Levels of Hearing Loss |
Degree of Hearing Loss |
Effects on Language & Speech Understanding |
| Normal Hearing | 0 dB – 15 dB |
None |
| Mild | 16dB – 30dB | May have trouble hearing faint or distant sounds |
| Moderate | 31dB – 50dB | Speech must be loud to be understood; will have increasing difficulty in group discussions; Speech likely to be defective; Language usage and comprehension deficiencies; Vocabulary limitations |
| Severe | 51dB – 80dB | May be able to hear load voices about 1 foot from ear; May be able to identify environmental sounds; May be able to discriminate vowels but not consonants; speech and language will be affected if hearing loss is present before 12 months unless amplification is provided |
| Profound | 81dB + | May be able to hear loud sounds more through vibrations than of tonal patterns; May rely on vision rather than hearing as the primary sensory channel for communication; Speech and language deficiencies |
