The Hearing Clinic offers evaluations of hearing acuity for individuals of any age using state-of-the-art technology.

Services include:

• Pure tone audiologic assessments

• Speech recognition testing in quiet and noise

• Middle ear assessments

• Otoacoustic emissions

• Fabricating earplugs for swimmers and musicians

• Hearing aid fitting and orientation

• Central Auditory Processing Disorder Evaluations

• Cochlear Implant candidacy assessment and pre-operative counseling

To request an evaluation appointment call (301) 405-4218 or email hespclinic [at] umd.edu.

What should I expect during a hearing exam? 

• When you come for a hearing test at the University of Maryland clinic, you should expect your appointment to last about 1½ hours. Testing will be performed by a graduate clinician under the supervision of a licensed, certified audiologist.

• During your appointment, the clinician will take a case history, including your history of noise exposure, any medical conditions you have, any health problems associated with your ears, and any medications you are taking. If you have hearing test results from another clinic, it would be very helpful for you to bring them with you.

• The clinician will test the integrity of your ear canal, eardrum, and middle ear space using a special piece of equipment. This will determine if you have too much ear wax, a hole in your eardrum, or other physical problem with your ears.

• Next, you will sit in a sound-treated room for the hearing test itself. During this testing, you will wear earphones and listen to speech and tones. The tones range from low pitched to high pitched. The tones will sometimes be easy to hear, and it sometimes will be challenging.

• ​At the end of testing, the results will be reviewed with you. You will be shown an audiogram, which is a chart of your individual hearing sensitivity. The audiogram will show how well you hear at various pitches and what kind of hearing loss you may have, as well as how well you are able to process speech. At that time, the clinician's recommendations for you will be discussed. Your options for hearing aids also will be reviewed and explained.

• The University's clinic is able to fit many styles and brands of hearing aids at a reasonable cost. Complete follow-up care also is provided. It is important that you have a positive experience with your hearing aids and your clinician will work with you to get them to fit and sound just right. In most cases, you will receive your hearing aids about 2 weeks after the order. Your clinician will adjust them and teach you how to wear them and take care of them.

• You can feel confident in knowing that the University Clinic will try to provide the best care possible for its clients. Your welfare is our concern. Plenty of our clients continue to come back to us year after year, and they often tell their friends about us, too. Satisfied clients are the University's best advertisement.