Title: Notes on all units that may be helpful
Course: 14SP-HIS-150-GWB2-HEAR. INSTRU. FITTING METHODS > Section: Lessons

HIS 150 Review for Final

Unit 1

The purpose of unit one is to review important anatomy and physiology for how we hear.  Understanding this helps you understand what is happening in sensorineural hearing loss.  The review of linear hearing instruments and audibility is important for you to understand.  Technology has come a long way but understanding the past and where hearing instrument technology is important.  You never know when someone may walk into your clinic with a much older hearing instrument and you will have to figure out if it is working and whether or not it is providing appropriate audibility for your patient.

Unit 2

Some dispensers and audiologists today believe digital hearing instruments do all the work for you so you probably don’t really need to know that much about how the instrument calculates gain and compression.  I disagree.  It is important that you understand there are different fitting rationales and why they differ.  There is no such thing as one way of calculating gain and compression that will be best for every person.  There is a lot of agreement about how much gain and compression are appropriate for various degrees of HL in general but the main philosophies still differ.  For example DSL gives much more gain for soft sounds than NAL.  Make sure you know the basics of linear methods, NAL and DSL.

Unit 3

There is a lot of good information in this unit.  Make sure you review the McSpaden text Chapter 8.

Unit 4

You may wonder why there is so much information about occlusion.  It is one of those topics you may not quite understand now but will definitely understand as you begin to fit hearing instruments on a regular basis.  Patients report my ears feel plugged, my head is in a barrel, etc.  Open fittings have helped in some respects but the receiver must still be seated down in the ear canal appropriately and pointed towards the TM and not the ear canal wall.  You will also still fit other styles of hearing instruments so you need to understand venting and the role acoustics plays in fitting all styles of hearing instruments.

Unit 5

More of the same.  Between the fitting methods and occlusion there is a lot of information so Unit five is basically a continuation to make sure you have time to grasp all of this information.

Unit 6

At first I wasn’t sure why there is so much information in this course on tympanometry and reflexes.  Focus on the basics of tympanometry and ipsilateral reflexes.  I will not ask any questions about contralateral reflexes or reflex decay.  Even though you read this material those tests are mostly used by audiologists.  Why is it important to understand middle ear function as a hearing instrument specialist?  Because it will affect how well the hearing instrument performs or indicates the need for medical referral.  Many hearing instrument specialists do not perform tympanometry or reflexes.  Those who do will have basic equipment rather than clinical equipment that performs all the reflex tests or reflex decay.

Unit 7

More information on audibility.  Additional information on counseling.  There is a lot of information here.  Make sure you spend some time with the presentations to be sure you understand the concepts in this lesson.

The final exam is straight forward.  All of your instructors are committed to your success.  There shouldn’t be any surprises as long as you have done the work throughout this course.  Best of luck on the final and in the rest of your coursework!

Attached Files: | - HIS 150 Review for Final.docx