No speech/hearing problem 21 months

[mistypop]

Just asking for advice as I feel a bit lost. My son was diagnosed with mild hearing loss in early May due to recurring ear infections. They told me it was likely to get better on its own and wait 3 months for my next appt (I went private for the first appt but can’t afford to go private for more). When the doctors sent through his next appt it was for 24 January 2024! So 8 months later. The doctor got it pushed forward to 1st November 2023 as she said jan was too long as his speech is already delayed. He doesn’t say anything yet although his understanding seems to be there mostly. But recently he doesn’t seem to hear when I’m calling his name. So I’m waiting for this appt on 1st November (I guess to see if he needs grommets or whatever) but feeling guilty that there’s not much I can do in the meantime. I see other children his age saying loads of words and even sentences and can’t help feel he is so behind and that I should be going private for all these treatments but I’ve looked into private grommets and it would be minimum 3k which I just don’t have. Not sure what I want from this post just wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation

Go back to the doctor again, say your ds's hearing is worse, and ask for an urgent referral?

Poor boy.

To reassure you, my ds had grommets, and his speech came on really quickly after that - but he did have to have speech therapy. You could talk to the doctor about getting him on a waiting list for that too?

Do you still have a HV? Could you make an appt with her, get her to test your ds's hearing, or refer you?

Can you contact your HV and see if they can advise or help push? If you have any plans for your ds to start nursery sessions when he turns 2 you should be able to get some support from them. Some areas have SaLT drop in clinics that you can self refer to so you could check if your area has one, and if you haven’t already, consider teaching your ds a few makaton signs to help him be able to communicate.

Thanks. He does go to nursery he’s been going since he was 11 months, they are great and communication wise he’s come a long way and they have been really supportive but they close for summer holidays and I’ve mostly become more concerned over the past 2/3 weeks. I’m going to try to get an appt and ask for another referral or more advice but I just feel like I speak to so many people and no one can tell me anything. He had a SALT referral months ago and I’ve chased it up and get nothing back, I just feel useless