Could my child's ears be the cause of his behavioural problems?

[ironthoramerica]

My Ds is under audiology for fluid in the ears, and he recently had his tonsils removed. He's behaviour has suddenly taken a downwards spiral at school quite badly and I didn't put 2 and 2 together until tonight. He's not complaining of any ear pain but he's been waking up crying, his ear is very red tonight and school have said he's not listening at all recently.
I think it's a genuine ear problem and am going to book him in to gp ASAP but could this explain his sudden bad behaviour?

Sorry to hijack thread but my dd's nursery have told me to check her hearing as she couldn't hear them ringing a bell or something like that? Not sure why they are trying to test her hearing and also her speech and hearing seem absolutely fine to me so I'm a bit stumped!

I had hearing loss as a child and never spoke but my DD won't shut up!

I'm not sure @nowifi I'd ask them exactly what their concerns are as if you haven't noticed a problem with her hearing it could just be that she was distracted and choosing not to listen at that time?

What have you got to lose by getting her hearing tested? Hopefully it will come back normal but if there is a loss, there are things that can be done to help.

Yes I thought the same she was probably just distracted. Hope your son gets his sorted out soon iron , I wouldn't be surprised if he is acting up if he can't hear properly. It can be really frustrating even as an adult to have hearing problems so hopefully he will be better soon!

With ds, I was told that he would hear if you addressed him directly with his name first. He'd hear the name and would consciously listen. If you just spoke into the group he wouldn't, as it took a lot of effort to hear, so he wouldn't only try to listen if he knew it was for him.
His teachers learnt that they had to say his name clearly at the beginning and then he'd listen.

the person I spoke to at school said that when they called him from outside with all background noise he heard them straight away.
This drives me mad. It's no indicator of whether a child may have a hearing loss or not.

100% YES!
My DD (now 14) had 5 ops for grommets between 3-9. I always had to really fight for her until I got an amazing consultant.
She still has hearing issues but she remembers being really frustrated about getting in trouble when she didn't genuinely hear and she also felt very isolated.
Noises like ringing and plastic rustling used to really go through her and I found that it coincided with ear pain the following day when I began keeping a diary.
I went into school repeatedly until they accepted the impact it was having on her, small changes made a big difference to her.
Feel free to PM me, I know how frustrating and upsetting it can be xx

@nowifi my DD had 50% hearing loss confirm by audiology, but spoke perfectly and never shut up. She also now as a teenager with fixed glue ear has perfect pitch and is an excellent singer looking at a career in musical theatre. Being able to talk does not mean your hearing is not affected.

Deafness will definitely affect behaviour. My DS wears a hearing aid in one ear; occasionally he forgets to wear it to school and his behaviour at school and in evening is much worse than usual as he is tired from having to concentrate harder to hear all day. DS has almost no hearing in one ear but it wasn’t picked up until reception as he spoke early and well, so it was never considered until he failed a reception screening test, although looking back there were other signs, mainly behavioural.

My dds behaviour deteriorates when her ears are bad. Hearing loss makes it hard to concentrate and also makes her anxious which then results in emotional outbursts. She's actually fine at school but can be a nightmare at home.

At school I asked the teacher to make sure she is near the front, forward facing preferably, he specifically checks she has heard and understood instructions and tries not to sit her next to the chattier children (dd hates this as she can't sit next to her chatty bestie).

I had a lot of ear infections as a child and have processing issues that are worse if I'm tired or stressed. I tend to respond by shutting down if it's too much effort to hear the details. Following group conversation can be hard going. I can get more short tempered if I'm struggling or fighting against a lot of background noise. Swimming changing areas are particularly stressful environments to me because of the echo off hard surfaces, humidity and claustrophobic cubicles, and as a package of factors, they can push me beyond my comfort zone.

DM accused me of selective deafness but while my hearing range is fine, some things catch my attention and some things get lost. My DCs are used to me saying "I can hear your voice but I can't hear your words" as I'll pick up "Mummy! Mumfle DS1 blah blah random word blah blah." I'll repeat back what I've picked up when clarifying rather than asking for a straight repeat as I tend to lose the same point repeatedly. I forget how much I lip read until I'm with someone who isn't very expressive.

I had an awful ear infection in 6th form which perforated my ear drum. Around that time I missed a stage on a complex homework set my my languages teacher and he publicly ranted at me and dismissed my hearing issues crushing my confidence for oral work. Oh how smug I felt several months later when he recieved the consultant's letter requesting headphones for my A-Level aural exam to minimise distractions

Yes it is likely to affect him. Tiredness will in its own right, but the general environment will be harder for him to adjust to. He may miss snippets of useful information or appear to be inattentive. People can find it hard to be understanding when a hearing problem appears to be inconsistent.

I think we have been incredibly lucky then. The catalyst for getting referred was due to back to back ear infections, some which needed drainage. On one doctor's visit, DD was fast asleep in her buggy at the time we were seen and the doctor gave the benefit of the doubt and referred (although this was probably after such a lot of recurrence).

The first thing the surgeon said after operation 1 was "She really needed it done." And this with no indications in terms of hearing before that.

The ear mechanisms affect the nervous system and the balance/vestibular system enormously as well as having the job of hearing. In my opinion I would add the teeth/jaw to that too (although that may come under nervous system). I hope the Audiology pathway is helpful and not too long a wait.