son 16 months, not talking, not pointing, nursery concerned about hearing

[alisonm2013]

I feel sick. I've been mildly concerned for a few months that my son doesn't point. He only started clapping at 14 months, and just started waving a couple of days ago. We've had on and off mamama and dadada for a while, but rarely directed to the correct person, and no other word attempts. The health visitor observed him for a while at 13 months and said not to worry. Now, this morning, the nursery room manager pulled me aside to say they were concerned about his hearing, which had crossed my mind from time to time as well. It's sort of all come to a head for me today, and I feel like the worst mother for not trying to do more earlier. I'm trying to get an appointment with the health visitor to get another check, and hopefully a proper hearing test.

Just make an apointment now with GP and ask for her/him to check for glue ear. Then ask for referal for hearing test. Do it via GP I have found it to be less of a patronising affair than with a HV.

And the GP will at least be able to shine a little light hin your DS's ears and check if there is any gluppy liquid behind the ear drum, which is called glue ear, and which does happen a lot in little children.

Make an appointment with the gp and ask for a referral to audiology for a hearing test, do not take no for an answer, also point out that you have had worries but nursery have flagged that there could be a problem too.

Thank-you blueberry, I wondered about glue ear - DS has had a lot of coughs and colds since starting nursery at 12 months. The GP did shine a light in his ear at our last visit about six weeks ago and said it looked ok, but it could have developed since then. I'll ask the HV specifically about it. We always end up seeing a different GP every time, and the HV has been a lot more consistent. She's been really good with a whole range of issues for us, and has always said to come in whenever we have concerns. She wasn't at all dismissive when we saw her at 13 months, she acknowledged our concerns and said that DS was way ahead in his motor skills and might be a child who focuses on one set of skills to the exclusion of others. We were supposed to have another developmental review at 18 months, but the hearing concerns have really bumped up my worries about DS's social/communication development generally.

DS does pretend play, trying to feed me and OH, and yesterday OH said he was pretending to give his bunny a drink of water. He loves cuddles and books, definitely can hear some things as he likes music and singing, and does responsive babble when you are face to face. But he doesn't respond to his name, follow simple spoken instructions, or react when called across the room. The other day I came to pick him up from nursery and called to him across the room, but he didn't even look up. When he finally turned away from his toy, his eyes lit up and he ran babbling towards me. That really made me think he just didn't hear.

Thank you cathpip and miaow - that is reassuring to hear about your daughter. Our HV can refer to audiology, so hopefully we can skip the GP.