sounds in an effective manner. This is why it is so important to wear hearing aids as much as possible, and put in some extra work to help the brain make sense of these new signals.
Aural rehabilitation is a term audiologists and hearing aid practitioners use to describe any therapy or technique that is used to improve the receptive communication of people with hearing loss. While this rehabilitation often begins with the use of hearing aids or assistive listening devices (i.e. telephone amplifiers, remote microphones), so-called “brain-training” exercises can make a big difference in a person’s receptive communication. Some examples of aural rehabilitation include speech-reading exercises, auditory training in both quiet and noise, and education on communication strategies and assertiveness.
Aural rehabilitation can be carried out as an individual, with online auditory training programs like LACE (Listening and Communication Enhancement) or can involve family members and friends, like group speech-reading classes. Education on expectations regarding hearing aid capabilities and effective communication strategies are also crucial for hearing aid wearers and their friends and family members.
For a list of effective communication strategies, please see our Communication Strategies article.
To learn more about the Hearing Loss Clinic, please contact one of our locations.