Glue ear/speech delay

[lyssie29]

My DD is 2.5 and I've been told shes got glue ear. She has another appointment in july to see if its gone away however I'm not sure how much of her speech and understanding is delayed because of her hearing. Sometimes I feel like she cant understand me. I'll ask her a question such as where is your teddy and she'll just look at me. I find it very frustrating and worried that its not just from her hearing. I can repeat it 10 times and get no reaction from her although if i say her name she will look at me most of time so I think she must be able to hear me. A lot of the time I ask her to do something she doesn't do it at all. I'm not sure if she's ignoring Me, doesnt understand or can't really hear me. I'm not sure whatbdo do right now is this normal for a 2.5 year old? She says words but not clear and sometimes sound nothing like they should. She babbles alot. I'm waiting for a follow up appointment with speech and language. Anyone had any experience with this? Was there any delay in their learning or anything or was it just speech delay? I'm just concerned that she doesnt seem to understand basic commands and finding it hard to tell if shes just being 2 and ignoring me.

Similar here. The grommets (and tonsils out as causing sleep apnea at the same time) has been life changing.

I don’t have any experience of glue ear but I’d say that she sounds within the normal range for a 2.5 year old. For sone context, my DD hardly spoke until she was 3, she’s now a very bright and capable 10 year old.

If you are finding communicating with her hard, have you tried signing as well as speech? Did you know too that you can get support by joining the National Deaf Children’s Society for free even if her hearing loss is temporary?

Hope you get a few more replies OP.

Ds had glue ear and his speech was suffering. After having grommets fitted he became a different child. More happy, confident and speech improved immediately.

My son has grommets and we found a massive change after he had grommets fitted but it took a year of hearing tests before they would agree to operate. They generally don't like to do it before the age of three as some kids can grow out of it.
As a result of being unable to hear properly for the first three years of his life he now has a communication disorder and challenging behaviour. I urge you to push for the grommets as now you have a diagnosis there is no time to waste. The doctors know there's a problem and that's how to fix it.
The longer you wait the more catching up your DD will have to do. Good luck. It's a very stressful thing to deal with x

@lyssie29 hello, how is your DD doing these few years on if I may ask? My DS who is a bit younger than your DD back then is showing similar behaviour& has glue ear in both ears diagnosed. I am very worried about him, waiting for the second hearing test& his 2Y review so we are very much in the unknown at the moment. Many thanks.

Ask for grommets to put in, your child's hearing is muffled. It's a simple procedure & will only help.

Push push push for grommets. My little one is 20 months old. Had glue ear since birth and is delayed across the board. He has recently had this operation and we can already see a huge difference in his engagement with the world. Too many consultants are happy to take a wait and see approach without appreciating the huge affect incidental learning has for children and the delays and behaviour challenges which can be caused.

I also second speaking to the national deaf children society. They have been very supportive for us. Glue ear is still classed as a hearing loss and they will support you.

My 9 year old had severe glue ear in both ears and she could hear almost nothing. She'd panic if she couldn't see me in the room, and no amount of my calling 'I'm here, I'm only in the next room' would help. She couldn't hear a phone ring, didn't blink if I dropped a pan. But she learned to lip read and managed to convince my family and the GP that she could hear fine. Grommets aged 2 were instantly life changing - she marvelled at the sound of a kettle boiling etc - but it took three years for her speech to become clear and she still struggles to process auditory information. I use audio books a lot to help.

Thank you Everyone for all your comments, it is very much appreciated. My DS second hearing test is in few weeks time so will know a little bit more of what is going on( if he will cooperate, tricky age to test!) but will definitely push for grommets if these will be needed. You can notice that both ears are bothering him as he is touching one or another multiples times a day. He is saying new words ( althrough the progress with that is v slow) but some are not pronaunced correctly which would only confirm that the glue are persists. I am doing some SALT activities with him but lacking guidance, would NDCS help with that? Many thanks

This was a fascinating thread. My three year old had enlarged adenoids and the doctor said he was effectively dead most of the time. He had an operation to remove them and it had an instant effect, his speech is still unclear but he started using new words and simple sentences within days. He is behaviour is still challenging and he is really defiant. It hadn’t occurred to me that he could still have some processing issues now that he can hear again but I’m going to look into that. He’s bright in other ways - can compete a brand new 30 piece puzzle within minutes for example- but is always on the move, making noises and not responding to instructions. He won’t involve himself in carpet sessions at Nursery and is known for bolting.

Deaf! Not dead!

@Xiaomao1 similar here, my DS is v bright too, doing new brand puzzles in minutes but is also always on the move& rarelly following instructions (he is 2) however yday for the first time he responded logically to 'Where is...' to which he said 'I don't know' so maybe his glue ear is clearing out... I think he may also have enlarged adenoids as still drolling a lot& had the sleep apnea( he is now in his own bedroom so diffucult to keep on track if that still persists). Will definitely look into that, I had no clue this also may affect hearing.

Just out of curiosity: when did you notice a speech delay? My daughter is 14 months old and I think she's a bit slow in the receptive language department and as a result doesn't have any words yet (babbles lots and has consonants etc, so producing sound is not an issue).
She has been snotty since 6months old when starting nursery. Had bronchiolitis shortly after and has not been snot free since.
Ear issues wouldn't surprise me...
Just wondering when you would consider a child speech delayed?

We noticed when our DS was around 20
months old that he does not respond to his name hence we were sent for the hearing test which revealed glue ear in both ears, he had around 8-10 words by then but the HV reassured me that it is what it is expected at that age, his understanding was not great. Now he is 2 awaiting the follow up hearing test& he still does understand some instructions& some not, his vocab increased but he does say words not as they should be pronunced. Children must develop attention skills first to enable understanding then when they got that the speech comes. With the glue ear as everyone over here says when the ears are muffed then that process gets slower. I think 14 months old is very early to think about speech delay& they all developping at their own speed (which I am repeating to myself re our DS)but I would also recommend to have the hearing checked first.

I made an appointment with the GP. Will have a look into her ears and go from there. Thanks for the reply :-)
All these "shoulds" just give me anxiety...
I kniw they are all different but it's hard not to compare

I totally understand & believe me I am constantly worrying about my son. Our DD who is 8 was putting two words together at 16 months old& by 2 she was fully conversationnal so this is all new for me. Hope the appointment with your GP will go well.

@Springmama
Hiya, I wondered how your LO was doing now?