For hearing care professionals
Explainers for the appointment
Open one on your screen with the person in front of you. Each has something you can play, so the demo does the explaining. Nothing to stock, nothing to bill, and no account for them to create.
“I can hear you, I just can’t understand you.”
PlayableAudibility is restored; the quiet high-frequency detail that separates similar words is not.
“My hearing test was fine. Restaurants are impossible.”
PlayableThresholds do not predict speech-in-noise. Two matching audiograms can land in very different places.
“Everyone mumbles now.”
PlayableVowels survive and carry the loudness; the consonants that separate words go first.
“My own voice booms. It sounds like I’m in a barrel.”
PlayableOcclusion. Often fixable at the fitting with a more open tip — worth checking before it drives a return.
“Everything sounds tinny and sharp.”
High frequencies the ear has not used in years. Usually settles, and settles faster with full-time wear.
“I can follow him but not her.”
PlayableHigher fundamental frequency sits further into the weakened range. A pattern, not selective attention.
“I can’t follow anyone with an accent.”
PlayableLess redundancy to fall back on when the fine detail is already reduced.
“What is practice actually going to do for me?”
PlayableErber’s four levels, as four trials they do themselves. Sets the expectation better than describing it.
(For a family member who does not get it.)
PlayableThe same sentence with the high, quiet sounds removed. Often the moment a spouse stops saying “you’re not listening”.
Where practice fits, honestly
The evidence for self-directed listening training is mixed, and it is worth setting the expectation accordingly. A 2013 systematic review of individual computer-based auditory training concluded the published evidence “is not robust and therefore cannot be reliably used to guide intervention at this time” (Henshaw & Ferguson, PLOS ONE). Transfer to untrained speech measures appeared in most included studies, but the improvements were described as small.
What structured practice reliably offers is something concrete for the weeks between visits, and a routine during the window when someone is most likely to give up on a new device. Whether it shifts a speech-in-noise score for any one person is an open question, and we would rather say so than tell you otherwise.
What we do not do
- We do not use CNC lists, AzBio sentences, QuickSIN material, or any other test corpus in our exercises. Practising on real test items inflates a later score and costs you your baseline.
- We do not assess anyone’s hearing or comment on device settings. That stays with you.
- We do not send anyone’s results back to a practice, and there is no code to buy at a front desk.
SoundSteps is designed for hearing training and practice. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any medical condition. Consult a healthcare professional for medical advice.