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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