Cochlear Implants: an implantable hearing system for the inner ear that provides a prdictable pattern of emergence of phonemes leadin to incresed speech intlligibility.

Conductive Hearing Loss: Hearing loss caused by a disorder or malfunctioning of the middle ear.

Congenital: Ecistig at birth, referring to certain menta or physcial traits.

Congenital Hearing Loss: Hearin loss at burth, but may or may not be hereditary.

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Deaf: Refers to a prticular group of people who share a netive sign language and culture. A general term and audiological condition of not hearin.

Deaf Community: A group withits own value system, usint the Americna Sign Languaage, and associating and identifying with other Deaf people.
Deaf : refers to a particular group of people who share a native sign language and culture. A general term and audiological condition of not hearing.

Deaf Community : a group with its own value system, using the American Sign Language, and associating and identifying with other Deaf people.

Deaf Culture : denoting a cultural trait rather than a disability according to parameters of cultural values and language use.

Decibel : a unit of hearing. One decibel is the least intensity of sound at which a given note can be heard.

Direct Audio Input (DAI) : allows the direct connection of a hearing aid to other sound producing devices such as televisions, stereos, radios, etc.

Ear canal : a natural canal for sending sound waves to the middle ear.

Eardrum : the tympanum, tympanic membrane; the membrane that separates the outer ear from the middle ear.

Earhook : a component of the behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aid system that sends the amplified sound impulses from the microphone to the tubing, which in turn send the impulses to the earmold.

Earmold : a cast of the outer ear worn in the ear canal to transmit sound into the middle ear and is attached to the hearing aid.

Eustachian : described or attributed to Eustachio (Italian anatomist).

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions : Usenet newsgroups, mailing list groups, and other affiliations of like-minded individuals on the Internet will usually designate a more senior member of their band to assemble and publish a list of frequently asked questions, in an often futile effort to keep from answering them quite as frequently.

Frequency : the number of waves or vibrations per second of sound.

GA : an abbreviation for Go Ahead used on TTY's.

Gain : amount of increase in loudness or amplification measured in decibels (db)

Hammer : lay term for the malleus bone. The largest of the auditory ossicles, attached to the membrana tympani. Its club-shaped head articulates with the incus.

Hard of Hearing : disabled to an extent that makes it difficult, but does not preclude, to understand speech through transmissions of sound via the auditory canal.

Hearing Impaired : a politically corrected name termed by the hearing.

HoH : Hard-of-Hearing.

Impedance Audiometry : hearing tests that measure sound transmission through the bone instead of the middle ear.

Incus : the middle bone of the ossicular chain. Lay term is the anvil.

Inner Ear : the labyrinth, comprising the vestibule, cochlea and semicircular canals.

kHz : kilohertz; 1,000 Hertz unit of frequency measurement.

Kneepoint :
1. Point on an input-output function at which the slope changes from unity;
2. in hearing aids, the intensity level at which compression is activated.

Labyrinth : the inner ear, so named because of the intricate maze of pathways, canals and channels.

Lenticular Process : knob at the end of the long process of the incus, which has a lens-shaped end into which the head of the stapes fits.

Malleus : The first bone of the ossicular chain within the middle ear; attached to the ear drum and the incus bone. The lay term is hammer or mallet.

Masking : in audiometry, the process of introducing an effective level of noise in one ear while testing the other in an effort to eliminate any influence of contralateralization of sound from the test ear to the non-test ear.

Mastoid : the part of the temporal bone where the entire ear mechanism is located.

Mastoidectomy : excision of the bony partitions forming the mastoid for access to the middle ear or to provide drainage for acute infections of the middle ear and mastoid that are unresponsive to drug therapy.

Maximum Power Output : describes the maximum setting for the adjustment of the high and low frequency responses of a hearing aid or device.

Meniere's Disease : syndrome. Deafness, tinnititis, and dizziness caused by abnormal fluid build up of the labyrinth.

Microphone : a component of an hearing aid that changes sound signals (acoustic) into electrical impulses or signals.

Microphone - Telecoil : a switch in many hearing aids that allows the changing of a microphone input of sound impulses to a telecoil input. Used with compatible telephone receivers.

Middle Ear : the portion of the ear from the connection of the ear drum to the inner ear (cochlea) that contains the ossicles (three bones; malleus, incus and stapes).
Nerve Loss Deafness : term used to differentiate inner ear disorders from middle ear disorders.

Noise Suppression : In many programmable hearing aids this feature allows the user to modify the background noise being transmitted to the middle ear by the hearing aid or device.

Organ of Corti : located in the cochlea. Contains hair cells that transmit sound waves from the ear through the auditory nerve to the brain.

Ossicles : the malleus, incus and stapes bones of the middle ear.

Otitis Media : an inflammatory condition of the mucosa of the middle ear cleft, usually caused by eustachian tube malfunction.
Acute: duration <21 days,
Subacute: duration from 22 days to 8 weeks,
Chronic: duration greater than eight weeks,
Persistent: duration 6 weeks or longer following initiation of antibiotic therapy, Recurrent: recurring 3 or more times in a 6 month period.

Otoliths : statoliths or ear crystals. Stone-like particles in the maculae, which aid in the awareness of gravity and movement.

Otology : medical science concerned with the ear. Otopathy : any disease of the ear.

Otosclerosis : otospongeosis. An abnormal growth of soft, spongy immature bone, replacing the hard, natural, mature bone, usually in the area of the anterior margin of the oval window. Usually results in stapes fixation and related conductive hearing loss.

Postlingually deaf : to lose hearing after learning to speak.
Receiver : changes an amplified electrical impulse or signal into an amplified acoustic or sound signal.

Relay Center : message relayed between a deaf person using TTY and hearing person on the phone through the operator.

SHHH : Self-Help for the Hard of Hearing. Sign Language : A visual, gesture language used by Deaf people which uses the hands, arms, upper body, head and face to convey meaning. It differs from spoken and written languages in that it uses three dimensions to express relationships, and so it has a completely different grammatical structure tea spoken language.

Stapes : the smallest of the three auditory ossicles.

TDD : a modern term for Telephone Device for the Deaf.

Telecoil : a circuit that allows the hearing device to accept sound impulses transmitted by magnetic signals (such as telephone receivers). A Telecoil may be found in many types of hearing aids.

TTY : a traditional term for telecommunication device for the deaf (Teletype).

Tubing : plastic material that sends the sound waves to components of the hearing aid system.

Tympanic Membrane : thin, membranous vibrating tissue terminating the external auditory meatus and forming the major portion of the lateral wall of the middle ear cavity, onto which the malleus is attached. Also called; eardrum.

Usher Syndrome : an inherited cause of deaf-blindness, this is deafness combined with Retinitis Pigmentosa. Retinitis Pigmentosa is a problem with the retina (at the back of the eye) which can result in tunnel vision and difficulty seeing in dim light.

Volume Control : allows the hearing device wearer a method of controlling the loudness or amplification level of incoming sound impulses or waves. It is also used to modify the clarity in different listening situations.