Concerned about my 4yo DS's hearing/pronunciation

[thequietone]

He's just come off a course of antibiotics for an ear infection, but I've been puzzling over his speech for a while anyway. Preschool have also mentioned his dislike of loud noises and crowds. He's always had difficulty saying 'sh', 'ch', 'j', and 'm' can sometimes come out as 'b'. He sounds as if he's a bit blocked in the nose. His nasal passages are very open and clear but he does snore when asleep.

I'm slowly putting all these things together in my mind and beginning to panic. Does anyone have any advice? I've booked him to see a GP on Monday.

It sounds like you should be asking for a hearing test and a speech therapy referral to start with. You might also like to consider whether or not there is more that worries you. If not then this is probably all that is needed, but if you are concerned about other development (even if you can't put your finger on it) then ask the GP to refer to a developmental paediatrician for a full review.

You might get some more help on the special needs children section of MN too if you post there.

Ds has glue ear and SALT. Sh, ch and j are sounds he can't make, but having seen the SALT yesterday, they're sounds in the 5yo+ catagory, so a SALT wouldn't be interested in helping, I doubt. Can't remember about m.

Dislike of loud noises can mean an infection because (non-technical interpretation of medical explanation here) the muscle that acts as a damper on the ear drum can be not working in an infection.

The Gp may refer you to ENT, certainly SALT would request in those circumstances he had a hearing test first round here. From what you've said there's nothing I'd pick out as a problem, but I'm not hearing him and there may be other sounds that he's not saying that would be cause for concern. It's worth asking.

Thanks for writing! He was diagnosed with a very bad infection in both ears that may have gone unnoticed for too long. He had been saying "What" a lot in the last month, but he was doing it also as a joke, so we didn't consider it any further. Then the pain came so I whisked him straight to the GP. This all coincides with the preschool noticing a finger in his ear and not liking other children's loud noise.

Preschool did look up those sounds he tricky, and also said he wouldn't be referred for those until 5+.

The " dislike of loud noises and crowds" probably wasn't the best way of wording it. His older brother has acute/sensitive hearing so also doesn't like loud noise. It's not that he doesn't cope in a group, he just finds it hard to hear, I think. Outside of a large group his hearing is very very good.

DH is inclined to get him checked out, but avoid surgery if it's not absolutely necessary.

I'd agree with your dh. If they offer surgery though (grommets/adenoid removal etc.) they do think he really needs it, as at that age they're usually inclined to wait it out unless it's affecting school behaviour as they start growing out of it at about that age.

I'd second all said, get GP to look in ears to check all ok and see if they can see any glue ear or problems, ask for hearing test and see what that throws up.

My ds2 had glue ear and is described as having large tonsils, he snores louder than dh and he's only 4 - consultant said he'd grow into them eventually

Thanks so much for all your advice. I typically completely panicked, Googled (slaps wrists) and forgot that he can actually hear very well, but is having some problems at the moment after ear infection.

Think I need to calm down about this - it's the preschool that are pushing pushing for tests. I read that children grow into their adenoids and tonsils. I really don't want to put him through surgery (be it only 30 minutes) if it's not going to be needed down the line.

Right, time to move only stressing over hearing about school place tomorrow!!! Fun fun!