Skip to main content

Hearing Levels

Side view of a young girl holding a hand up to partly cover her ear.

Hearing Levels

Understanding the Hearing Difference

Every child’s journey is unique, and understanding your child’s hearing difference can help make decisions about language and communication opportunities. Hearing differences can be described by their type and degree. 

The type of hearing difference depends on which part of the ear is involved. There are three main types: conductive, sensorineural, and mixed.

  • A conductive hearing difference happens when something blocks sound from passing through the outer or middle ear. 
  • A sensorineural hearing difference is related to the inner ear and how sound signals are sent to the brain. 
    • Auditory neuropathy is a type of sensorineural hearing difference.
  • A mixed hearing difference means that both the outer or middle ear and the inner ear are involved. It’s a combination of conductive and sensorineural types.

Hearing differences can affect one or both ears. Hearing differences can be stable or change over time. Here are some important terms:

  • Unilateral—the hearing difference is in one ear.
  • Bilateral—the hearing difference is in both ears.
  • Fluctuating—the hearing difference changes over time.
  • Progressive—hearing difference decreases over time.

Degree of hearing level describes how loud sounds need to be for your child to have access to hear them. Hearing levels are determined by hearing tests completed by an audiologist. Degrees are measured in decibels (dB), meaning the loudness of the sound. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association defines the levels ranging from slight to profound as follows:

  • Slight: 16 to 25 dB
  • Mild: 26 to 40 dB
  • Moderate: 41 to 55 dB
  • Moderately-Severe: 56 to 70 dB
  • Severe: 71 to 90 dB
  • Profound: 91+ dB
An audiogram chart featuring pitch and volume, with hearing impact ranging from slight to profound.

Audiogram

The results of your child’s hearing test results are often shown on an audiogram. An audiogram is a graph that shows the softest sounds a person can hear at different pitches or frequencies (from low to high).

The closer the marks are to the top of the graph, the softer the sounds that person can hear. Where a person’s results fall on the graph shows the different degrees of hearing difference. This audiogram chart helps show what the different degrees of hearing difference look like.

Hearing levels can affect access to spoken language.

Slight

Faint speech sounds may not be heard.

Word endings and un-emphasized sounds may not be heard.

Hearing from a distance takes effort.
Mild

Soft sounds and some speech sounds may not be heard.

Sounds that are moderately loud to a person with typical hearing will be soft.

Hearing and understanding in a noisy environment or from a distance will be challenging.
Moderate

Most speech sounds and louder sounds may not be heard.

Sounds that are loud to a person with typical hearing will be soft.

Speech can only be understood if it is loud.

Monitoring errors in speech is challenging.
Moderately severe

Most speech sounds and louder sounds may not be heard.

Speech may be understood if it is loud and close.
Severe

Most speech sounds will not be understood and louder sounds may be missed.

Group conversations are challenging.
Profound Sounds softer than 91 dB are not heard.
Hearing Simulators Video

Hearing Simulators

Hearing differences can be hard to imagine until you hear them for yourself. Want to better understand how your child hears the world? Play the video to the left or explore a Hearing Loss Simulator to get a clearer picture of how sound can vary.