Auditory Training

What is Auditory Training?

The professionals at Speech & Hearing Associates have developed a unique individualized program of strategies and exercises to retrain the brain and make communication successful and enjoyable; we work on skills that are patient and family-centered. Each session is run jointly by a speech-language pathologist and audiologist.

Even a mild hearing loss can create changes in the brain. This means that one may lose the tools necessary to process and comprehend speech. Auditory training helps to target this change at the level of the brain. By “exercising” these skills, you can rebuild the neural pathways that were weakened to improve your understanding. It’s like physical therapy for the brain!

To help “keep up” during noisy situations, conversations, and while watching TV, our patients have found that short-term auditory training has added to the benefits of hearing aid wearers and people with mild hearing loss and processing difficulties.  Research shows that individuals who participate in auditory training programs report higher satisfaction with their hearing aids, improved problem-solving in difficult listening situations, overall improved quality of life, and require fewer troubleshooting visits with their audiologist. Speech & Hearing Associates’ unique auditory training program has significantly improved overall communication.

1 Audiologists

• Specialty professional with advanced university degrees
• Conduct diagnostic assessment of hearing & work with patient to plan a rehabilitative process that may include hearing aids and auditory training
• Have been trained to view the hearing aid as one component of the hearing rehabilitative process rather than the end of the process

2 Hearing Aids

• Require individualized customization by audiologist to ensure best outcome specific to your hearing loss & hearing test results
• Make hearing in background noise clearer
• Provide improved ease in a variety of listening environments
• May help minimize tinnitus symptoms
• Have individualized programs specific to music, car, noise & other listening environments

3 Auditory Training

• Conducted by speech-language pathologist in coordination with audiologist
• Enhances the ear-brain connection
• Increases the ability to process, understand, & recall rapid speech
• Develops strategies with family to make communication easier
• Improves speech understanding in noise or other challenging listening environments
• Addresses difficult listening situations (restaurants, social gatherings, work environments, etc.) & how to modify environments for better communication

How will I Benefit from Auditory Training?

Through auditory training programs and rehabilitation, we set goals and teach compensatory strategies to:

• Understand and manage your hearing loss
• Increase the ability to process, understand, and recall rapid speech
• Improve speech understanding in noise or other challenging listening environments
• Learn or improve lip-reading skills
• Assess difficult listening situations and modify environments for better communication
• Develop strategies with family members to make communication easier
• Educate others about your hearing loss and listening needs

Group Information

The pandemic has created new challenges for people with hearing loss. We feel it’s important now, more than ever, to understand hearing loss, the impact of masks and social distancing, how to advocate for oneself, and use compensatory and repair strategies to help make communication successful. Our sessions include learning lipreading skills and teaching how smartphone apps, alerting devices, and technology can also help individuals with hearing difficulties navigate through the pandemic and beyond.

The virtual group is conducted weekly for an hour and takes place over five consecutive weeks using a user-friendly virtual platform (Google Meet). It is facilitated by both an audiologist and speech-language pathologist (SLP), who has specialized knowledge in the areas of hearing loss and its impact on communication. Groups are formed based on similar types of hearing loss and needs, with a maximum of four to five participants per group.