About my DD 6 hearing. Any advice welcome please help.

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My DD is 6 and I am worried she might not hear that well.

the other day we were in the car and a car beeped and my son asked why the car beeped and I said I didn’t know and my DD said ‘ I didn’t hear a car beep’.

she’s also asking ‘ what ‘ a lot and you do have to say her name a few times and loudly to get her to answer. Her teachers think she might have ADHD and are doing some senco observations.

I did go to the doctor about it a few years ago as a teacher flagged it and they said she had ear wax, which we should get rid of with ear drops before she can see a specialist.

I tried to do drops but she was younger and it was a huge thing so I just kind of left it.

I feel like it’s urgent now to get an answer to this and I’ll happily book a private thing asap if necessary.

I can’t wait for months.

does anyone know if this ear wax would still be there and if that really means she can’t get a hearing test? What’s the best way to get rid of it ?

any experiences welcome. I don’t know where to start. I just want it done asap.

I could have written this exactly, turned out to be hearing loss due to glue ear, effected my dcs behaviour, ability to learn, moods etc. Go to your gp and ask for an urgent referral to ENT say that its affecting her ability to learn in class. Good luck x

My DS5 has been with NHS audiology for a few years while they investigate his hearing and tbh they have been completely useless.

Every time we went, they said he had both wax and glue ear. But suggested ear drops to clear the wax before the next test. We then went through a cycle of 2 years where we would use the drops, have no idea if they worked and then found he had wax at the next appointment.

His behaviour meanwhile got worse and worse from fustration because his ears were blocked, and his speech was very delayed.

A pediatric registrar then saw him and said the wax was solidly blocking both ears and suggested i get the wax suctioned. I did and it made a world of difference. Though it was difficult to find someone who would suction for a young child.

We continued with NHS audiology as he still had glue ear. We went back again recently as his speech development has slowed again and he is behind at school. NHS audiology discharged him because despite having glue ear, they said his hearing test wasn’t too bad.

I went private for a second opinion and they raised concerns about the impact of long-term glue ear and how it can impact speech and listening skills. We’ve now seen a private ENT and he is being booked in for grommets.

I would skip the NHS if you can and find a private audiologist to start with.

She may just need her ears syringed, or it may be something more serious.
See your GP, ask for a check and/or referral.

The worst thing is the not knowing.
Find out, soon!

I would find a private audiologist too, my daughters experience of NHS audiology was very poor.

Ok private audiology. I don’t even know what glue ear is. She hasn’t had lots of infections or anything.

Suspected adhd? She will likely just be not paying attention

They’re saying she’s struggling to focus and needs instructions repeated and her name called etc. I think it’s important to rule out the hearing thing. It could be contributing. I also had her eyes checked and she does need glasses for reading.

You can book for eye syringing at most Specsavers stores. You will have to check if they will children. I would consider this first as the problem maybe then resolved with no need for ENT referral.

All stuff she’s probably not interested in

Test her hearing on thing you know she’s interested in / enjoys

I bet she’d never not hear you if you asked whether she’d like a sweetie or some screen time?!

Hearing absolutely needs to be ruled out before diagnosis of ADHD. Does sound like glue ear. There is also such a thing as sensory processing disorder but again, hearing needs to be ruled out.
Our local audiology NHS service is fantastic but appreciate that is not the same everywhere.

My daughters hearing loss had nothing to do with glue ear or infections, she has sensorineural hearing loss.

This is why I think its worth a private audiology appointment. She actually managed to scrape a pass on an NHS test.

She was secondary school age and after getting hearing aids her grades rocketed and she became much more confident and less withdrawn.

I don't think specsavers offer audiology for children, or they didn't when i asked.

You do need to try the drops again. Most private ear wax removers won’t treat children though. As one who has suffered hearing loss since childhood it does need proper investigation by ent before any other assessments.

How long does it take to get rid of the wax ? Doesn’t everyone have wax ? I’m so clueless. Will do some research.

You probably have a school nursing service, around here they can refer for a hearing test and it might be quicker than booking in with a GP to get seen.

glue ear is a common cause of childhood deafness. Most children grow out of it. It’s what grommets are used for, and it’s to do with the tubes in the ear area not draining effectively enough (not an expert, apart from sitting in lots of children’s audiology appointments over the year). Of course they might not be deaf, and it might not be glue ear, but just saying…

Hearing aids revolutionised my child’s speech and, with it, spelling.

up to a week or so. You’d have to do it before removal anyway.

could be wax

could be auditory processing disorder

but would eliminate any wax with suctioning if nec - then get a hearing test.

if no hearing deficit then apd very likely - a salt therapist can help with this… basically takes longer for rounds to reach the brain. So simple things like saying name - counting to 5 then giving short instruction step by step - is more effective than saying ‘Sarah come and put your shoes on and your coat and get your bag as we need to get in the car’ - long sentences like that they only process ‘car’ not the whole thing…

very common in nd kids but can be helped.

eliminate tonal hearing loss / wax issues then you can support apd

Drops might not work depending on how hard the wax is or how long it has been there.

Alternatively you might not even need to do anything. You can still have a hearing test if the wax isn’t completely blocking the eardrums.

If you’re concerned about wax, might be worth asking for a nurse appt at your GP to check her ears for you so you can understand how much wax there is in currently.

Specsavers don’t do ear wax removal for kids. You’ll need to locate a private specialist who will do microsuction (not syringing!) for kids.

And yes private audiologist. I also found it very difficult to find a private audiologist for kids as well.

Glue ear is fluid that is trapped behind the eardrum. It can often happen during a cold and then the issue is that it doesn’t always drain in young children. It can sometimes drain, but long term glue hear can have negative impacts on speech and listening skills, and also mean she will find it more difficult to hear someone speaking to her when there is background noise.

Whereabouts in the country do you live?

my DS had loads of illness when a toddler and had grommets in his ears at 4 as he had very bad glue ear, made an incredible difference. Please get her a full hearing test not just the basic test.

Hearing loss and ASD/ADHD are often confused. Schools often flag up these as possibilities and then we find it's actually that the child can't hear clearly. You need a proper clinical test of hearing before any ADHD/ASD diagnosis can be made.

1. You need to get rid of the wax. We cannot do a proper test of hearing through solid wax. Most private companies won't do children. The chemist will sell you some drops to soften it. Usually a couple of weeks for it to come out but, if it's very dried out and solid, a doctor might need to microsuction it.
2. Your GP can refer you to NHS audiology and it is usually a short wait for children. It is ridiculous for people to talk about avoiding NHS audiology because their single local team was rubbish. Yours probably isn't. A private Audiologist might also be useless. They're individuals.
3. There are several possible types of hearing loss. None of them can be diagnosed by saying "sweeties" behind their head. Speech is an incredibly complex system and it's possible to hear some sounds and not others. When you can hear some sounds, you can learn to recognise the distorted patterns. But that distorted sound is far harder to make sense of when you're listening to lots of running speech - like the 20 minute class input on algebra, fronted adverbials or the Aztecs.
4. Poor hearing leads to tiredness, restlessness and loss of concentration. It makes learning harder. It also leads to missing out on social skills and friendships.

Children's hearing aids are excellent and can make a huge difference.

Not ridiculous to recommend going straight to private. A couple of us on this thread already have had bad experiences. My child has been tested over several years by several different audiologists at the NHS team and their advice and care has been absolutely shocking from start to finish.

It is also not ridiculous to recommend going straight to private if you don’t to wait several months for an appointment. That is a long time in a young child’s school life.

As some other have mentioned, his is likely to be glue ear. I had it myself when I was young and my son had it aged 5 and 7 and needed grommets fitted both times (a short operation under general anaesthetic). You should.be referred for a hearing test as a first port of call.

My son is 14 now and waiting lists were manageable when he got it done but a friend's son was recently told it was a 3 year waiting list for grommets.

If you can afford it then I would get it done privately as they will miss a lot of key phonics at school after age 6 if they aren't hearing properly.