Hearing loss, inattention, or a processing issue? DD is 7

[GeorgeAndTimmy]

and does have some ongoing issues with reduced hearing due to build up around her ear drums. Sometimes her hearing is a little bit bad, others it is quite bad, i.e. she won't hear me if I stand behind her and call her name in a normal voice.

Whenever she has been checked by an audiatrician, her loss has been there but small, and not required any action other than a further test the next term.

Meanwhile DD doesn't seem to hear or listen. All friends and family laugh about her being away with the fairies, but it is infuriating. You give instructions to several children and she will look blank. She will often not come when called, nor respond when asked a question. However, I need to establish how much is hearing and how much is something else.

Can anyone advise/sympathise? I really fear she is missing out because so much passes her by. If a lot of it is inattention, what can I do to help her? If it is hearing, what can be done as the problem is intermittant. DD is doing very well at school, and so is not causing concern academically there although they recognise her issues. I think she has developed good skills to compensate - she lips reads, copies other people and is bright so can ad lib where necessary.

Any views would be really appreciated

.
?

is it anything like glue ear? only wondered as my dd has this, and her hearing seems to come and go depending on the quantity of gunk in there. we have been told [as i'm sure you have too] to say her name or move around to be in her vision before speaking to her. sympathy

I imagine that if your daugher is doing well at school she must have good auditory perception. Often children with auditory processing issues find it very hard to learn how to read.

Does your daughter have glue ear or a build up of ear wax?

If it is glue ear you might find that hayfever makes it worst. My son's hearing improves with piraton.

My son had hearing aids for 18 months and last week he lost some of his golden time for listening.

I think that teachers often have very little understanding of deafness.

I can certainly sympathise
ds2 has/had glue ear. he's only 4 but honestly! we went a few weeks ago and one ear is better (he has had nasal spray) and the other ear getting better but he is always 'away with the fairies'. i wonder if it is just a habit he's got into? seeing as no difference in behaviour since his apparent improvement

Thank you for your replies

She does get glue ear, yes. However, I don't know if the issues are ALL to do with glue ear, or other things too.

I feel I need to know so I can start to help her. We do call her name to get her attention first, and try to make sure she is facing us, but as you can imagine, there are plenty of times and situations where this isn't possible, including the classroom, or swimming for example.

We have to say her name loudly at the moment to get any response and it is driving me mad and making me cross with her. I need to find strategies other than shouting at her and speaking like she is stupid, which is what I do some of the time when it is bad and I have to say everything three times and loudly to get a response (and when her sister has heard the first time and done whatever I have asked).

School don't get angry as they just let her get on with things (or not). She doesn't say when she hasn't heard things, just bumbles along and picks it up from what everyone else is doing. I suspect if she wasn't compemsating so well, they would be on the case, but as it is I feel like they think I am making a mountain out of a molehill.

What could a GP do, do you think? What other resources could we get via school?

It is worse at the mo - don't know if it is hayfever related, she isn't showing any other symptoms...

More words of sympathy gratefully received

I have auditory processing disorder I still learnt well, have a high IQ, went to uni etc! Obviosly I have mild ADP so I struggle with writing down numbers in dictation but not words (because I can remember how to spell but no memeory prompt for numbers), I struggle to understand people of the phone and if there is background noise - so I would struggle in a classroom situation to single out what is being said to me IYSWIM.

With glue ear after the "glue" has gone their is a time lag whilst the brain relearns how to hear properly. I think out of 7 hearing test my dd only did badly with 2 of them, thankfully they did put in grommits and her hearing and confidence have improved hugely.

I think i am asking a heap of daft stuff tonight [v.sorry, do not wish to offend anyone] have you had any involvement from SALT? they are well into strategies for non-verbal stuff and some of it might help?

Just a quickie - am tired...

Cargirl, that is very interesting. ENT said no to grommets as when tested her hearing was borderline. Good to hear how well you have coped though - how does your APD affect you aside from what you have said?

Fiddle - no SALT involvement, in fact nothing other than DD being allowed to sit at the front of the class. i suspect if she were having academic problems, she would be getting support, but because she is doing well, they don't see the need...

Will check up on this thread later tomorrow

you can get a speech and lang therapy referral through your gp, no need to rely on the school. may be worth looking in to?
nighty night all

Thanks Fiddle, I think I will pursue that , although I suspect waiting lists will be long as they always are.

Anyone else have any experience they would like to share?

A bump for the morning

How often is her hearing being tested because it should be regularly as glue ear come and goes, one borderline result should warrant a retest within 3-4 months IME. Only other things I struggle with due to APD is certain deep voices mostly on telly I can't understand them - watch with subtitles an awful lot tbh, useless as learning foreign languages but don't know whether that is realated or not, struggle to memorise phone numbers - nothing major. I think those who have it severely often struggle at school though there is a UK self support website.

Hi Cargirl

DD was tested every few months (due to some impairment) from age 3-5, and then discharged with the 'she will grow out of it' comment...

I requested a hearing check in school last term (as she turned 7), and they said they will do it termly while her hearing is not normal. However, it is not abnormal enough for any other action from what I can see, hence me deciding to push it now, before she starts Junior school.

Even if her hearing isn't poor enough on a test to warrant further action, I can see that something is going on that is stopping her being as 'present' on the world as everyone else. I will investigate S&L via GP, although she is being checked mext week, so we shall see what they say after that..

INteresting about the phone, DD struggles to talk on the phone. She always wants to TV up very loud, and if you give her a list of instructions, tends to forget most of them plus any order. In redaing instructions though, she is fine

could well be processing issues then, if people dictate a 6 digit phone number I really do struggle to get it written down in the correct order in less than 2 or 3 repetitions - I find it hugely annoying.

I sympathise. DS1 does have a major hearing loss and is bright so gets limited support in school. One thing that may be worth investigating is a radio aid, DS use his with hearing aids but they can be used with head phones, this cuts out background noise so the teacher (or whoever is speaking) voice goes straight to the listener. Definately switch the subtitles on, this has made a massive difference to DS concentration on the telly. Swimming is always going to be a nightmare, the listening conditions are the worst there are for DS no aids means total reliance on lip reading which is exhausting,

Cargirl - I am going to try DD with phone numbers then
Geogteach - what is a radio aid? Sorry to hear your DS doesn't get more support - it is often the case that he who shouts loudest gets the most, isn't it?

Maybe you could ask the school to get a soundfield system. They are brilliant and help children with mild hearing loss as well as APD and it saves the teacher from shouting.

The worst the school can say is "no".

Soundfield system - what is it? Anything like the radio aid geogteach mentioned?

Thanks for your responses on this - it is good to hear that there are resources out there

A soundfield system helps all the children in the class. Its an amplification system that ensures that the sound of the teacher's voice is spread all around the room, without deafening the kids.

My son's school has one and it has really helped my son because hearing in his left hear is much better than his right. It means that he can hear the teacher well wherever she is standing in the room.

I would be extremely surprised if the LEA agreed to buy your child a radio aid. They are extremely expensive and usually only serverly deaf children have them. Radio aids are more effective than soundfield systems.

The advantage of the soundfield system is that it helps lots of people. Its easier to justify spending a couple thousand quid on a whole school than a couple thousand quid on one child.

Thanks Reallytired. That sounds like a good idea for all classrooms .

I will update next week after dd's hearing test...

Reallytired is right sound field systems benefit more children , the disadvantage of them is they are not portable so can't move with your child around the school. The sound quality from them is amazing, it creates a much more comfortable listening environment. You could try visiting the NDCS web site, they explain all the different types of equipmment and you can arrange to borrow some stuff to see if it helps your child.