AUDIOLOGY & SLP MATERIALs

David K. Brown and Robert W. Keith The physiology of the auditory system is complex, and our understanding of how the system works is not yet complete.  Chapter 1  discussed the anatomy of the auditory system, but a complete understanding of the auditory system also requires knowledge of the nature of sound and the function of the structures. Only with this comprehensive understanding can we have the greatest impact on patients with hearing loss. The complex nature of the auditory system has been observed, studied, and debated since the days of George Berkeley and his tree falling in the forest, and we are still acquiring new knowledge about the auditory system. In fact, a large part of what we know was learned only since World War II, when many men returned home after the war with hearing loss. Audiology, the study of hearing, was born in the 1940s and the profession of audiology is dedicated to the detection, evaluation, and rehabilitation of patients with hearing disorders.

In the grand sense, the terms   audiological (re)habilitation   and   aural (re)habilitation   refer to a wide range of modalities employed by the audiologist to maximize the hearing-impaired patient’s ability to live and communicate in a world of sound. Many clinicians use the term   rehabilitation   when working with someone who has an impairment of an already-developed skill, such as an adult with an adventitious hearing loss, and   habilitation   when dealing with an individual who has not yet developed a skill, such as a child with prelingual hearing loss. The modalities of audiological intervention include the use of physical instruments such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, tactile aids, and hearing assistance technologies, as well as therapeutic approaches like patient and family counseling, developing effective communication strategies, and auditory-visual training. To this list must be added referrals to and interactions with other professionals who are involved with the