Auditory Rehabilitation in the Digital Age: Amplifying Phonemes Within the Residual Auditory Area's Perimeter (Perspective‪)‬

We tell our colleagues who are entering the field that they will spend 60% of their time with 5% of their patients. Some don't quite understand this at first, but they soon come to agree. Taking extra time at the beginning of your custom fitting will save you and the manufacturer hours of grief later Digital signal processing (DSP) hearing instruments are not only an enormous step forward in the processing of acoustic energy and hearing care via amplification (in all its forms), but DSP also facilitates the establishment of, and the filling of, the frequency/intensity-specific residual auditory area of the patient. In previous articles, (1-3) we described the importance of approaching the fitting "from the other side of the fence" or from a "glass-half-full" perspective. We contend that it's not how much hearing loss the patient has incurred that is important; instead, it's how much you can define and what you can do with "what's left to work with"--the residual cochlear hair cells and the individual's functional auditory system, as well as their ability to use these residual systems for cognitive benefit.