A review of current approaches to aural rehabilitation

Degree of hearing impairment is not directly related to hearing handicap or disability. Since the 1940s measures of peripheral auditory function have been the basis of hearing aid selection even though they provide no direct information on psychosocial, vocational, or educational handicap or disability or on rehabilitation needs. Rehabilitation beyond provision of the hearing aid has been limited and demands new approaches. The evolution of aural rehabilitation is based on the notion of its being an ongoing process, of communication as a behaviour which relies on the integration of many types of information, and of the individual as a total person with multi-faceted hearing needs.