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Hearing Loss Simulator

Students play a short story (45 seconds) or a speech sounds sampler (about 2 minutes) and hear it through a hearing loss they choose, from Mild to Profound, drawn on an audiogram with the speech banana. They can drag a fader at each pitch, set each ear separately, and add background noise, ringing in the ears (tinnitus), unclear speech or a hearing aid. Three games (Listen and guess, Read the audiogram and Build it) keep score and make a printable score report. Plan on 15 to 20 minutes to explore, or a full class period with the games.

Cochlear Implant Simulator

Students hear the same recordings as the original sound, as implant users describe it, and as an electrode demonstration. They can switch from today's 22 electrodes back to earlier designs (16, 12, 8 and 1) and click an electrode to hear its pitch. The reading covers how implants work, surgery, who can get one, why timing matters, mapping, Deaf culture, and implants and sign language together. Plan on 15 minutes to listen, and 20 to 30 more for the reading.

Parts of the Ear

No sound needed. Four tiles: Parts of the ear and Types of hearing loss to explore the picture, then Label the ear and Questions to quiz. The quiz keeps score and makes a printable score report. About 10 minutes to explore and 10 to 15 minutes for the quiz.

Simple view

Both simulators have a Simple view switch at the top: the press-play version, with very little reading. It keeps the built-in recordings, the hearing loss or electrode buttons, and the chart, and hides everything else.

Links to paste

Paste these into Canvas, Google Classroom, a slide or an email. Each one opens the page straight to the right spot.

• Hearing Loss Simulator https://asl.cool/hearing/ Copy link
• Hearing Loss Simulator, Simple view https://asl.cool/hearing/?lite Copy link
• Hearing Loss Games (opens on Listen and guess; Read the audiogram and Build it are at the top) https://asl.cool/hearing/?game=mystery Copy link
• Cochlear Implant Simulator https://asl.cool/ci/ Copy link
• Cochlear Implant Simulator, Simple view https://asl.cool/ci/?lite Copy link
• Cochlear implants: Deaf culture and being "fixed" (the reading, for a discussion) https://asl.cool/ci/#deaf Copy link
• Parts of the Ear: Parts of the ear https://asl.cool/ear/#parts Copy link
• Parts of the Ear: Types of hearing loss https://asl.cool/ear/#loss Copy link
• Parts of the Ear: Label the ear https://asl.cool/ear/#label Copy link
• Parts of the Ear: Questions https://asl.cool/ear/#ask Copy link
• How to save a score report as a PDF and turn it in https://asl.cool/hearing/save-as-pdf Copy link

Make your own setup link (Hearing Loss Simulator)

You can give students a link that opens the simulator already set to a hearing loss you chose.

1. Open the Hearing Loss Simulator with Simple view switched off.
2. Set it up the way you want students to hear it: a degree or shape button, the faders, Both ears or Separate ears, the green Sound level tag, and anything under "More true to life" (background noise, ringing, unclear speech, hearing aid).
3. Scroll down to the box For teachers: share a setup with your class and click Copy a link to this setup. You should see "Link copied."
4. Paste it into your class page. Try it yourself first in a new tab.

The link saves the settings, not the sound. Students still press play on a recording, or choose their own file, YouTube video or microphone. One link per hearing loss works well for comparing, or one per station in a rotation.

Classroom tips

• Headphones. They give the truest sound, and they are needed for anything that treats each ear differently (Separate ears, and the "Different in each ear" buttons). Through speakers, both ears hear both sides.
• Set the volume first. On the Hearing Loss Simulator, have everyone press Play a sample conversation in the yellow box and set the volume so it sounds like someone across a table. Then leave it alone.
• Bluetooth speakers and the high pitches. The 9K to 20K test tones often make no sound through Bluetooth speakers or headphones, which usually stop around 15,000 to 16,000 Hz. Use the computer's own speakers, wired headphones, an AUX cable, or the projector's HDMI sound. Bluetooth also adds a delay. See Troubleshooting: No sound.
• YouTube works only in Chrome or Edge on a computer or Chromebook. Safari, Firefox, phones and iPads cannot connect a YouTube video. School filters may also block the small video window; see Troubleshooting: YouTube.
• The built-in recordings (the story and the speech sounds sampler) work on any device and browser, as long as the page is opened from its web address, not from a downloaded file.
• Microphone. Headphones first, or it squeals. After turning it on, pick the computer's built-in microphone in the "Which microphone" menu. Keep the sound source next to the microphone and the listener far away, so they only hear it through the headphones. See Troubleshooting: Microphone.
• On the projector. Large text and High contrast (at the top of every page) help the back row. Your choice is remembered on that computer, on every page of the site. For whole-class listening, use the room's wired or HDMI sound, not a Bluetooth speaker.
• Simple view is a good start for younger students, students new to the topic, or anyone who would rather press play than read.
• Score reports. The Hearing Loss Games and the Parts of the Ear quiz count every answer until the score is reset. Students type their name, press Score report, then Print. The Save as PDF page walks them through saving it and uploading it to Canvas or Google Classroom. The score is kept only while the page is open, so remind them to save before they close or reload it.

Lesson ideas

1. From Mild to Profound. Play the story with no hearing loss, then again at Mild, Moderate, Severe and Profound. After each, students write down the words they could still understand. Which sounds disappear first: the low hum of "m" and "oo", or the high hiss of "s", "f" and "th"?
2. Find the speech banana. The yellow area on the audiogram is where the sounds of speech fall. Click a shape such as a high-frequency loss and ask: which part of the banana is now above the line, and too soft to hear? Then try the Read the audiogram game.
3. How many electrodes? On the Cochlear Implant Simulator, choose The electrode demonstration and play the story with 1, 8, 12, 16 and 22 electrodes. When does speech start to make sense? Then read "Why makers use different electrode counts" to see why more is not simply better.
4. Label-the-ear race. In pairs, open Label the ear with blank labels and race to place every term, then press Check my work. Finish with Questions and turn in the score report.
5. Deaf culture discussion. Read "Do deaf people need to be 'fixed'?" and "An implant and sign language together" on the cochlear implant page. Discuss the medical view and the cultural view, how the National Association of the Deaf's position changed from 1991 to today, and why so many researchers say no child should go without language. Invite students to listen to Deaf voices on this, and to remember that an implant is a choice, not a requirement.