Glue ear and developmental worries

[Lauracgrg]

Hi all, I'm looking for some advice. My son is now 18 months and at the age of 6 months he started getting ear infection after ear infection. We then discovered he had glue ear. We are due for a hearing test and possible grommets under anaesthetic in October. We have been told now that his ears look clear at this moment in time and I think he is now hearing. The problem is his development. I wondered if anyone else has had/has a toddler with this issue that can maybe throw some light on his development. I just hope his lack of talking etc is due to the delayed hearing and he just needs time to catch up.
Thanks in advance.

My DD first developed glue ear probably at about 3 months of age. Had emergency surgery for a mastoid abscess at 5 months. Her hearing was severely affected until she was 3.5years of age. She still at the age of 9 fails a school hearing test due to scarring from the mastoid abscess.
She had no speech or developmental delay as we ensured we enabled her to lip read. We made sure she looked at us when we were talking to her, we pronounced words clearly and slowly. Recently they did a very unscientific experiment at school and he till lip reads perfectly.

Hello my dd had quite severe glue ear from 18 months and has since had 2 lots of grommits as well as her tonsils and adenoids out.

Her speech was delayed and she still struggles with some sounds now age 7yo but none of the various health professionals, nurseries and now school has ever commented on it or suggested SALT so i'm hoping she sounds fine to everyone else!

Hi, my daughter was very similar to your son, ear infection after ear infection as a baby and toddler, resulting in glue ear and 50% hearing loss on both sides.

Her speech was a bit delayed, but she had grommets put in both sides when she was two and a half, after which the infections stopped and her speech came on in leaps and bounds.

She's now 4, no problems at all with her speech, and a hearing test last week showed that she now has perfect hearing!

I know the prospect of your little one having an operation under anaesthetic is daunting, but in our case having the grommets made a huge amount of difference.

Another one to say grommets made all the difference to my son. Repeated ear infections, loss of hearing and delayed speech. Grommets put in and discharged from speech therapy within three months. I just wished they hadn't waited until he was almost five to put the grommets in. However this was several years ago and practice may be different now.

My ds was very similar. He had constant ear infections from about 2 months until he had grommets at 20 months. He had 1 ear infection in the next year and a half until his grommets fell out. His speech also improved dramatically in the month afterwards.
He then had 8 burst ear drums in 10 weeks and so they put another set of grommets in. (age 3)
Since they came out (about 1 year ago) he's had one burst ear drum each side, but he does still have issues hearing from glue ear.
he is still under SALT, but his pronunciation is about where it should be, but he hasn't got certain sounds-nor can he hear them, we've had a couple of times where he's come home after doing phonics at 6yo saying "guess what mummy, did you know sh and ch are said differently".

But when he can hear, his behaviour and speech is much better.

I would go for the grommets, they made such a difference to ds.

Thank you everyone. It's such a relief to hear how much it does affect their development and that it's probably that and nothing more sinister.
:))))

get the grommets they will help his hearing for sure.

then get his development checked again - like his play skills, role play that kind of thing.

does he go to a play group or nursery?

if he needs a boost your area will run under fives special developmetnal playgroups one or two times a week . ask hv.

in the meantime keep doing things like signing (watch something special) and take him to any under fives groups like music, gym etc - see how he follows instructions, copies other children etc. keep talking to him get on his level make sure he is looking at you and do signs gestures as well.

look at the CHAT checklist too

www.autism.org.uk/working-with/health/screening-and-diagnosis/checklist-for-autism-in-toddlers-chat.aspx if any concerns then ask hv or wait a few months after the grommets and do again

remember early intervention is crucial and can really help if he does turn out to have broader delays