Real-Life Communication
Working with patients who have hearing loss can present its challenges.
Alison Grimes says that an audiologist must have good communication skills
so that they may help their patients understand their condition and what treatment
options are available to them. Based in Los Angeles, Grimes is president of
the American Academy of Audiology.
"People who don't hear well have
difficulty understanding people's speech, so having good oral communication
skills is very important," she says.
When a patient first sees an
audiologist, they are usually having hearing and communication problems. It
is the job of the audiologist to diagnose the problem, help the patient understand
their hearing loss and present the patient with treatment options.
You
are a clinical audiologist who has a new patient. The patient is a four-year-old
boy. When his parents first came to you, you saw that the boy had difficulty
understanding you when you spoke to him, even though you were in a quiet environment.
But you found that he was able to hear some of what you were saying to him
when leaning in very close. Before beginning your complete hearing evaluation,
you are able to deduce his level of hearing loss.
A patient with mild
hearing loss will usually have a hard time hearing soft speech. However, they
are able to follow a conversation in a quiet environment.
A patient
with moderate hearing loss will usually have a hard time understanding
conversations. This is made even more difficult when there is a lot of background
noise.
A patient with severe hearing loss will not be able
to hear conversational speech. They may only be able to hear shouted or amplified
speech.
A patient with profound hearing loss is unable to hear
normal speech or amplified sounds.