Intended for teachers and caregivers of severely handicapped individuals with impaired hearing, the manual provides information about hearing and audiological assessment. Section I presents an overview of the nature of sound and the structure of the ear. Section II describes a number of informal assessment procedures which can be carried out in the classroom. Section III, which makes up the bulk of the document, summarizes common audiometric procedures and presents a number of systematic programs and teaching strategies to help prepare severely handicapped students for testing by a clinical audiologist. A fourth section offers information necessary for understanding an audiogram and the amplification process. The final section discusses the educational implications of different degrees of hearing loss and the selection of communication modes and auditory objectives for severely multiply handicapped students. (Author/SW)