Glossary of Communication Disorder Terms - C

C

Captioning

text display of spoken words, presented on a television or a movie screen, that allows a deaf or hard-of-hearing viewer to follow the dialogue and the action of a program simultaneously.

Central auditory processing disorder

inability to differentiate, recognize, or understand sounds; hearing and intelligence are normal.

Chemosensory disorders

diseases or problems associated with the sense of smell or the sense of taste.

Cholesteatoma

accumulation of dead cells in the middle ear, caused by repeated middle ear infections.

Cochlea

snail-shaped structure in the inner ear that contains the organ of hearing.

Cochlear implant

medical device that bypasses damaged structures in the inner ear and directly stimulates the auditory nerve, allowing some deaf individuals to learn to hear and interpret sounds and speech.

Cognition

thinking skills that include perception, memory, awareness, reasoning, judgment, intellect, and imagination.

Conductive hearing impairment

hearing loss caused by dysfunction of the outer or middle ear.

Cued speech

method of communication that combines speech reading with a system of handshapes placed near the mouth to help deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals differentiate words that look similar on the lips (e.g., bunch vs. punch) or are hidden (e.g., gag).

Cytomegalovirus (Congenital)

one group of herpes viruses that infects humans and can cause a variety of clinical symptoms, including deafness or hearing impairment; infection with the virus may be either before or after birth.