Auditory/Aural Rehabilitation for Adults

Who Provides Auditory Rehabilitation?

An audiologist and/or a speech-language pathologist (SLP) will help guide your rehabilitation plan. Your treatment may be individual, in a small group, through telepractice, or with the use of computer programs and applications.

How Does Auditory Rehabilitation Address Your Hearing Loss?

Your audiologist will explain your specific type of hearing loss and how it may affect your communication and daily life. They can answer any questions you have and help you address common concerns about hearing loss.

Auditory rehabilitation can also help your family understand your hearing challenges. They may know that you can't hear well, but they may not understand exactly what you can and cannot hear.

You can also learn about your legal rights to access and participate in public places—like hospitals, courtrooms, schools, and museums. It’s important to know that you can ask for help with your communication needs—for example, listening devices or sign language interpreters.

Adapting to Your Hearing Device

There are many types of hearing devices. Hearing devices don't cure hearing loss or return hearing to normal. But they can make it easier to understand speech, stay connected with others, and navigate daily life.

During auditory rehabilitation, your audiologist will help you understand how your hearing device works for your specific hearing loss. They will explain what your hearing device will and will not do. People who understand what to expect from their hearing devices will likely use them more often. It is important to remain consistent and develop a routine with your hearing devices.

Your audiologist will help you learn how to take care of your hearing device and how to troubleshoot some common device problems. Listening with hearing aids or cochlear implants takes practice. You will hear sounds that are new or different to you. Auditory rehabilitation can help you get used to those sounds and improve your listening skills.

Getting Familiar With Assistive Listening Devices

In some situations, your hearing device alone may not be the answer. During auditory rehabilitation, you can learn what kind of hearing assistive technology can help you, including:

• personal remote microphone systems
• telephone amplifiers
• alerting devices
• TV listening devices

How Does Auditory Rehabilitation Improve Your Communication?

Auditory rehabilitation teaches you how to make communicating with others easier and to advocate for yourself in different situations. Your goals may include:

• Self-advocacy. Learn how to let others know how to best communicate with you. For example, show people how to get your attention before they talk to you. Ask them to face you so that you can see their lips. Let them know that they do not need to shout, and that speaking a bit slower may help. Ask questions when you do not understand.
• Home set-up. Make changes to your home to make communication easier. You may want to arrange furniture and add lighting to make it easier to see your conversation partners. Adding carpets can help keep other noises down. An alerting device can let you know when the doorbell rings.
• Noise management. Get strategies for dealing with noisy environments. For example, it can be hard to hear in a noisy restaurant, but you can ask for a table in a quieter location or sit in a booth. Sitting face to face will help you use visual cues.
• Visual cues. Learn how to interpret visual cues that will help you understand how people feel and what they are saying. For example, speechreading involves learning how sounds look on someone’s lips and watching their mouth when they talk. You can also get cues from body language and facial expressions.

Consider joining a support group to learn from others with hearing loss and practice your new skills.

To find an audiologist or speech-language pathologist near you, visit ProFind.

Resources

Inclusion on this list does not imply endorsement.

• Association of Late-Deafened Adults
• Hearing Loss Association of America