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Hearing
Hearing Loss
Growing Up With Hearing Loss
Learning
Communicating
Getting Help
Special Needs
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The Sounds We Hear
Read this page to learn what people with normal hearing and what people with hearing loss can hear.
Facts about sound
- Sound travels through the air as waves you can't see.
- The faster the waves are, the higher the sound.
- How fast a sound travels is called its frequency.
Frequency (or pitch) is also how high or low a sound is.
- High-pitched sounds (like a squeal) have a higher frequency.
- Low-pitched sounds (like thunder) have a lower frequency.
- Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz).
- The bigger the waves, the louder the sound.
- The loudness of sound is measured in decibels (dB).
What people with normal hearing can hear
People with normal hearing can hear from about 0 dB to 140 dB.
Here's how loud those sounds can be:
| Sound |
Loudness, in dB |
|
| whisper |
about 20 dB |
| refrigerator humming |
about 40 dB |
| normal conversation |
about 60 dB |
| noise of traffic in the city |
about 80 dB |
| lawn mower |
about 90 dB |
| chainsaw |
about 110 dB |
| firecracker |
about 140 dB |
People with normal hearing can hear sounds as low as 20 Hz.
Some can hear as high as 20,000 Hz. Here's how high or low those sounds can be:
| Sound |
High or low sounds, in Hz |
|
| thunder |
20 Hz to 80 Hz |
| talking |
250 Hz to 6,000 Hz |
| opera singer hitting a high note |
2,000 Hz |
What children with hearing loss can hear
- Each child's hearing loss is different.
- Some children with hearing loss can hear some sounds.
- How well a child can hear affects how well he can understand when people talk.
- Some children can hear sounds at a lower frequency better than at a higher frequency.
- Most words are made up of high-frequency sounds.
- "S" and "f" are high-frequency sounds.
These are harder to hear.
- If you can't hear high-frequency sounds, understanding what people say is hard.
- Vowel sounds like "u" have a low frequency.
These are easier to hear than high-frequency sounds.
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