Glossary of Communication Disorder Terms

Babbling: Prelinguistic sound play by infants; characterized by labial consonants(/b/p/m/).
Balance: biological system that enables individuals to know where their bodies are in the environment and to maintain a desired position. Normal balance depends on information from the labyrinth in the inner ear, from other senses such as sight and touch, and from muscle movement.
Balance disorder: disruption in the labyrinth, the inner ear organ that controls the balance system, which allows individuals to know where their bodies are in the environment. The labyrinth works with other systems in the body, such as the visual and skeletal systems, to maintain posture.
Barotrauma: injury to the middle ear caused by a reduction of air pressure.
Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV): balance disorder that results in sudden onset of dizziness, spinning, or vertigo when moving the head.
Brainstem implant: auditory prosthesis that bypasses the cochlea and auditory nerve. This type of implant helps individuals who cannot benefit from a cochlear implant because the auditory nerves are not working.