What is BIAP?
The International Bureau for Audiophonology is a scientific society, established by Belgian Royal Decree on 24 March 1967. It brings together the professions that care for hearing, voice, speech and language, and publishes their shared recommendations.
Who we are
BIAP is made up of delegates from societies, national or regional audiophonology committees, international professional associations and associate members.
Its members come from medicine, from the paramedical professions, from education and from the fundamental sciences. That mix is the point: a recommendation on fitting a child’s hearing aid is read by the ENT physician, the hearing-aid audiologist, the speech therapist and the teacher, so it is written by all of them.
BIAP’s recommendations come out of in-depth discussion between these disciplines. Recognised experts design, study and finalise each text, and BIAP’s members then endorse it.
BIAP at a glance
- Founded
- 24 March 1967
- Scientific society established by Belgian Royal Decree
- Seat and secretariat
- Liège, Belgium
- CHU Sart Tilman, ENT department
- Official languages
- English, French, German, Spanish
- Technical commissions
- 16 active
- Each works on one field; see the list below
- Secretary-General
- Dr Laurent Demanez
How a recommendation is made
Every text goes through the same path, from a theme in one commission to a recommendation endorsed by all members.
A commission takes up a theme
Delegates, associate members and experts work together on one theme in a specialised technical commission.
Experts draft the text
International experts give their opinion and take part in drafting the recommendation.
The disciplines discuss it
The draft is discussed across disciplines until the commission finalises it.
Members endorse it
Once BIAP’s members endorse the text, the secretariat publishes it, in up to four languages.
Technical commissions
Each commission works on one field. Choose a commission to see its texts in the library.
- Classification1 text
- Hearing Aids18 texts
- Cochlear Implant9 texts
- Noise7 texts
- Newborn Hearing Screening6 texts
- Audiophonological Structures1 text
- Inclusion6 texts
- Communication6 texts
- Language6 texts
- Multiple Disabilities and Hearing Impairment6 texts
- Early Screening for Children’s Language Disorders2 texts
- Parental Guidance8 texts
- Voice2 texts
- Hearing Education3 texts
- Tinnitus4 texts
- Central Auditory Processes1 text
What is audiophonology?
Audiophonology is the science of hearing, phonation, speech and human language.
It includes the anatomical, physiological, psychological, acoustic, phonetic, linguistic and sociological aspects of communication. BIAP brings together the people who work on it:
Medicine
Otorhinolaryngology (ENT), phoniatrics and neuropsychiatry
Paramedical professions
Speech and language therapy, hearing-aid audiology and psychology
Education
Teachers of deaf and hard-of-hearing children
Fundamental sciences
Linguistics, phonetics and physics
How BIAP is organised
A board and the Secretary-General lead BIAP. National secretariats are the first contact in each country, and associated societies and companies work alongside.
Questions about BIAP?
Write to the secretariat in Liège, or contact the national secretariat for your country.