Hearing loss doesn’t always mean you cannot hear words.
Sometimes, a person can hear words but struggle to make sense of them. Difficulty understanding conversations is a common complaint of many people relaying their concerns to an audiologist for the first time. Hearing ability involves not only the ears, but the capacity for the brain and ears to communicate effectively, making sense of sounds.
Hearing Associates offers aural rehabilitation classes to help individuals with hearing loss learn to better navigate their impairment. Despite the fact that there is no cure for hearing loss, these classes are designed to help improve your quality of life with the impairment. We review hearing aid options, determine if assistive listening devices would be beneficial, and discuss effective communication strategies.
What is High-Frequency Hearing Loss?
High-frequency hearing loss is a common cause of not being able to understand words you hear.
People with this type of loss may be able to hear sounds below 1000 Hz – vowel sounds are low-pitched – but struggle to hear sounds above 1000 Hz. Sounds made by letters such as S, F, P, K, V, Th and Sh are higher pitched. Those with high-frequency hearing loss need these sounds to be louder than normal to hear them.
This type of hearing loss can be brought on by the normal aging process (called presbycusis) or exposure to excessively loud noise.
Benefits of Aural Rehabilitation
At Hearing Associates, we take seriously the ability to provide you with the tools you need to live the life you deserve, even with the difficulties of hearing loss.
Hearing loss can lead someone to have passive or poor listening skills because they become frustrated with hearing problems and give up trying to understand others. These rehab classes help people retrain their brains, allowing them to develop better listening skills whether they have high-frequency hearing loss or another impairment.
Our “Your Hearing Journey” aural rehab classes help you by doing the following:
- Get emotional and practical support from others with similar listening experiences
- Learn techniques to properly care for your hearing devices
- Discover the most effective ways to preserve the hearing you still have
- Use strategies to help improve hearing experiences in a variety of settings
“Hearing Journey” classes meet once a week for each three-week session. Participants are welcome to have family members accompany them to the classes. Please call 888.760.2032 to join the next class session.