Worries about hearing in older children?

[Fernie3]

My son is 4 and i have started having a few worries about his hearing. No one incident but little niggles some examples would be:
He is always asking people to repeat themselves
He seems confused a lot whe people talk to him even though his understanding is generally good once you get through to him
He talks incredibly loudly (i mean shouting as though he's in another room)
He cant talk on a phone easily
His nursery teacher didnt mention any specific concerns other than she cam be talking to him about something and he will just suddenly come out with a totally random comment which made me wonder if he was just guessing at a conversation sometimes.

Does anyone Have any experience of this? Can my gp help? Normally he says see the hv about pretty much anything child related.

The reason i am posting here ( as i know no one can really solve this online!) is that when i have mentioned concerns to the health visitor she had said his name loudly theee times in a quiet room and then said that he is fine because he turned around also he passed his newborn hearing test. So she brushed it off as normal selective hearing but i still have these little moments of thinking that he cant quite hear - the volume he talks in is actually ( and I'm not trying to be dramatic) quite distressing at times because it's like a constant battle to stop him making the others cry!

Tell your GP or HV to refer him to a hearing clinic. I had my dd checked as deafness runs in my family and the tests were brilliant and age related. I cannot tell you happy I was to have proper tests done. They are the experts and will help you whatever the outcome. Did the GP check him out medically for glue ear etc?

Thanks, we saw a gp when he was 2 who had a look in his ears (is this what you mean?) and said they were not blocked. We had gone because our health visitor at the timev( sadly not anymore) was worried as he could not speak and was behind in his development. We haven't been about it since then as his speech is coming on ( although he is unclear still and has a lisp). I also feel a little nervous of going back too much as the health visitor and the go have already seen him. I suppose i should make more of a fuss though rather than let it go in case there IS a problem.

Try and get him referred.

My DD2 had hearing problems, and it took 2 years of me telling all and sundry that I thought she couldn't hear properly. She was 6 before it was sorted out. She had grommets put in because she was nearly stone deaf.

Funnily enough I took my just 4 year old DS to the doctors this week about this. I haven't had any worries about it up until about Oct last year when he had a cold/cough thing that lasted til after Christmas. I had it too and both of us during that time started to have difficulty hearing due to being bunged up etc. My hearing has gone back to normal but DS is still not right.

I don't know if I am overreacting, it could just be habit/rudeness/being 4 and being busy in what he's doing etc but I really get the impression that he's not hearing as well as before, he doesn't even seem to hear if it's something he'd like to hear about if you know what I mean. Before he was as sharp as a bucketful of lemons but now you could say most things in front of him and he wouldn't hear you (unless it's all part of his dastardly plans and he's actually learning all sorts of secrets ). My doc looked at his ears and said it all looked fine but she would refer him. She is not one of those doctors who tells you just to sod off home and live with your problems though, she does tend to take things to the next level if she can't solve your problems.

A friend of mine has a bro that was left deaf as a result of meningitis as a baby and it took a lot of pushing by his mum to have his deafness recognised. Just calling his name isn't a proper hearing test. Definitely ask your GP for a referral if you think there is a prob.

I think you might have to be a pushy parent and insist he's refered. You know him best and if he's had other developmental issues in the past they could be related to poor hearing. A proper hearing test will put your mind at rest if nothing else, and if there are hearing problems better sooner than later to stop him getting behind with his language development. If his hearing is fine he may have other developmental issues but getting hearing sorted is a priority. If you have concerns, trust your instincts. Sometimes it just takes someone to take you seriously to give you 'permission' to be worried. HTH

my middle dd passed all her hearing tests as a baby and i didn't pick up a problem till she was about 4 and she had terrible glue ear. it can worsen at any age so you need to get your gp to refer you as once it's sorted you'll be amazed at the difference. if there isn't a problem with his hearing then maybe he will benefit from some speech therapy - there is usually a long wait so again the sooner a referral is made the better. hope this helps