Books-on-tape was what we used to call them, once upon a time. Naturally, that was well before CDs, not to mention digital streaming. These days, they have a much better name; audiobooks.
With an audiobook, you can listen to the book being read by a narrator. It’s kind of like having someone read a book out loud to you (okay, it’s exactly that). You can connect with new ideas, get swept away in a story, or discover something new. Audiobooks are a wonderful way to pass time and enhance your mind.
And they’re also an ideal tool for audio training.
Auditory training – what is it?
So you’re most likely rather curious about exactly what auditory training is. It sounds tedious like homework.
Auditory training is a specialized form of listening, developed to help you enhance your ability to process, comprehend, and decipher sounds (known medically as “auditory information”). We frequently discuss auditory training from the context of getting used to a pair of hearing aids.
Because neglected hearing loss can cause your hearing to get used to a quieter environment and your brain can grow out of practice. So your brain will need to deal with a substantial increase of new auditory information when you get new hearing aids. When this happens, your brain will find it hard, at first, to process all those new sounds as well as it should. Auditory training can be a practical tool to help deal with this. Also, for people who are coping with auditory processing conditions or have language learning difficulties, auditory training can be a useful tool.
Think of it like this: It’s not really that audiobooks can sharpen your hearing, it’s that they can help you better understand what you hear.
When you listen to audiobooks, what happens?
Helping your brain distinguish sound again is exactly what auditory training is created to do. People have a pretty complex relationship with noise if you really think about it. Every single sound means something. Your brain has to do a lot of work. So if you’re breaking in a new set of hearing aids, listening to audiobooks can help your brain become accustomed to hearing and understanding again.
Audiobooks can help with your auditory training in a number of different ways, including the following:
- Improvements of focus: You’ll be able to pay attention longer, with a little help from your audiobook friends. After all, if you’re getting accustomed to a new set of hearing aids, it might have been a while since you last engaged in and listened to an entire conversation. An audiobook can give you some practice in staying focused and tuned in.
- Listening comprehension: It’s one thing to perceive speech, it’s another to understand it! Audiobooks help you practice processing and understanding what is being talked about. Your brain requires practice helping ideas take root in your mind by practicing linking those concepts to words. This can help you follow conversations more closely in your daily life.
- Perception of speech: Audiobooks will help you get accustomed to hearing and understanding speech again. But you also have a bit more control than you would during a regular old conversation. You can rewind if you can’t understand something and listen to something over and over again. It’s a great way to practice understanding words!
- A bigger vocabulary: Who doesn’t want to increase their vocabulary? The more words you’re exposed to, the bigger your vocabulary will become. Let your stunning new words impress all of your friends. Maybe that guy standing outside the bar looks innocuous, or your food at that restaurant is sumptuous. Either way, audiobooks can help you pick the right word for the right situation.
- Improvements in pronunciation: You’ll often need practice with more than only the hearing part. Individuals who suffer with hearing loss frequently also deal with social isolation, and that can make their communication skills a little out of practice. Audiobooks can help you get a grip on the pronunciation of words, making general communication a lot easier!
Audiobooks as auditory aids
WE suggest that, as you listen to your audiobook, you read along with a physical copy of the book as well. This will help make those linguistic connections stronger in your brain, and your brain may adapt more quickly to the new auditory signals. In essence, it’s the perfect way to bolster your auditory training. Because hearing aids are complemented by audiobooks.
It’s also very easy to get thousands of audiobooks. You can subscribe to them on an app called Audible. You can instantly purchase them from Amazon or other online sellers. And you can listen to them at any time on your phone.
And you can also get podcasts on just about every topic in case you can’t find an audiobook you want to listen to. Your mind and your hearing can be enhanced together.
Can I utilize my hearing aids to listen to audiobooks?
Many contemporary hearing aids are Bluetooth equipped. This means you can connect your hearing aids with your cellphone, your speakers, your tv, or any other Bluetooth-equipped device. With this, when you listen to an audiobook, you won’t need uncomfortable headphones over your hearing aids. You can utilize your hearing aids for this instead.
This creates an easier process and a higher quality sound.
Consult us about audiobooks
So if you think your hearing may be on the way out, or you’re concerned about getting used to your hearing aids, talk to us about audiobooks.