Two year old speech delay - glue ear but passed hearing test

[Sweeetchildofmine]

My 26 month old son has a speech delay (probably only says ten or so words clearly) and we were referred to audiology for a hearing test at the local hospital. He passed the hearing test (although it took many attempts at the higher frequencies) but the tympanometry showed bilateral glue ear.

We have paid to see a SALT privately who said the nature of his speech delay (the sounds he can and can’t make) and the fact he lip reads, points to the speech delay being due to his glue ear/hearing issues. However we have since seen an ENT consultant who has said they wouldn’t consider grommets to clear the glue ear on a child of his age unless he was failing hearing tests.

I know glue ear is extremely common in young children but I’m worried that he’s falling further and further behind with his speech. Has anyone had a similar experience and can provide any advice please? Thank you!

When did he have the hearing test?

Ds had bad glue ear from 10 weeks old, and had 3 lots of grommets. Typically in July/August he could hear fine. However October through to May he could be down as low as 10% hearing. I used to make sure his hearing tests weren't generally in the summer months.

@MargaretThursday it was the end of June so there might be something in that…

We got grommets on the NHS at 13 months old for my son. Couldn't hear well from possibly 5 months onwards. Multiple hearing tests, some passed, some failed. Ultimately we decided to go ahead with the surgery. Following the operation surgeon actually said it was the best decision we could have made for him as his glue ear would not have cleared by itself.

He is a different child since!

For me the biggest thing was the tymp test results. Even if he could pass the hearing tests, what he could hear was probably muffled.

@Glueear17 that’s really interesting thank you. The tymp test in both ears was flat. Obviously I don’t want to subject him to any unnecessary surgery, but the SAL therapist says his speech (or lack of) is indicative of the inconsistencies in hearing that glue ear causes. I’m definitely going to push for another test.

Yes I think that's necessary. There is a wait and watch period of 3 months (I think) before they consider surgery to see if it clears by itself. And it also could be that sometimes it clears then comes back. I could never really rely 100% on the hearing test results as it really did vary from one to the next (depending on the weather and if he was congested more that day etc etc)

My son was a lot younger than yours and even from then I could see he was struggling. He did not make a sound. No babbling, no other noises at all. Very scary and actually it was the grommets that did the trick. We did also have a temporary hearing band prior to grommets where we did see differences but then he got to the stage where he just kept pulling it off!

Hi @Sweeetchildofmine, if you are still around, please would you be able to update on how your little one is doing now? 😊

Hi there, he had another hearing test in the October of 2024 which he ‘passed’ but the tymph still showed glue ear. I showed the results to a private ENT surgeon who said that the tests showed mild hearing loss and said he was a candidate for grommets (he said even if he’d have seen him as an NHS patient he would have said the same) and within a month he’d had the op and had his adenoids removed too. Fast forward a year and he has completely caught up with his speech, his behaviour and attention has improved, and he’s starting school in September as a happy and confident little boy. I am glad I didn’t just accept what NHS audiology told me as I knew the glue ear was affecting him even though they were insistent he could hear.

That’s such a positive update

Oh and after the op the surgeon said his middle ears were completely full of thick stringy mucus which would never have cleared without intervention and his adenoids were blocking 70-80% of his airways. NHS ENT wouldn’t even entertain the idea that he might have had enlarged adenoids without seeing video evidence of sleep apnea at night which I could never really get because he used to sleep on his tummy with his bum in the air and his mouth wide open!

It does sound as though you were really let down by the NHS Doctor, thank goodness you’ve had the wherewithal to get this sorted.

Unfortunately I think it’s all to do with funding and it varies so much area to area. Because glue ear is so fluctuating and doesn’t necessarily present urgent and serious symptoms then they like to ‘watch and wait’ in the hope a number of cases resolves themselves as the children get older. But in the case of my son it was affecting him during a really important part of his development and hindered him massively; I’m just grateful that the surgeon we found understood this and we had the means (work insurance) to go privately. Others might not be so lucky.