Hearing Screening Training Manual - Minnesota Department of Health

HEARING GLOSSARY
Acoustic Trauma – Hearing loss resulting from a single exposure to very intense noise,
such as a blast or explosion.
Air Conduction Audiometry – Pure tone sounds are transmitted from an earphone to the
inner ear through the outer and middle ear.
Ambient Noise – Background noise present in the screening area.
Amplification – The use of hearing aids and other electronic devices to increase the
loudness of a sound so that it may be more easily received and understood.
ANSI – American National Standards Institute.
ASHA – American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
Assistive Communication Devices – Devices and systems, which are available to help
deaf and hard of hearing people improve communication, adapt to their environment, and
function in society more effectively.
Audiogram – A graph on which a person’s ability to hear the safest sound at different
frequencies is recorded.
Audiologist – A professional who specializes in preventing, identifying and assessing
hearing impairments as well as managing any non medical rehabilitation of individuals
with hearing loss.
Audiometer – An instrument used to measure hearing.
External Auditory Canal – Includes auricle and external meatus up to the Tympanic
Membrane or ear canal.
Auditory Nerve – The eighth cranial nerve in the human body. The auditory nerve is the
nerve of hearing that sends signals from the cochlea to the brain.
Automated ABR/Auditory Brainstem Response – A non-invasive test that measures
responses in the brain waves to auditory stimulus. This test can indicate whether or not
sound is being detected, even in an infant. This test may also be referred to as Brainstem
Auditory Evoked Response (BAER), Brainstem Evoked Potential (BSEP), and Brainstem
Evoked Response (BSER).
Binaural – Pertaining to both ears.
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