Understanding the Audiogram

Your child's audiogram is like a picture of his or her hearing. It allows the hearing healthcare professional to identify if your child has a hearing loss, the type and degree of hearing loss, as well as if hearing aids can help. The audiogram charts two important types of information:

Frequency (measured in hertz) - the pitch of sounds, ranging from low frequency (like thunder at 150 hertz) to high frequency (like a bird singing at 3,500 hertz). Human speech ranges from 300 to 4,000 hertz. When hearing impairment begins, high frequencies are usually lost first, which is why consonants which are generally spoken at a higher frequency are often confused or missed by those with hearing loss.

Intensity (measured in decibels) - the loudness of sounds, ranging from very soft to very loud. The range runs from the very faintest sound the human ear can detect (0dB) to extremely loud sounds like a rocket pad during launch (180dB). Normal conversation is about 60 dB.