A Frequency-Response Procedure for Evaluating and Selecting Hearing Aids for Severely Hearing-Impaired Children

Abstract

This report describes a procedure for evaluating the physical characteristics of hearing aids and for selecting hearing aids for severely hearing-impaired children. Narrow bands of noise, centered at octave intervals between 0.25 and 4 kHz are used to determine the maximum linear output, maximum gain, and maximum volume setting for linear output of hearing aids. Based on these physical characteristics, aids are selected for test with a specific hearing-impaired child. The aim of the selection procedure is to find an aid which will fit the greatest possible extent of the frequency-intensity area of speech into the restricted auditory sensation area of the child.