聴覚(ちょうかく)障害(しょうがい)

The standard formal and medical term for hearing impairment or deafness. Composed of 聴覚(ちょうかく) (hearing, auditory sense) + 障害(しょうがい) (impairment, disability). Used in official documents, medical contexts, and accessibility discussions.

Common collocations

• 聴覚(ちょうかく)障害(しょうがい)者(しゃ) — person with a hearing impairment
• 聴覚(ちょうかく)障害(しょうがい)児(じ) — child with a hearing impairment
• 先天性(せんてんせい)聴覚(ちょうかく)障害(しょうがい) — congenital hearing impairment
• 聴覚(ちょうかく)障害(しょうがい)者(しゃ)マーク — hearing impairment symbol/mark

Support and accommodations

• 手話(しゅわ) — sign language
• 補聴器(ほちょうき) — hearing aid
• 人工(じんこう)内耳(ないじ) — cochlear implant
• 字幕(じまく) — subtitles/captions
• 筆談(ひつだん) — communication by writing

Similar words

• 難聴(なんちょう) — hearing loss, hard of hearing (describes the condition rather than the disability classification)
• ろう — deaf (used by the deaf community itself)
• 視覚(しかく)障害(しょうがい) — visual impairment (parallel term for sight)