Overview:

Are you about to be fitted for a hearing aid and are wondering about its benefits? A live speech mapping session with us might be just what you need to discover and get comfortable with using your new hearing aid. Here's what you need to know about the benefits of live speech mapping during your comprehensive hearing evaluation or hearing aid fitting.

What is Live Speech Mapping?

Live speech mapping is a diagnostic process that's typically carried out by trained audiologists during hearing aid fittings. It is sometimes also called sound pressure level (SPL) testing. Live speech mapping checks a patient's hearing threshold levels to the amplified speech output from a new hearing aid. It can also test for a patient's loudness threshold and is a useful diagnostic tool in both hearing aid fittings and during your comprehensive hearing evaluation.

What Are the Benefits of Speech Mapping?

There are multiple benefits to the process of live speech mapping. It can help your audiologist fine-tune your custom-fitted hearing aid and help in determining the degree of hearing loss you may be experiencing. Live speech mapping can show patients the degree to which speech is audible without a hearing aid, as well as how the use of a hearing aid amplifies speech and improves a patient's quality of life.

What to Expect During a Live Speech Mapping Appointment

If you've never had a live speech mapping appointment before, you might wonder what to expect. Before your live speech mapping session, you will most likely undergo a comprehensive hearing evaluation and hearing aid fitting with a trained or licensed audiologist at Emanuel Kontos, DMD. Once your hearing aid is ready to be used, your audiologist will carry out a series of tests to determine your hearing threshold and uncomfortable sound levels to ensure your hearing aid is properly tuned to you.

During this session, specialized software is used to track the sound output levels in your hearing aid, as well as your response to voices at different frequency levels. Participating in live speech mapping sessions with your audiologist often results in fewer follow-up appointments as hearing aids can be properly programmed, and each individual patient is given the time to adjust and get comfortable with the use of a hearing aid.

For more information about live speech mapping, contact Emanuel Kontos, DMD at (727) 939-2099.

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Resources: 

• https://kb.osu.edu/bitstream/handle/1811/54537/AUD_capstone_Goff2013.pdf?sequence=1