Private hearing tests in Oxfordshire region

[Mocker]

Hi

My ds, 5, has been under a paediatrician since the age of 3 for a speech delay. Along with (a lot of!) private sessions and infrequent NHS sessions his speech has come on a lot but his sentence structure (the language part) is still very stilted. I have always had serious doubts over his hearing. Not in a severe way but maybe subtly. His speech is very much like someone who is repeating a foreign language but doesn't speak it, if that makes sense.

Every year he has had a very quick (about 15 mins) check at the hospital where they have said he is congested but it is because of a cold. Most times he hasn't had a cold but they have ignored me and said he is fine.

He has got to the stage where he can tell us about things. He recently said he couldn't see properly from one eye and when we took him to the opticians he does have a problem in that eye. He has also told me that he can't hear very well. He has attention problems and his teacher has identified the busy classroom as a source of distraction for him.

I am now kicking myself that I didn't push more of the hearing part. I am resigned to going private to once-and-for-all getting a proper test which I can believe the outcome.

Would anyone be able to recommend anywhere I can take him? Do I need a referral from the GP?

Any advice gratefully received.

The best paed audiologist is CHEAR based in Cambridge or London

The Burwood Centre part of the Mary Hare group in Newbury. You can have hearing assessment, speech and language and educational physiologists report. Choosing either the whole lot or just one or two parts.
Mary Hare is the Grammer school for the deaf and this group is a centre of excellence for hearing assessment.

Thanks all. Didn't notice I had some further posts. I thought I would just update you. I took him to the GP (a different one as we have moved since all the paed visits etc.) and he recommended an ENT referral at the hospital. DS has never had one of these so I am glad for this. Fingers crossed.

There is no comparison between the test done by Chear and ENT. Most ENT hearing tests are just a few minutes and do not pick up on everything. The appointments at Chear are scheduled for an hour but we were given nearly 2 for our fee which was I think about £140 and well worth every penny. ENT did not find any hearing loss until after they had the report from Chear (amazingly they were then able to find it and treated it immediately). ENT appointments at our hospital have a very long waiting list unlike the private appointments and time is critical.

Madrigals - yes our ENT appointment seemed to test both ears together and just ask the child to put a teddy in a pot and I felt Dd was watching the operator so she knew when to put it in. Josephine did tests with words as well as the sounds and with her mouth covered so no lip reading and did bone conduction hearing tests too for each ear.

Our ENT was very thorough using one audiologist to play with DD whilst another went in the 'cabin' to create the sounds.

The Burdwood did a educational psychology report as well as the hearing test.
Burwood came to the conclusion that although DD has significant hearing she is very bright and well adapted with excellent lip reading. Hearing aids could actually be detrimental causing a sensory overload as she becomes distressed by certain types of sound. So far this advice has been correct.