We used to call them books-on-tape, way back when. Back then, of course, we didn’t even have CDs let alone streaming services. Today, they have a much better name; audiobooks.
With an audiobook, you can listen to the book as it’s being read by a narrator. It’s kind of like when you were a kid and a parent or teacher read to you. You’ll be able to learn new things, get lost in an engaging story, and experience ideas you were never aware of. Listening to audiobooks while passing time will be a mind enriching experience.
Turns out, they’re also a great way to accomplish some auditory training.
Auditory training – what is it?
Wait, wait, wait, what’s this auditory training thing, you may ask? It sounds complex and a lot like school.
As a specialized form of listening, auditory training is designed to give you a better ability to perceive, process, and understand sounds (medically known as “auditory information”). One of the main uses of auditory training is to help individuals learn to hear with their new hearing aids.
Because untreated hearing loss can cause your hearing to become used to a quieter environment and your brain can get out of practice. So your brain will have to cope with a significant influx of new auditory signals when you get new hearing aids. When this takes place, your brain will find it hard, at first, to process all those new sounds as well as it should. Auditory training can be a useful tool to help handle this. Also, for those who are dealing with auditory processing conditions or have language learning challenges, auditory training can be a helpful tool.
Think of it like this: Audio books won’t necessarily make you hear clearer, but they will help you better understand what you’re hearing.
When you listen to audiobooks, what happens?
Helping your brain distinguish sound again is exactly what auditory training is created to do. Humans have a rather complex relationship with noise if you really think about it. Every single sound signifies something. Your brain has to do a lot of work. So if you’re breaking in a new pair of hearing aids, listening to audiobooks can help your brain become accustomed to hearing and understanding again.
Here are a number of ways audiobooks can help with auditory training:
- A bigger vocabulary: Most individuals would love to increase their vocabulary. The more words you’re subjected to, the bigger your vocabulary will become. Let your stunning new words impress all of your friends. Perhaps that guy standing outside the bar looks innocuous, or your meal at that restaurant is sumptuous. With audiobooks, you’ll have just the right words queued up for any situation.
- Listening comprehension: Hearing speech is one thing, understanding it is another thing completely. Audiobooks help you practice digesting and understanding what is being talked about. Your brain needs practice helping ideas take root in your mind by practicing connecting those concepts to words. In your day-to-day life, this will help you distinguish what people are saying to you.
- Improvements in pronunciation: Sometimes, it’s not only the hearing part that can need some practice. Hearing loss can often bring about social isolation which can cause communication skills to atrophy. Audiobooks can make communication a great deal easier by helping you get a grip on pronunciation.
- Perception of speech: Audiobooks will help you get used to hearing and understanding speech again. But you also have a little bit more control than you would during a regular old conversation. You can listen to sentences as many times as you need to in order to understand them. This works really well for practicing following words.
- Improvements of focus: You’ll be able to pay attention longer, with a little help from your audiobook friends. Perhaps it’s been a while since you’ve been able to engage in a complete conversation, especially if you’re breaking in a new pair of hearing aids. An audiobook can give you some practice in remaining focused and tuned in.
Using audiobooks as aids to auditory training
WE recommend that, as you listen to your audiobook, you read along with a physical copy of the book too. Your brain will adjust faster to new audio inputs making those linguistic connections stronger. It’s definitely a beneficial way to enhance your auditory training experience. Because hearing aids are complemented by audiobooks.
Audiobooks are also great because they’re pretty easy to get these days. There’s an app called Audible which you can get a subscription to. You can instantly purchase them from Amazon or other online vendors. Anywhere you find yourself, you can cue one up on your phone.
And you can also get podcasts on nearly every topic in case you can’t find an audiobook you want to listen to. Your mind and your hearing can be enhanced simultaneously.
Can I use my hearing aids to listen to audiobooks?
Lots of contemporary hearing aids are Bluetooth enabled. Meaning, you can connect your hearing aids with your cellphone, your speakers, your tv, or any other Bluetooth-equipped device. This means you don’t have to place huge headphones over your hearing aids just to listen to an audiobook. You can use your hearing aids for this instead.
This results in an easier process and a better quality sound.
Talk to us about audiobooks
So if you believe your hearing may be starting to go, or you’re concerned about getting used to your hearing aids, talk to us about audiobooks.