Glue Ear and Behaviour Problems

[jerikaka]

I have heard that glue ear can cause behaviour problems. Has anyone out there experienced this and if so what sort of behaviour were their children exhibiting? My ds has developed an extreme reaction to the noise of other children, his speech development is not what I expected (but that could be normal, I'm not sure) and he is always clutching his ears. I thought that the problem would get better if i exposed him to other children, but it's just getting worse. Any experince of this would be much appreciated.

Jerikaka - my 2.5yo cries when he hears babies cry. This is just because he is very sensitive and does not like to see anyone upset!!

Jollyhardwork, DO chase this, urgently. I haven't posted on here so far because although dd has had ear problems (persistent perforated ear drums, several flat tympanogram readings in one or both ears) she has not had behavioural problems or a diagnosis of glue ear yet.
Not to hijack jerikaka's reasons for starting this discussion, and the useful info on it, but lots and lots of children have ear infections, glue ear etc, and no behavioural issues with them. Please try not to worry about your ds2 on the basis of this specific discussion IYSWIM.
Lots of us have certainly experienced LONG waits to get to see a Paed ENT expert and then long waits for routine audiology reassessments though
Good luck, and to jerikaka too.

DS2 has glue ear and his speech problems are very noticeable indeed. I'm not sure about the behaviour, he's certainly unsettled but then he's a 4 year old boy and I'm comparing to DS1 who is Aspergers. His unsettledness could also be because his speech is so slow and he very rarely looks anyone in the eye and wanders whilst talking, so people (inc his teacher- ) ignore him. IME these things all sort of add up and it's hard to pry out the real reasons from the by products.

just looked at the CHAT test. I know it's a screening only but DS3 has some speech delay and DH and I were saying that on many counts he's got the same behaviours as Sam (no pointing, etc) and the test has flagged up a lot. Oh Hell. here we go again.

DH and I really want another baby in a few years but MIl says we have no good genes to pass on. maybe she is right (but she is mad).

Jollyhardwork, just to reassure you , my son has glue ear and a permanent hearing loss and has no behaviour problems and minimal speech problems (pronunciation rather than lack of vocab). I spend half my life at hospital and wish you luck personally I find audiology more helpful and ENT a nightmare to get the appiontments we need.

Housearrest, thanks for your comments. I have taken him to a cranial osteopath twice. He was born by vontous (can't remember how to spell it), and the midwife recommended that he might benefit from it when he was only a couple of days old. I didn't think that it helped him that much when he was tiny, but took him again when he was about 14 months as he was still having sleep problems and thought it might help, but it didn't. He has been on antibiotics since starting this discussion, and he is slightly better. He had got to the stage where he cried when he heard a baby breathing or another child was talking. He's not doing that so badly, but he is still so sensitive to noise. Even hearing birds squarking upsets him. He has got an audiology appointment for the 3rd November. My mum has realised from watching a video that they have been making of him that he has been holding his ears at the sound of noise since he was four months. Bit wierd? It just concerns me so much as we have our baby due in twelve weeks. I was hoping he would grow out of this sensitivity, but it just seems to be getting worse. The thought of a screaming baby and toddler is more than I can handle. I think I'm just going to have to stock up with ear plugs!
Jollyhardwork, I would chase for the appointment. Don't feel like you are being a pushy parent, like a lot of health professionals can make you feel like sometimes.

I was just browsing the Internet for more information in glue ear and this came up and I just wanted to give you some advice from a child's perspective.
I'm 14 years old. I've been suffering from glue ear since I was little. For some reason unlike every other kid, my condition has got a little bit worse over the years instead of getting worse. I've had gromits twice and a skin graft on my ear drum. On top of that I wear two hearing aids all the time and have help in classes since it has managed to drag on for so long.
When I was younger up until I learned to talk I was always extremely quiet especially as a baby (I sucked my thumb which helped to unblock my passages so I could hear better but unconsciously of course) and even after I began to talk it was still a while until I started acting up.
I used to throw fits of rage when people didn't understand me or I didn't understand them. My mom viewed this as me being upset because I didn't get my way and didn't investigate until a year later we found out I was deaf.
Being deaf has major disadvantages on our communications. It's not just not being able to understand others, when we say something, we don't hear your replies and this led to me feeling ignored and shoved aside. Kids can't understand why people 'can't hear them' and this makes them feel isolated from other kids. When they get mad or angry or upset, screaming and yelling things is a common first reaction especially with me even now, over my parents and brothers so my voice can be heard. This is usual and not anything different. Piece of advice though, one thing I hated when I was younger was my parents saying things offhand to me and just hearing slight mumbles. Eye contact is one of the key rules to me. Even when signing, facial expressions are a large aspect for questioning and disciplining and so on. It helps to give extra attention to glue ears kids when talking to them to make sure they understand instructions and what they're being told to do.
Since I was shy with other kids I read a lot growing up but because my vocabulary has expanded through books, I pronounce a lot of words like they're spelt and it helps if you correct us. I have a slight stutter as well and avoid talking in front of large crowds as I tend to trip over my words whether from going to fast or getting nervous. Sometimes we also tend to pick up accents quickly from people we hear on TV or at school.
I've always had 'behavioural' issues as far as I can remember although I can't actually remember purposefully doing anything bad except getting angry and breaking things. You'll notice if they get in trouble and they don't understand they'll just get more angry and do the same thing again, not sure what they're doing wrong. Frustration was one of the most common emotions in my childhood and I always felt my mum didn't communicate with me, even now.
If you have any questions on glue ears physiological effects on people like me, email me at [email protected]
Communication is best for sor