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. It runs in the browser — you can pull it up and show them while they’re in the clinic, and it doesn’t require a visit to set up. No license to pay for, no account with a manufacturer, nothing to stock, nothing to bill.
“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
SoundSteps doesn’t promise anything through aural rehabilitation, and the evidence backs that caution. 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 we’re striving for instead is an easily accessible practice space — user-friendly, not intimidating, low friction — where they can build habits that reinforce and promote consistent listening in the weeks between visits, and identify where they still need practice. It gives them immediate feedback about how they’re doing and lets them see the progress they’re making, 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.
The framing we use with them is the one you already use: the device does the hearing; the listening takes their own time and effort. Inside the app that means short sessions and a guide that works like a trainer at the gym, step by step, so nobody is left staring at 30 machines wondering where to start.
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.