a device used by a person with hearing loss to emphasize a single specific type of sound. Unlike conventional hearing aids, which amplify every sound in the environment, assistive listening devices focus on something specific, for example, the voice of a person with whom one is conversing in a noisy restaurant. The device makes the conversation more prominent than the background noise. A device typically consists of a transmitter and microphone that are placed near the source of the sound that the person is interested in hearing more clearly. There is also a receiver and output device, such as headphones, that direct the sound to the person requiring the device.
ASSISTIVE LISTENING DEVICE: “The person wore an assistive listening device in order to hear her daughter’s questions above the noise of the mall.”