Audiogram: A visual representation of a person's hearing abilities. It is generally shown as a graph. A trained audiologist can explain the results of your audiogram.

Audiologist - health care professional who is trained to evaluate hearing loss and related disorders, including balance (vestibular) disorders and tinnitus, and to rehabilitate individuals with hearing loss and related disorders. An audiologist uses a variety of tests and procedures to assess hearing and balance function and to fit and dispense hearing aids and other assistive devices for hearing.

Audiology: The study of hearing and hearing-related conditions.

Audiometer: A device to test a person's hearing abilities.

Audiometry: A standard set of procedures in a hearing test.

Auditory Nerve - eighth cranial nerve that connects the inner ear to the brainstem and is responsible for hearing and balance.

Auditory Perception - ability to identify, interpret, and attach meaning to sound.
Auditory Prosthesis - device that substitutes or enhances the ability to hear.

Augmentative Devices - tools that help individuals with limited or absent speech to communicate, such as communication boards, pictographs (symbols that look like the things they represent), or ideographs (symbols representing ideas).

Aural Rehabilitation - techniques used with people who are hearing impaired to improve their ability to speak and communicate.

Auricle: The outer parts of the ear.

Autoimmune Deafness - individual's immune system produces abnormal antibodies that react against the body's healthy tissues.

Balance Disorder - disruption in the labyrinth, the inner ear organ that controls the balance system, which allows individuals to know where their bodies are in the environment. The labyrinth works with other systems in the body, such as the visual and skeletal systems, to maintain posture.

Barotrauma - injury to the middle ear caused by a reduction of air pressure.