My son is just over 2 years old and went in for his developmental screening (Wyoming has a program called 1 before 2 that screens kids' development, hearing and vision for issue...you are recommended to take your child in even if you don't think anything is wrong).
Anyway, that was my kid...I didn't have any concerns...just went in because he was 2! Well, he passed the developmental screening with flying colors, but failed both the hearing and vision tests.
We went to the eye doctor and he needs glasses (his two eyes are very different from each other so his brain was shutting one off and allowing the other to over-compensate and luckily we caught it before it caused a lazy eye). We had NO idea he wasn't seeing clearly (talk about feeling like an awful mother!).
Tomorrow is our ear appt with the audiologist. (Originally the tech thought he failed because he might have an ear infection because his drums were red, so I took him to the peds walk-in clinic, but she found no obstructions/wax, no ear infection (apparently, he has lots of blood vessels that if the light catches it right makes the drum look really red) and no fluid...nothing at all that would make him fail the test so they referred us to the audiologist.) I am super nervous! Can anyone tell me maybe what to expect tomorrow? Did anyone have a child who failed the first nb hearing screen, passed the 2nd but went on the have hearing problems. We know he can hear some (the tech explained that there are several degrees of hearing loss- some that even allow you to get enough of the sentence to know what others are saying, but miss words or beginnings or endings), but there are things that we are now saying, "well, maybe that is why he talks so loud, takes forever to answer, sometimes won't come from his room when we call"...things we attributed to just being 2 with selective hearing. He also took forever to start talking, but I attributed that to his older brother getting him everything he wanted when he pointed at what he wanted...I finally got him to 6 words at 18 months by putting his older brother in his room (gated in) and making the younger tell me what he wanted without help from his older brother. For awhile he was talking out the side of his mouth, but that recently resolved. He had a few ear inf, but never any tubes or surgery. When he talks, he often has the wrong start sound to the word (ex he says bilk instead of milk), but I thought that was probably normal (his older brother talked very clearly from the start so I have nothing to compare it to!). My husband and I have been whispering at him to see if he responds, which he does, so I have NO idea what to expect tomorrow!
Please, someone...help calm this nervous mama. I wasn't nervous for this appt until the eye exam revealed something that was not obvious and now I am wondering if the ears will be the same way! Figured I would go to both appts and they would tell me he was just fine...go home! Now I'm worried! Thanks ahead of time!
Thank you SO much ladies for the support! I think I was just so overwhelmed with everything happening at once (plus being pregnant doesn't help the emotions any...lol) and the developmental screening ladies not being able to tell me details (because they had none) and having to wait for the doctor appts...was just a lot for this stressed mama!
Anyway, so I took him to his hearing exam and sure enough, he failed that test too, but the guy was able to show me the graph and tell me that because we know he can hear that it is probably fluid behind his ear drum (even though they can't see any) keeping it from moving correctly and rather than actual hearing loss, it is more like hearing things in a tunnel all the time. So we have an appt with ENT tomorrow to talk about his suggestions and probable tubes which should take care of the problem. He is stuffed up all the time and snores worse than his mommy (LOL...they took my adenoids out when I was little which helped some) so I am going to address that with the ENT as well (which my mom thinks might be a food allergy...we have lots of food allergies in our family and they all appear with weird symptoms...) so if he says adenoids/tonsils/sinuses look okay, we will try eliminating food-maybe corn or wheat first-...ugh...not again...lol! :-)
UPDATE #2
Actually got good news...well answers I can handle okay at least! He does have gluey, thick fluid behind both ear drums, but because it is newly discovered, they put him on 10 days of antibiotics and want to recheck him in 6 weeks so we have 2-3 months of documentation before we talk tubes (and possible adenoidectomy due to his awful snoring), but it might drain itself (though he wasn't sounding too sure about that).
So now it is a waiting game again, but I am thankful to have answers. We are also checking him for food allergies as they think that might be causing some of the congestion issues (since it is not being helped by Zyrtec/Claritin and we have lots of food allergies in our family that present weird). So more answers in a few weeks!
I have failed every hearing test since second grade. I have mild hearing loss in my right ear from chronic ear infections as a child. It's not a huge deal anymore, but I do have a hard time filtering out background noises and need to look at people to "hear" them completely.
If you hadn't noticed anything... it's probably minor and non-impacting!
Before you get yourself upset, go to the professional; the audiologist. They
are the experts not the screeners. They have the proper equipment to
properly evaluate him. Remember he is only two and IMO he sounds
perfectly normal! Good luck.
My #4 grandson failed his and was deaf. He didn't even respond to the bass drum. His foster mom noticed right away he didn't seem to be hearing her so DHS set him up with an ENT. The doc did the hearing test and decided that tubes might help, it could be fluid he thought. When he went inside the ear to look around he found debris from past ear infections that the antibiotics had not cleared up. He cleaned the debris out and when the boy woke up he could hear for the first time in his memory. He hears fine now and has no delay issues from not hearing until he was a year old.
I hope you little one has a resolution this simple.
The audiologist visit, is overwhelming...I have been in your shoes but with a brand new baby. My DS, who is now 5, failed every hearing test in the hospital, all the ones that child development services did for us and then every one that the audiologist has given him. Every test they have done for us has given us different results. For example they will get one ear to pass and the other will fail, but the next time they do the same test it will be reversed. They will do test on his ear drums to make sure that they are responding to movement, they will do an OAE (they will put a sensor in his ear and play sounds and the computer will measure what responses he will get). They will not do, because of his age, the typical hearing test you are thinking of where they put the ear phones on and ask him to raise his hands when he hears the beep. They will also look into his ear canal to see if there is excess wax or such, like it sounds like you have had done. The tests themselves are not hard or intrusive to your son....they are just time consuming, but necessary to know what he can or cannot hear. But I think that most of all like another poster said, you are doing the right thing in getting it checked out...right now you just need to focus on the good things in life and not worry about what this might mean until you get answers. Just enjoy him and what he is doing and don't stress about it. He will be just fine. The more you worry and stress about it, the more stressed he will be. Good luck.
If you want to hear more of my story and struggles with my son and his hearing I would be happy to share, just message me. You are doing the best that you can.
J.--SAHM of 7
My son failed the New Born screening 5 times. They told me there must have been an issue with the machine. It is frightening to think that your baby isn't perfect but, you will be just fine and so will he no matter what the end result is. I'm not sure what type of test they will do at the audiologists office to determine the loss but, it does sound like he has some degree of hearing loss with the information in your post. My son is 5 and was diagnosed at moderate to severe hearing loss. At age 2.5 we noticed his responses dropped significantly. He had a progressive hearing loss. The best advice I can give is to contact your local school and ask about Early Intervention services. There they will hopefully give you the information you would need to get started. There are two types of hearing loss or it could be a combination
http://www.asha.org/public/hearing/disorders/types.htm
check this link out. Try not to overwhelm yourself or make yourself feel guilty in any way. Your finding out at a pretty typical age if he does in fact have hearing loss. Please feel free to message me if you have any questions. Good luck.
Okay, first...HUGS! You are going to figure it all out, starting tomorrow! I don't have any real experience with this but you should feel really good about yourself for taking him to the screenings. I know you didn't expect this, but you were staying proactive...and IT WORKED! Now you will get some expert advice and things will progress. I know you're scared and nervous and overwhelmed, but try to stay calm until you talk to the doctor, only one more day! Write down a list of questions and concerns before you go in so that you don't forget anything and that might make you feel more at ease.
Good luck and things will be okay!!!
Well, my daughter failed a hearing test also. She failed it at the pediatrician, so they sent us to the ENT. They said at her first ENT appointment that she had fluid built up because her tonsils were so enlarged and scheduled surgery to remove her tonsils and adenoids and put tubes in to drain the fluid. I was totally caught off guard by all of this since she never had ear infections and didn't really have issues with strep throat or anything either. I went ahead and scheduled the surgery because they just whisked me through the process that day in the office, but had second thoughts after leaving and ended up getting a second opinion. I'm glad I did because when we saw the second ENT, he said her tonsils weren't that bad and that maybe they just flare up during allergy season or maybe she happened to be sick the day the first doctor saw her. He said to wait it out and see if she outgrew it. We tested her hearing periodically for about a year and she never had any additional problems. I was SO glad that I didn't put her through surgery for something that turned out to be unnecessary!
I can also sympathize with the glasses thing. My son, who is 3, now wears glasses. I happened to notice that he was squinting a lot and needed to be RIGHT in front of the TV or a book if I was reading to him. I asked his teachers about it early last year and they said that they hadn't noticed anything, but several months later they did mention it, so I had him checked out. Sure enough, he has pretty bad eye sight. When you get your prescription for the glasses, check out www.zennioptical.com. They have some GREAT deals on glasses! I got a pair for my son with scratch resistant, lightweight lenses with the "Transitions" lenses (although we went with the generic version of that) for under $50. I got his first pair at an eye center and insurance covered it, but they only cover one pair per year and he is 3, so he broke those within a few months. GRR! Anyway, zennioptical turned out to be a cheap place to get a replacement pair. Good luck!
calm down, worrying doesnt help, trust me I know. My oldest is 2 1/2. He has a moderatly severe hearing loss in his right ear. His is due to clefting issues and the fact that his right ear is smaller than his left and his R ear canal is TINY. they have tried 2 times to get a tube in his R ear with no luck. he is getting his tonsils out next week so they are going to try again, his ENT and the Otologist both think that his ear canal has grown enough to get one in. There are different kinds of hearing loss. The audiologists hooked my son up to this special machine to test his permanent hearing, which was fine, Thank God, and they say his hearing loss is anatomical. So, we met with the Otologist, which is like a super specialist ENT but they do only ears, and he said before we do a hearing aid lets try one more time for the tube and if it doesnt work then we'll do the hearing aid until he grows more. He also has a lot of speech issues, but most of them are due to his cleft lip and palate, both of which have been repaired. but because of that he has a hard time with "m"s "b"s and "p"s...he has a really good SLP though. Not sure if any of this helped, I just wanted you to know that I totally relate to what you are going through!! The GREAT news is that they found it early, he can get speech therapy if needed, i think he would benefit from it but i'm not a professional, just a mom. good luck!
ETA: anytime there is a failed hearing test and speech issues it is something to get checked out, the speech you are describing is not normal. also, if you are really worried, ask to have an appt with an Otologist, they are the experts and can give you more information
don't sweat it yet. I have been through the ringer with my kids ears. if he failed his hearing test (mine is mild to moderate hearing loss) but he had a tachnometer I think it is neither ear drum was responding. He has had tubes and they fell out. they thought his ear drums not responding was fluid. so they put his tubes in and found he had retracted ear drums. so this is where I am at. I can't find info on ear drum retration other than it is caused by ear infections. I have one mom on here who responded to my question. so go into my questions and read her response.
Mine has major speech problems and also talks very very loudly. the ent 3 weeks ago gave him some antibiotic drops that seemed to help a bit but not much but they were $160 a bottle. So right now all I can tell you is the ent doesn't know yet if the tubes will help they do in some cases. He also can't tell me if the tubes will restore his hearing yet. too soon to tell. Mine also seems to have selective hearing but most of it is he can't hear me. He also has problems following simple directions like put your plate in the sink. Last night it wound up in the trash. He has memorized put this in the trash so he thought that is what I was telling him. he has problems with simple words like milk. he doesn't even attempt it. or the words eat, hungry but other words he knows real well like dinosours roar. I don't know why he has problems with simple words but not with hard words. A retracted ear drum means the ear drum has sucked in. mine responds more if you talk to him on the right side as opposed to the left side. if you talk to him from the left he usually doesn't answer. He can't hear you from the back either. One thing that helps my son is break your sentences down. instead of stringing your sentences like you would with a "normal" for a lack of better words person say one word pause say another word pause and do the whole sentence that way. He tends to be able to follow directions more if I use 2-3 word sentences. LIke put in trash instead of put this in the trash. bring mommy instead of bring it to mommy.
I can't tell you where to go from here because that is where I am stuck at. I have no clue what I am up against from here either. so all you can do is what I am doing ask a bunch of questions and have patience.
ps pm me if you want to and yes you are in shock and that is normal. I was at first too.
