Going to GP for hearing test referral -what to say

[jenduck]

My DS2 is 24 months (turned 2 on 8th April). He has about 15 words, but does not put 2 words together. The words he has are mostly approximations or part words, but we can understand him & so can others who are listening closely IYSWIM. He communicates well, asking for what he wants by going over to the thing/taking us over & reaching out with his hand open, making a noise. He also shares his toys with us, reacts to our emotions (laughing, smiling, sad) & looks at us when unsure of something.

He does squeal a lot, but I wonder if this is frustration in not talking.

So, anyway, I am aware that he is behind for his age & am trying to be proactive about it. We have just started attending a 6-week group speech therapy. The first week he did OK, the second week (this week) he did really well & came out with 2 new words

He is also starting nursery 2 mornings per week soon, as I think it is a good thing to do from 2, & I wonder if it might help him to be away from Mummy who understands his requests before he has made them!

I have also booked a GP appointment to ask for a referral for a hearing test. BUT, I am nervous that the GP will just brush me off & I want a hearing test now so that we can rule out any problems in that area, or deal with them if there are some. The GP I am seeing is not the best one in our surgery, he is very old-fashioned & says 'wait & see' to everything. So, my question is, what do I tell him to get a hearing test? My DS has never suffered with any ear infections that I know of, so I can't give that as a reason. Should I mention the speech therapy group? It takes 2 weeks to book a non-urgent appointment here so I want to make the most of it! Also, one of the other mums at speech therapy said her DD (2.5) has been diagnosed with glue ear, but they are waiting & seeing for 3 months before they put grommets in. Is this common. She feels it is delaying her DD's speech further.

Any thoughts would be helpful, TIA

The speech therapist should be able to do the audiology referral for you so if you feel more comfy asking them, then maybe try that??
I always try and get my dcs referrals done through slt or whichever department I can to avoid the gp as ours are rubbish!! but the GP should not really fob you off if you ask for a hearing test, its a very normal and sensible request in the situation? Your reason is that he has a speech delay and you would like hearing problems to be ruled out, doesnt matter about ear infection.

Waiting 3 months before putting in grommets, very normal - as a minimum! My 3 year old is waiting for his grommets and his hearing has been monitored way longer than that! probably a year now, if not longer! was infact back there again just this morning. but the reason they explained to me about waiting a minimum of 3 months is to see if it clears up by itself which in some cases it can - so then why put your child through unnecessary surgery? when they see the fluid and glue or whatever else in the ears, they need to make sure this is a constant picture and can only be done by monitoring it over time - minimum 3 months. I would actually be suprised if they see that child again and put the grommets in straight away after the 1st 3 months, but it could depend area to area??

Hi, thanks for responding

I did ask the group leader about referring him for a hearing test, the first week I went, but she said to go to the GP as the group leaders don't deal with that side of things. It is run by the Children's centre, with a Nursery Nurse in attendance, so maybe that is why.

That is interesting to know about grommets, I think I just assumed that they would be put in straight away, if needed, much like glasses are prescribed straight away if there is a problem with vision. But I understand that surgery always carries a risk, so that makes sense. Have you found that your DS has progressed in his speech without grommets, or not very much?

hi,
my DD is 2.4 and says about 14-15 words and that's it. absolutely fine in all other ways, no concerns at all.
her lack of speech has been concerning me for ages and i approached the HV about it - she had an assessment y'day morning and in all other areas apart from speech, she is 6-8 months ahead of where she should be.

even though she says few words, what the HV was looking at more than anything was her understanding, which is outstanding, and whether the words she does use are said with meaning and appropriate, which she said they were, i.e. door when she sees a door type of thing.

what the HV said was some DC are thinkers and stand on the sidelines taking it all in and actually know more than they let on, others are like a bull in a china shop and jump in with random words etc that don't really mean anything. apparently my DD is a thinker...which did make me giggle

she was an early walker (10 months) and physically she is way ahead....it really is true, they can't be good at everything and when i said about other 2 year olds having conversations with you, she said can that may be but can they do other things that DD can - my friends DD who is a week older is an amazing talker, but she can't run very well, still can't walk up or down stairs and only starting walking at 23 months...kind of puts it all into perspective.

i've been back and fore the doctors, her ears were checked, and her ear drums were "dull" which suggested fluid or something built up behind the ear drums. she was given a decongestant to take for 3 weeks and when we went back it had cleared.

i have to say it put my mind at ease like you wouldn't believe - i was so upset and worried about her lack of speech it was keeping me up at night - today...literally...she came out with 3 new words, i was so shocked and proud i could have cried.

easier said than done (coming from the world's biggest worrier) but please try not to worry too much about this, he is still so young and has PLENTY of time to catch up (not that he's even behind but you know what i mean lol).

it was only when i kind of thought to myself that i should stop worrying myself about what DD isn't doing and acknowledge what she can do, that i realised she ain't half clever my little girl

your doing everything you can for your little one and it never ever hurts to get a doctor's opinion - you've got nothing to lose by seeking help and everything to gain xx

xx

Thanks aww, I am definitely a worrier so I am trying to channel those energies into doing something positive!

Tbh, DS2 has always been a very lazy laidback sort of chap, walking at 17.5 months, self-feeding late, pointing/waving late etc & I feel that this plus having a big brother who talks for England & won't let him get a word in is a large factor! And he seems to be a perfectionist who does things only once he is certain. He also said 2 new words the other day & I was thrilled! But I just feel that encouragement doesn't hurt.

He is a lovely, outgoing, adventurous little boy, more sociable than most his age & always happy (unless teething). He eats anything & lots of it & sleeps 11-12 hours plus an hour's nap, so these are his strong points, thank you for making me take stock.

Well, DS2 had his hearing test today! I'm not really sure how it went, as they tried 2 techniques with him & said he was too old for one to be effective & too young for the other.

The test they said he was too old for was playing a sound & then toys lighting up in boxes across the room, whilst he was busy playing with other toys. He was too interested in the other toys & not distracted enough by the boxes (although I would have thought that meant maybe he didn't hear them very well ).

The test they said he was too young for involved putting monkeys in a pot every time he heard a noise. He just wanted to put all the monkeys in, whether he heard a noise or not .

They actually said that lots of children his age are similar as they are just interested in everything around them, so the tests don't work too well a lot of the time.

They did also look inside his ears with a probe-type-thing [technical] & saw some redness there. This coupled with me telling them that he is pretty much constantly teething badly & sniffly quite often (as well as his response to the tests) lead to them suspecting mild hearing loss. They also saw fluid

We are due to go back in August & they want me to train him for the second type of test, but they also said that his level of hearing will fluctuate depending on whether he is well/teething or not.

We also have an SALT assessment late in August & having looked through the form, I feel encouraged as his only downfalls there seem to be understanding at the lower end of the scale, but still on there (which is understandable if he has some hearing loss, I think) & very little & unclear speech.

Forgot to ask yesterday when I updated this (busy day ) does this sound similar to other people's experiences of hearing checks for a just-turned 2 yo?

Ds has glue ear and had his first set of grommets at 20 months.

He didn't really do hearing teats properly until he was 4yo and they let him do the adult version where you have a button to press when you hear a noise. He is apparently a pilot of a Lancaster and whenever he presses the button he's dropping a bomb.
He never really liked the things going in a pot. Would do a bit okay, and then lose patience and either shove them all in, or start doing something else with them. So they used to quickly do the basic test and asses whether his hearing was above or at baseline. Now they can test exactly what the problem frequencies are.

On the grommets, the first time he had the test they immediately put him down for grommets as he was getting multple ear infections, I don't think they even tested his hearing until after the grommets were in, his speech was okay but not clear. He had grommets within the month.
The second set of grommets were put in 2 days after the hearing test.
We're on a wait and see with the third set of grommets as he's borderline hearing and they like to put in a longer lasting set by the third time which have potentially more problems as well.

It does seem that the tests they give them ask a lot from 2-year olds, doesn't it? Really, a 2-year old confronted with a whole box of new toys & a new playmate (the assistant) is bound to want to explore the new toys

Your poor DS has been through a lot with his hearing . Do you think the grommets have improved matters?

I never realise how bad he is until he has grommets in and see how much he's improved. Things like he said one time "The leaves didn't crunch last year". That was just after he'd had the 2nd grommets in.

Grommets help considerably. Luckily I have an excellent GP who will send me back to ENT straight away if he thinks ds needs a second opinion, and an excellent consultant who talks a lot of sense.

Hi OP

I'm surprised they do the test where the boxes light up with a child your DS's age. My two had this test done to rule out hearing loss (we have a genetic thing in the family) but it was at 9 mths when it works well. Can't imagine my DS would get much out of it now at 19mths tho - he'd be bored of the boxes after a couple of goes!

Yes, bumpsadaisie, this was pretty much Ds's reaction! It was the first thing they tried with him