Ds (22 months): moderate hearing loss (glue ear), now about to get temporary hearing aid... any experiences anybody?

[emkana]

He did not do well in the hearing test today, I knew straightaway that it was worse htan the one last December. Difficult to know at this age though whether he's not reacting because he really can't hear or because he can't be bothered because the toys the lady is showing him are far more interesting. He does seem to understand well, responds to basic instructions.

Am happy to give hearing aid a go if it might mean improvement of his speech, or rather getting his speech going in the first place.

Does anybody have any wisdom to share on the matter? Apparently he's too young for grommets, at what age do they do that then?

KerryMum concentrate please

he's 22 months as it says in title

Apparently they have made v. good experiences with hearing aids here, also means less intrusive/no GA

Hmm I don't know it dependes on the taste I guess...

Emkana what hearing tests has DS had? My DD2 (23 mths) has had all the luvverley but useless ones involving nice ladies and toys (as she is not talking, occasionally unresponsive, and unsteady on feet) and these have been deemed worse than useless by her Paed consultant. Went to see ENT chap last week who couldn't get anywhere near her to check for glue ear or whatever so now we are awaiting appt for a general anesthetic and proper things strapped on scalp, doesn't matter if they are co-operative or not type hearing test IYKWIM... Hearing aid seems a bit odd if glue ear - has never been presented to me as an option for that by all the folks we've seen - grommets only.

We were sat at a table, lady opposite distracting him with toys, then on the right a box which made noises and would then light up with dancing cuddly toys inside. Ds very unbothered by it all, that's why I wonder whehter he really couldn't hear or just wasn't interested.

Am feeling v. unsure about this hearing aid thing now.

Am watching this thread with intrest. My dd (5) has just been referred to ENT (waiting on appointment coming in) I have been back and forward since she was little with concerns about her hearing. She has passed hearing tests (nice lady with toys) but I still say she has a hearing problem. I am lead to beleive in this area though that they just leave the problem as they will 'grow out of it' when the sinuses etc grow. We will wait and see/.

We see the nice ladies all the time - they are very upfront about how useless their funny toys test is for kids this age - dancing cuddlies not necessary sufficient reward as they freely admit!! My DD has a congenital health condition which might mean she gets more referrals as everyone paranoid it might be due to that but it wasn't much of a struggle to get to see ENT consultant for the forthcoming full-on check up for glue ear, deafness, 'listening' disorder etc etc. Why not try for that Emkana?

Listening disorder??? What is this????

We are getting referred to an ENT consultant. Ds has a genetic disorder (dwarfism) so they are always extra careful wiht him, too. I guess the ENT person will do the things you speak of?

Ohhh Emkana do you mean Congenital Hypothyroidism?! This is what DD has - cannot abide 'dwarfism' - do you call it that? Sorry - not judging - and side-tracked.... Yes ENT will give him a thorough check from what I've been told - brain waves monitoring stuff and little hairs in ears stuff. Singy - listening disorder is lesser known but kids with it present as if have hearing loss when they actually can't process sounds efficiently and make sense of them. They suffer particularly badly in busy public places and classrooms so often have hearing aid type devices at school to filter out background noise. Not many GPs etc up on it but ENT folks aware and Great Ormond Street has a specialist team.

Hi Emkana, just a bit of reassurance for you, my DS2 has hearing aids and although he has other problems with his ears they do help with the glue ear. Also have a friend whose DS has glue ear and ENT are reluctant to operate on him so he has hearing aids. They have helped him loads and now a year on he has had a date for the operation.

I have had very few problems getting my son to wear the aids, he definately knows he can hear better with them on!

Hhhhmmm this is interesting as my dd is worse when there are a lot of people in or in crouded places. I know that would be the same for a hearing loss thing as well though so I wont read too much into it. Thanks for letting me know though.

Dd3 had grommets at 18 months but she also has sensori neural (nerve damage) deafness as well, so part of the reason for doing it was to do a more accurate hearing test. Hearing aids will not give your ds "normal" hearing, they will just amplify the sound for him, they will not make it clearer if the glue is making everything a little muffled. But having said that you should notice a difference in his speech, they will be of benefit. I would highly recommend getting in touch with the National Deaf Childrens Society(NDCS) they have a load of info on their site about glue ear and parent place is a good idea if you want to talk to others in your position. We tried cranial osteopathy for dd3, it didn't work for her glue, but I know others who swear by it.

No sparkletastic ds has a skeletal dysplasia (probably hypochondroplasia). I always feel weird using the term dwarfism, but it's more easily understood than skeletal dysplasia or hypochondroplasia, and my understanding is that it's actually been embraced by the dwarfism community itself, the Little People of America organization uses it for example.

Auditory Processing Disorder

Here you go singy - something else for us all to fret about!!

Oh I'm really sorry emkana - have heard congen hypothyroidism used to be known as dwarfism too - but clearly not the same at all.

Thank you for that, I read that and I could have been reading about my daughter. No seriously, thank you for that information it is always good to have an idea about these things before you see the professionals isnt it. Thank you

no need to apologize sparkletastic

my dd is 3 and has glue ear - she has been diagnosed with a 50db hearing loss and this was through some sort of thing they stuck in her ear! (sorry for the lack of technical terms..) She is having grommets at the start of May. I don't think a hearing aid could hurt but I'd want more than the 'toys test' to see how bad it really is.

according to the toys test ds has a 50 db hearing loss as well. I would dismiss that if his speech was better, but as he's not talking I'm thinking maybe this is what's behind it? It's strange though because he does understand.

Hi Emkana - my dd's speech is affected. She was slow to talk and now her pronounciation is pretty stange. I've heard that grommets can improve speech overnight so I hope it helps your ds and my dd.