[Materials for the training of hearing based on phonetic-acoustic features of the Polish language]

Even a careful fitting of hearing aid cannot always guarantee full recompensation for lost hearing. Although speech is significantly strengthened by the hearing aid, the received signals sound slightly differently. To take full advantage of hearing aid capacity and to understand speech better, it is necessary to carry out exercises within the hearing training. The aim of the exercises is to acquire perceptive differences appearing between particular speech sounds. Each exercise deals with particular phonetic distinctive feature differentiating the speech sounds of the Polish language. Language substance comprises the so-called minimal pairs: pairs of words which differ only by one speech sound e.g. park, kark. Preservation of identical phonetic structure within remaining parts of words allows for the exposure of sound differences referring to selected speech sounds. First exercises with children who lost hearing in the prelingual period should be carried out for a period between a few weeks to a few month with the cooperation and under a supervision of a specialist (logopedics or surdopedagogics).