| Audiograms
During audiological testing, the audiologist will prepare a graph,
called an audiogram, which gives a visual representation of a child's
usable hearing. The audiogram compares a child's hearing with that of
a person who hears normally
.
Sounds have a certain pitch or frequency. Frequency is measured by the
number of waves or cycles that a sound makes in a single second. The
scale that is used to measure cycles per second (cps) is called Hertzs
(Hz). The degree of loudness or intensity is measured in units called
decibels (dB). An audiogram is a visual representation of the usable
hearing; it compares it with that of a person who hears normally.
 The
audiogram illustrated shows how this works and what it means. You can
see that the pitch or frequency of the sounds is measured from left
to right (low to high pitch) by numbers at the top of the grid. The
loudness, or intensity, of the sounds is measured from soft at the top
to loud at the bottom. These numbers run along the left and right sides
of the grid. The audiologist will present sounds, one frequency at a
time. The softest level of intensity at which a child responds to each
frequency will be marked on the audiogram at that frequency and intensity.
The audiogram shown demonstrates different sounds and where they would
be represented on an audiogram. The banana-shaped figure represents
all the sounds that make up the human voice when speaking at normal
conversational levels.
Click here to link to a printable version of a Teaching
Audiogram.
Illustration Source: Alan Mehr •
American Academy of Audiology
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