Nursery want me to get DS' hearing checked - what do you all think?

[WhatFreshHellIsThis]

DS2 was two in March. He is speaking, and new words are appearing every day, but he is still only on the putting two words together phase (where ball, my cake, that sort of thing) and even that's very recent. He was a late starter with talking, just didn't seem interested, more interested in jumping

I'm not worried about him, he's bright and is picking up words quickly, but the nursery want me to have his hearing and ear/nose/throat checked. They are concerned because some of his words are very indistinct (although some are as clear as a bell) and because he dribbles almost constantly. He also has trouble with words that end in a hard consonant like duck, park, pink - he either reverses them so 'ku' is duck, or he muddles them up - so park is 'pka'.

DS1 started talking VERY early so it's hard for me to judge what's in the normal spectrum, iyswim, and also dribbled a LOT as a baby although I think he'd stopped by the age DS2 is now.

I'm quite happy to have his hearing etc checked, but wanted to see if other MNetters had had the same experience, and whether DS2's speech is delayed or whether this is quite normal for his age? Any info gratefully received!

[cookielove]

I work in a nursery, and have asked for a couple of children to have their hearing checked, this is usually more to do with the fact they seem not be listening (i know 2year olds really don't listen) or that they can't hear us. We do test like make a loud noise and see if they can turn to it, best to do this alone as they will take prompts from other children and turn when they turn.

Do you think he can hear you, when you say something can he repeat it, does it seem like he is responding to you, or giving you a standard response without even thinking about it?

[WhatFreshHellIsThis]

No he responds quickly (unless he's watching Bob the Builder....) and often repeats some of my words. He's getting new words all the time - I get the feeling he's known them for ages but is only now seeing a purpose for them, iyswim, as he's been able to understand us for ages (things like bath time, let's go upstairs, do you want a drink, have you finished, all those things he's been able to understand for months)

he has mispronounced things right from when he started speaking, and for some words he just makes up his own, like Coo is drink, and Ardai is his brother (whose name is not Ardai, I hasten to add!)

[going]

He sounds like my son - he's made up names for his sisters!

I think my son is just taking his time. He didn't start talking until 2 and has the occasional spurt where lots of words come and then makes no prgress for a while. He's 3 now and is catching up with his peers. My dd2 has hearing problem but could talk more than ds so I just think he's taking his time!

[cece]

My DS2 has poor speaking and is 25 months. He has already been on the waitin list for SALT for 6 months and now sign of an appointment yet. Also waiting for a hearing test to rule that out. No sign of an appointment yet. My advise is to get on those lists asap...

[ginmakesitallok]

well it can't do any harm can it?

[WhatFreshHellIsThis]

That's worth knowing cece - when you say poor speaking, can you be more precise? I don't know whether DS2's speech would be classed as poor or not.

going that's how I feel, I don't think there's a problem, he just wasn't interested in speech for a long time!

[WhatFreshHellIsThis]

Thank you Lady - that's sort of what I wanted to know, whether this sounded like something that could mean problems, or if he sounded completely normal. do I just go to my GP for a hearing referral?

[cookielove]

Well you might as well get it checked, but from what you say i don't think his hearing is an issue. However it could be a physical problem orally or a hundred and one different things. How long has he attend the nursery? Is he one of the youngest or oldest, or about average in the room? Is the room really busy or is in a smaller group? Is he confident within his peer group? or slightly shy and reserved?

[WhatFreshHellIsThis]

He's been at nursery for over a year - smallish nursery, think they have 10 or 12 in the two-three years room. He's not the youngest in the room, although not the oldest either - he's very confident and outgoing, physically confident as well. Recently discovered books in a big way and likes to sit and look at them for hours and point to things and say their names - this is what I mean by I think he's only just seen the point of language

[TheHappyCamper]

Hi, my dd was 2 in April and is also a very late talker. We went to a SALT drop in at 22 months as she barely had any words. They recommended a hearing test which came back perfect (which we felt it would). Since she turned 2 she has literally 'exploded' and went from perhaps 30 words to 200 in about 1 month! We were advised to put no pressure on her to speak ie Don't say "What's this ?" etc but just speak a lot, making sure it was 1 or 2 words and keep repeating. I do think instinct counts for a lot as we were 95% sure she was just a late talker, but I'm glad we got it checked out as it meant we could relax and just let her take her own time. HTH.

[cece]

My HV did the referrals for me as we picked it up at his 8 month check that he wasn't making the expected babbling sounds. Then I took him back at 12 months, again he wasn't doing what it said he should be doing on the checklists. By the time I took him back at 18 months he should have been saying at a minimum 6 words which he was not. That is when they referred him. I saw her again at 24 months and she said that although he was now saying words they were 'clarity issues' ... so bad that I can't understand him sometimes...

[WhatFreshHellIsThis]

Thank you, I'll phone them on Monday. That's all really useful to know, ds2 is about a year behind ds1 on speech but I always assumed it was because ds1 was very early, sounds like we should at least look into it.

[TotalChaos]

dunno about the pronunciation side of things, but content wise sounds like your DS is doing fine. but yes, agree with other ladies about getting hearing checked etc, an unnecessary hearing test will not harm him in the slightest iyswim.

[nadia77]

well even if you think there is nothing wrong there is no harm in getting him tested it's not like he'll be in pain or anything! and later on if there is any problems with his speech you can atleast tell them you've had the test done!
my son had hearing test done because he was not talking much but it was fine! it's the first thing they will ask you to do before refering you to speech and lanuage therapy in your case if they do refer you they will just help him with the sound of the words, i think you should do it because if he does need speech and language therapist it will be a long waiting list! i'm telling you this because it was a battle for me to get help with speech therapy!

[Sammy74]

My daughter had a hearing test because of delayed speech (she was 2.4 at the time and only had about 60-70 words.

I thought it was a waste of time as I believed her hearing to be perfect (she could hear me call her from another room or hear a packet of biscuits being opened in another room for example)

Anyway, it turned out she had mild to moderate hearing loss due to glue ear which has delayed her speech. She now has weekly speech therapy to bring her up to speed with her peers after having grommets fitted.

Anyway, what I am trying to say is get his hearing checked - you can never tell if there is a problem from just doing your own 'tests'!

[LargeGlassofRed]

Dt2 who's just turned 2 has only a few words that aren't very clear, he understands very well though and is often is quicker than his brother. The Hv did a two year check last month and said as long as his understanding was ok it wasn't a problem. Maybe I should ask for a hearing check?