Hearing Test
...1,2,3...Is this thing on?
God made our hearing to be especially sensitive to the
human vocal range. Specific frequencies are very
important for speech to be intelligable. Our vowel
energy is below 1kHz. Above 1kHz is the information
needed for consonants. 44% of our comprehension is
between 1.5kHz and 3kHz. A person with moderate loss
might have a loss below 1kHz, and a substantial loss
in the upper frequencies, and still hear sounds like
l, b, m, a, but would not be able to hear sounds like
p, k, sh, th, etc..
I'll be honest. As a techinal director, I would dread
the Tuesday morning staff meetings. I would get
compliments and complaints about the same issue.
People with "normal" hearing heard how great the sound
was. People without hearing complained that it wasn't
intelligable. They felt the SPL through conductivity,
but it was muffled sensorineurally. What did I do?
Education and hearing testing. I am not going to say
that the problems went away, but it helped. People
with hearing loss are generally in denial, and very
proud. Ironically they where glasses that tells the
world that they can't see well, but they won't wear an
invisable hearing device that will help them get back
to experiencing life aurally.
My brother, Brian Handy, Ph.D., and I saw a need years
ago for education in the Church. Churches need to
know that they must stop endangering the hearing
systems. We wouldn't think of damaging the eyesight
with blinding light or lasers in the retina. So why
damage one of the other senses? We cannot make it to
every church that calls us. I have listed some
organizations that you may contact. They can connect
you with certified specialists in your area, that will
help meet the needs of the hearing impaired in your
membership. This may also be a great way to minister
to your local community as well.
To find speech-language pathologists and audiologists,
contact the American Speech and Hearing Association
(ASHA) at www.asha.com.
To find your state board certified specialists,
contact www.hearingbc.org.
The International Hearing Society can recommend
hearing professionals by contacting them at
www.ihinfo.org.
The National Institute on Deafness Other Communication
Disorders (NIDCD) and Hereditary Hearing Impairment
Resource Registry (HHIRR) can be contacted at
1-800-320-1171.
Special thanks to Brian Handy, Ph.D., for the
resources and contributions to this article.
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This is the debut album by EXW friend Paul Langford. Paul is a Chicago based singer, arranger, keyboardist, producer and conductor. Paul has a career that spans 14 years. Paul's work includes arranging for groups like GLAD, Voices of Liberty, VoiceTrek, The Chicago based "Caroling Party" and Day of Discovery Singers. His arranging has appeared on recordings side by side with greats like Gene Puerling and David Maddux, and he has sung with Don Shelton, Bonnie Herman and Bob Bowker, among others.