Today, many audiologists are equipped with new technologies and methods to make the hearing aid fitting process much more effective and accurate.
Live speech mapping, is an exciting new technique of fitting for hearing aids using a microphone placed directly in the ear, which measures the performance of the hearing aid live, in real time. Live speech mapping makes fittings more accurate and can reduce the number of office visits required for successful hearing aid programming and adjustments.
The audiologists at the Easterseals Center for Better Hearing use speech mapping with all of their fittings.
What is Live Speech Mapping?
Live speech mapping is a verification method that is used to ensure that your hearing aids are programmed for your individual needs. With this method, small microphones placed in the ear canal that can actually measure how the hearing aid is performing in response to certain sounds.
Your audiologist will use real ear measurements that will allow him or her to “see” what you are hearing through your hearing aids on a screen in real-time. This allows them to make corrections to your hearing aid’s prescription and view the results of the changes while they are being made. In many cases you will hear the changes as they are being made.
During this process, the results are displayed on a monitor so that you, your family member or loved one can also see the results of the adjustments. This allows both you and your family members to visualize and understand the differences that hearing aids can make in your hearing ability.
Benefits of Live Speech Mapping
All of today’s hearing aids are able to be programed by using a computer. The hearing aid manufacturers have developed software that can determine what the average settings of a hearing aid should be for a particular hearing loss. While this method may work for some situations, it does not take in to account the effect of the individual shape of the ear canal. Sound behaves differently in each and every ear. Live speech mapping increases the chances that your hearing aid’s settings will be done correctly the first time around.
Live speech mapping creates a much more positive fitting experience by allowing both you and your loved ones to see the immediate results of your hearing aids and their positive impact on daily life. Both you and your loved ones will be engaged in the fitting process, making it a joint affair.
If you have a hearing loss, you may not be able to fully understand what you can and cannot hear, and therefore, you may not understand everything you are missing. With live speech mapping, you will be shown exactly what you can and cannot hear in real-time and you will have the ability to immediately hear and see the improvements the hearing aids are providing you.
Additional Benefits Live Speech Mapping:
- Focuses on the important and basic function of being able to effectively hear human speech
- Engages both you and your family in the fitting process
- Provides immediate and tangible results
- Shown to increase successful outcomes of fittings
- Increases your confidence and comfort in using your new hearing aids
- Provides more accurate programming of hearing aids
- Live speech mapping is truly a wonderful new technology for audiologists, the hearing-impaired individual, and their loved ones.