Hearing Loss Education Center

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Manual Language

The ASL sign for "hear."

You scratch your head, shrug your shoulders, raise your eyebrows, and “shush” someone with a finger to your lips.  You are communicating—but, you are not using “language.”

Sign language is an organized system of signals—in the form of hand, facial, and body gestures—that convey thoughts, feelings, and observations. Signing is not a “translation” of spoken language. It has its own distinct grammar and rules for combining elements to create complete thoughts.

In the U.S., perhaps the best known form of manual language is American Sign Language (ASL). ASL is not English translated into gestures, nor is it a universal language understood by deaf people around the world.  For example, Auslan, the sign language of the Australian Deaf Community, is not the same as ASL.

ASL is a complex and sophisticated form of manual language. It can be used to express subtle emotions, abstract ideas, scientific concepts, humor, facts, faith, and fantasies. Similar to other modern languages, new terms (new gestures) are constantly created in response to social, cultural, and technological changes.

Many people in the Deaf community consider sign language their “native tongue.” They feel it is a crucial part of their social and cultural heritage.  Others worry that individuals, particularly children, who learn sign language (without learning lip reading or other strategies for coping with spoken language) will face limitations in education, jobs, or social functioning.

You can learn more about Deaf culture and issues in this community at: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/soundandfury/



  
   

Hearing Loss

For hearing loss, refers to less than average ability to hear and understand sounds due to one or more parts of the hearing system not working properly.

Hearing Loss

For hearing loss, refers to problems hearing in both ears, not just one.

Hearing Loss

For hearing loss, refers to problems hearing in one, but not both ears

Mild Hearing Loss

People with mild hearing loss have some difficulty following speech, mainly in noisy situations; quietest sounds they can hear in their better ear average between 25 and 39 decibels (a standard measure of sound)

Moderate Hearing Loss

People with moderate hearing loss have difficulty following speech without a hearing aid; quietest sounds they can hear in their better ear average between 40 and 69 decibels (a standard measure of sound).

Severe Hearing Loss

People with severe hearing loss get help from powerful hearing aids, but often rely on lip-reading even when using an aid; quietest sounds they can hear in their better ear average between 70 and 89 decibels (a standard measure of sound).

Profound Hearing Loss

People with profound hearing loss mostly rely on lip-reading and/or sign language; the quietest sounds heard in their better ear average from 90 decibels or louder (a standard measure of sound).

Otosclerosis

A disease in which bone grows abnormally in the middle ear preventing structures within the ear from working properly and causing hearing loss.

Cochlea

Part of the ear that contains both the organ of hearing (the cochlea) and the organ of balance (the labyrinth).

Feedback

A high-pitched, sometime painful, whistling sound that occurs when a microphone picks up sound from a nearby speaker and replays it again and again (commonly occurs when a poorly fitting hearing aid earmold allows sound to “leak” from the speaker back into the microphone).

Assisstive Listening Devices

Electronic devices or accessories for hearing aids that provide extra help in specific listening situations (telephone, noisy backgrounds, small or large group settings, etc.).

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Hearing loss due to failure of the auditory nerve, also called nerve deafness.

Mastoid Bone

A portion of the lower skull bone that contains the inner ear.

Rehabilitation

For individuals who previously experienced hearing and get a cochlear implant, the comprehensive training program that “re-teaches” them how to hear and interpret sounds, to recover any lost speech skills, and to properly use the cochlear implant speech processor and controls.

Habilitation

For individuals who had not previously experience hearing and get a cochlear implant, the comprehensive training program that teaches them to hear and interpret sounds, to develop or improve speech skills, and to properly use the cochlear implant speech processor and controls.

Coverage

For health insurance, coverage involves making sure a health plan or policy pays for the cochlear implant device and related professional services (for example, physician and audiology services). Usually, you go through a preauthorization process. This means getting a guarantee from the health insurance plan that they will pay for the implant and services before getting treatment.

Billing

For health insurance, billing involves the process by which health care providers charge, code, and submit their bills (in the form of a claim) to the health insurance company or plan.

Payment

For health insurance, payment involves getting the full amount allowed for services given a health plan’s limitations, allowables, deductibles, and co-payments.

Menieres

A disorder of the fluid volume of the inner ear that can cause hearing loss, dizziness/vertigo, tinnitus (ringing in the ear), and/or pressure or pain in ear.

Meningitis

a viral or bacterial infection that causes inflammation and swelling of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord; among possible serious complications are hearing loss or deafness.

Mumps

a viral infection that causes swelling of the salivary glands; sometimes spreads to central nervous system which can result in hearing loss.

Measles

a viral infection that causes rash, fever, and cold-like symptoms; sometimes causes complications like ear or brain infections which can result in hearing loss.

Unilateral

on one side, but not the other; used to describe a type of hearing loss in which there is normal or somewhat impaired hearing in one ear and little or no hearing in the other ear.

Unilateral Hearing Loss

condition in which one ear has little or no hearing ability and the other ear has normal or close to normal hearing. Also referred to as Single Sided Deafness (SSD).

Osseointegration

the natural process of bone growing into the titanium fixtures creating a direct connection between an artificial implant and living bone.