Hearing issues

Discussion in 'Childhood and Beyond (4+)' started by christinam, Jul 7, 2012.

  1. christinam

    christinam Well-Known Member

    I'm starting to wonder if DD (5.5) has hearing issues. But, then again maybe it's the selective hearing most kids have. DD wasn't the easiest to understand and even now sometimes dh or my il's still have problems. I understand what she says as long as it's not super whiney or crying. I've mentioned to the doctor about her speech and she's never seemed worried. But, I've noticed I have to call her name more than once sometimes and then she will sometimes ask a question to something I just gave her an answer to. For instance I'll say we're going to Uncle Joe's house today. We're going to play outside. She'll look at me and ask can we play outside. Is it normal for kids to repeat stuff like this or does this sound odd? DS hasn't ever done it. Dd2 doesn't seem to do anything like this either. My mil's side of the family was apparently riddled with hearing problems. I'm going to mention it to the pedi when I take the twins next month for their well check. DD doesn't go back until February.
     
  2. jjzollman

    jjzollman Well-Known Member

    If you are concerned, I would just ask you pediatrician for a referral to an ENT or an audiologist. They can do testing to see if there is any type of loss.
     
  3. TwinxesMom

    TwinxesMom Well-Known Member

    ^ amen. My sister has slight hearing loss due to repeative ear infections (dr wouldn't refer to ent). Before she started school only my mom and I could understand her because she wasn't pronouncing everything quite right. She was put in speech therapy and it improved things greatly. Did she go to school last year and pass the hearing test?
     
  4. ihavesevensons

    ihavesevensons Well-Known Member

    I wouldn't wait to ask! I would call the doctors office and ask to speak to a nurse, explain to the nurse that you would like a referral to and ENT and explain why. The nurse will have to ask the doctor for the referral.

    Has the peds office ever done a tampanagram (a small machine that they stick in the kids ear...not the ostoscope, similar size though)to measure how well the ear drum is moving?


    If there is hearing loss present, it is better to jump on it and get to the bottom of it. I would ask the school to start the IEP process and be evaluated for Speech Therapy through the school (during school).
     
  5. christinam

    christinam Well-Known Member

    I'm going to call the pedi office tomorrow and ask for a referral. They don't do evaluations for hearing in preschool here. At least DS didn't have one. They checked ds in Kinder though.

    They've never done a test on her ears in the office. She only has had one ear infection though. I've mentioned her speech at very.single.appointment and just trusted my doctor when she said not to worry. Now, I'm starting to think she's wrong.
     
  6. Leighann

    Leighann Well-Known Member

    I'd take her to the audiologist. We had meara evaluated twice this year because of recurrent ear infections. The whole process was fun for her and we were able to find out that her problems were conductive (because of fluid build up) and thankfully resolved after all the crud worked its way out of her ears.

    Good luck!
     
  7. jenn-

    jenn- Well-Known Member

    DD had hearing loss due to fluid build up diagnosed 3/4 the way through kindergarten. At that point she was failing in school because of the hearing loss. As soon as she had her first set of tubes placed she did a 180 in school and improved dramatically. Her speech also cleared up. The ENT that put her tubes in said she had probably lived in a world that sounded like living in a fish tank for several years. The gunk was thick but not infected so we never knew. She actually hadn't had a diagnosed ear infection for several years at that point although she was prone to them prior to that.
     
  8. whosermomma

    whosermomma Well-Known Member

    We have Waardenburg syndrome, and I have hearing issues with most of my 6 six. I also have a son with complete hearing loss in one ear and hard of hearing in the other. I would definitely take her to get checked. Those are some of the signs I have to look for in mine. It also could be nothing, but it's so much better at that age to find out and how to deal with it.
     
  9. KCMichigan

    KCMichigan Well-Known Member

    I would get a hearing work up.

    One of my DDs is suspected of CAPD (central auditory processing disorder) and will be tested at age 7 (soonest insurance/testers will test). That is not a *hearing* issue but a processing issue. We had her hearing checked and it is clear, but that is the first thing we did since it was easy. My DD does not get ear infections and we do not have a family history of hearing concerns.

    For us:

    CAPD showed as:

    asking to repeat directions
    repeating things to herself
    delayed verbal responses
    difficulty hearing in noisy/public places
    often seems to not hear us when we are speaking to her
    lots of "Huh? What?"
    difficulty following multi-step verbal directions
    sensitivity to sounds/noise

    She has no speech issues though- which are often seen in hearing loss.

    We were told that hearing loss is more likely when we first went for an evaluation, but CAPD can look like hearing loss.

    We did a Hearing eval both through the school and her Dr. We will do a CAPD eval (different) when she is 7 and it can be more accurate.


    Go to an ENT or audiologist. They can help you sort through what may be happening and/or refer her to a speech therapist if needed. In our school a lot of kids get picked up for speech at age 5 during K screening.

    I am surprised your preschool does not do free hearing tests. We lived in two states for preschool and both did free hearing tests through the county/state. They checked all the 3/4/5 year olds with a simple test and then referred them out for more extensive testing if they thought it was needed (we also got free eye screenings). Our Elementary school does vision checks for K,2,4 and Hearing for K, 1,3,5 as part of the school program (free). They again, are simple screeners- but often lead to a better eval for glasses/hearing aides.
     
  10. Fran27

    Fran27 Well-Known Member

    Our pediatrician did hearing testing at 4. You could start with that if you're worried.
     
  11. MusicalAli

    MusicalAli Well-Known Member

    You'll get better results of an audiologist doing a hearing test. I'd get one for just peace of mind. (I am an audiologist).
     
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