To ignore son's claims about not being able to hear?

[SpinningTopps]

Ds is 5 and has started to say he can't hear properly. He says he thinks he is deaf. But if I whisper he appears to hear everything I say. I think his hearing is fine.
I've looked into children's hearing tests and it seems you need a referral which seems a step too far.
AIBU to just assume all is fine or can you have hearing loss where you can hear whispers but other things are affected?

Unfortunately there is no check any more. I had my child checked just before school because he still couldn't say certain sounds. It was very quick and easy to organise via the health visitor (guess would be GP if your child is 5). All children used to get checked as a matter of course so it's not at all unreasonable to ask for a check if there's any doubt. Taking away universal screening was reliant on the fact parents would pipe up if there was an issue - it is to be expected there will be a number of referrals, even though many will end up showing the child's hearing is fine.

Yabu.
Why is a referral for your child a step too far?

Take him to the gp, get a referral for your child & then they can properly check his hearing.
Your child might have glue ear, one of my children did around the same age.

My son has just had his screening and he's in reception class

I thought everyone could tune out voices. I do it with DH when he's going on about something in great detail. I'm no deaf.

If he is on the list for an autism assessment it could be auditory processing delay/sensory overload. Whispering to him would explain that depending on other noises/sensory input happening around him at the time. He may not understand this and conclude that it's a hearing issue, especially if he's heard from others that this may be the case.

In my area you can self refer your child for a hearing test, might be worth a phone call.
I had my son put on the cancellation list and got a phone call within 2 weeks

How lazy can you get...

Er, take him to see his GP, and they can decide what to do.

It’s definitely not making a fuss to ask for a hearing test for a child who says they can’t hear. Better to catch it if there is an issue, before it impacts any other learning/development, and if there’s no issue there’s no harm done.

My DSS said he didn’t think he could see well, he had just come to live with us and hadn’t had a vision test, so I just took him for one. His eyesight is absolutely fine, even very good for his age, so if there’s nothing wrong it will serve to reassure your child. I would understand if he was claiming various health issues each week with no sign of anything genuine, that you may feel you are wasting professionals’ time, but even in a case like that there would be an underlying reason they were saying these things, like Anxiety.

I'm a Teacher of the Deaf and an Educational Audiologist.

We regularly receive referrals for children whose hearing loss is diagnosed during assessment for autism. Any assessment for autism should include tests of hearing because both conditions can present in similar ways.

Mild, fluctuating and specific frequency hearing loss is often missed but they can have lasting effects on language development, social awareness and speech perception.
Children who have a history of ear infections can develop long term hearing issues.
Your GP looking into the ear canal will definitely not be able to identify a hearing loss.

You need an audiology referral.

I've looked into children's hearing tests and it seems you need a referral which seems a step too far.

by saying a step too far do you really mean you can't be bothered?

What's the issue? You get his hearing checked and he can heer fine, oh well at least now you know. You get his hearing checked and there's an issue...you'll be glad you bothered.

I think its important to believe chidlren when they have explained there is a problem. Even if you look like "that" parent, wouldn't you rather be judged as anxious in the short-term then negligent in the long-term if he continues to struggle with hearing?

Has he had a cold?

Does he have airborne allergies like hay fever or dust mites?

You can get blocked eustacian tube which puts pressure on the ear drum and makes if difficult to hear when there's more than 1 sound or heat where sound is coming from.

I'd make a GP appointment as first point of call.

I agree it's worth getting things checked out.

I went deaf at the age of 5. I assume it was glue ear. At any rate they whipped my tonsils out (as was common in the 1960s) and that cleared everything up.

Rather more recently, my now 24 year old had glue ear when she was a baby. She failed her first hearing test (9 months?) and I remember feeling awful that I had not noticed that she wasn't hearing well.

If he is saying he is not able to hear then I would be following this up to get this checked either way then you know, don't let him potentially be disadvantaged by a hearing loss which you could have got intervention for earlier. If it turns out to be nothing then so be it but better that way than missing out because you are sceptical which seems a little harsh 🙄

Friend didn't realise her child had a hearing problem until it was picked up at the school hearing test in reception. Turns out dc couldn't hear low frequencies.

Once they got hearing aids, they started asking what's that sound about so so many random noises they'd never heard before.

Child didn't know microwaves made a noise, or car engines or a whole host of other things as they'd never heard them before.

I had several bouts of glue ear and ear infections as a young child. I couldn't hear the teacher or friends which I think contributed to me being very withdrawn and teachers assuming I wasn't very bright. As I was shy I never admitted that I just couldn't hear the questions.

I also had a lot of noises in my ears, which on telling my mum she asked me loads of questions about hearing voices in my head and that was schizophrenia that crazy people had who did crazy things. It was ringing, whooshy, rustling noises from the glue ear. Obviously never mentioned it again but I suspect grommets would have been hugely beneficial to me.

And the visits to your GP will all be recoded and building a record, so not a waste of time.

YABU Listen to him get him checked out.

Sorry off topic, bit of a lightbulb moment. I always have subtitles on watching TV too, often have to ask people to repeat things in busy places, sometimes I give up and say that Im sorry I have hearing issues. My DC are all ND and Im familiar with auditory processing issues, but it never occured to me the reason I have a lag/can't hear words when it's busy or loud could be too do with that.

It is possible to have ASD and an additional hearing impairment. A hearing test will help clarify if there is any issue with hearing to consider or if it’s a processing issue linked to ASD or similar. Finding out now will make a world of difference for him and the type of extra support he may need for school.

Exactly, why wouldnt you take your child to be checked?

That's good and presumably is offered by the trust you're in but if you read the NHS site it's not universal. The children where I teach definitely aren't tested and nor was my 5 year old. It was always a pre-school check here but was removed.

Glue ear, and wax, can cause intermittent hearing loss.

I used to get very waxy ears as a child, and remember getting them syringed every so often. After one session, I remember walking out and being amazed how loud the traffic noise was! I commented on it, and it shocked my mum. So we got more on the ball about checking my ears regularly after that.

For the sake of a GP visit OP, it seems silly to ignore it.

Just because he can hear you when you whisper to him, doesn't mean he doesn't have hearing problems. Lots of people struggle with different sound frequencies and/or if there's lots of background noise. Hearing issues aren't just about volume. Your son is telling you something is wrong and it's your responsibility to get it checked. Perhaps he is just being silly, perhaps it's something to do with possible ASD, perhaps it's just the lingering effects of a cold, perhaps he needs his ears syringing, perhaps he needs hearing aids, perhaps he needs an operation... but you can't possibly know without investigating.

First step: make an appointment with GP. They'll be able to look in his ears to see if there's anything visibly wrong. Assuming it all looks normal, they'll then usually refer for hearing tests.

It’s a tough one at that age because sometimes they simply don’t have the vocabulary to describe what they’re experiencing. It’s a case of ruling out what you can so you can focus on what else they might be trying to tell you.

I’m glad you’re going to get the GP’s advice and assessment. It’s always helpful when a doctor questions the child themselves as well, they generally have good experience in getting more information out of younger children.