Auditory rehabilitation usually begins with the treatment of the hearing loss by the fitting of hearing aids. During the selection and fitting process, the different types of hearing aids available as well as how they work are reviewed in detail. This helps explain why a specific style or type of hearing aid may be recommended for you. We will discuss realistic expectations and limitations with hearing instruments. When people have realistic expectations, it is easier to adjust to hearing aids. Your audiologist at the Advanced Hearing Group will also review care and use of the hearing aid, as well as explain how to troubleshoot any problems that may arise. Full understanding of how your hearing aids work and how to care for them gives patients confidence in their hearing instruments, which leads to successful use of the hearing aids.We will review with you and your family the nature of hearing loss. This will allow you to have a better understanding of your hearing loss and gain new insights into the different problems you have been having with communication, such as:

 

• Why do I have difficulty hearing female voices, or children?

• Why does it seem as if people are mumbling?

• Why do I “hear” people talking, but cannot “understand”?

• Why do I hear well in some situations, but not others?

 

Including your family in the rehabilitation process can improve communication within the family. While your family knows you have hearing loss, they do not know how you hear. Providing the family with a better understanding of the nature of your hearing loss will lead them to a better understanding of what you are experiencing. Providing both you and your family with communication strategies is an essential part of the auditory rehabilitation process that will lead to successful communication.