GLUE EAR - what signs did you notice in your toddler?

[atay27]

What signs did you notice in your toddler that had glue ear?

did they struggle to know where noises were coming from? TIA

Yes, not great at direction. Also when she began school she was missing input when she had even the slightest cold. Grommets sorted it quickly. We were lucky to have private cover at the time.

Thanks for your reply! Did you notice anything with her interaction/communication? My 17 month old doesn’t clap/wave/point or follow instructions. She does however give kisses & high 5s. She has a hearing test next week..

Repeated ear infections and her speech (not language) was very hard to understand. Grommets made a wonderful difference as did speech therapy. One grommet eventually fell out when she was about eight when she was with one of my friends. Totally freaked out my friend. Lord knows what happened to the other one😀

Well, that's a longer story. 20 years later she has an autism diagnosis so it's hard to say what caused communication difficulties. She really didn't arouse any questions in that area till late teens. There was always an explanation.

If you can have her hearing checked they should be able to tell quite quickly if that's the problem.

Speech was quite a lot less clear than her sister’s had been. If she’d been my first I doubt I’d have noticed though.

Also she had lots of respiratory illnesses , dreadful coughs every winter and just sounded “bunged up” a lot so guess there was a clue there. (eventually got her tonsils out which made a huge difference).

@atay27 hey, going through similar with my son. Did your little one have glue ear?

Hi! I’m not sure yet. She’s got a hearing test on Thursday.
what signs does your Son show?

my worry is that they are similar to signs of autism…

The difficulty with hearing tests is that if you catch them on a good day then they'll come up as clear but glue ear is called a fluctuating hearing loss for a reason...

This is what I’m worried about!

My little brother didn’t say his S’s, because he didn’t hear them. He couldn’t hear you opening rustling sweet packets behind him.

From the perspective of a kid!

How old is your daughter? My son is 18 months and only has one word (mumma) he often seems frustrated and doesn’t seems to understand what we are saying x

Oh, bless him! She’s 17 months (18 on 21st) only said her first word yesterday (Bye). What’s your son like with eye contact? Does he respond to his name or follow instructions? My girl responds to her name when I shout it loudly maybe 50% of the time, limited eye contact but this is improving and can follow 1 instruction only (Give to mummy) she doesn’t seem to understand what I say for anything else like “Get your shoes!” She also doesn’t wave or clap… only pointing in books but to herself.

she’s also very snotty a lot but never had an ear infection… wondering if it could be glue ear but not sure glue ear would cause all of those signs above which are closer linked to autism.

@atay27 He is really good with eye contact when he is with people he knows.. if he sees people he doesn’t know he does shy away. He will sometimes respond to his name and follow very basic instructions. How is your daughter at toddler groups etc? It’s so hard not to worry isn’t it. What has your hv said? X

That’s great. She’s great at toddler groups - really confident, will go up to people. She’s interested and will look when she wants to, but will wander about when it suits her too and explore… this is a library rhyme time.

She does play on her own and isn’t too bothered about other children. She doesn’t shy away though. She tried to take another girl’s water bottle 😆

It’s so hard because they’re so little. HV said to come back at 20 months and we will hopefully have a clearer picture

I will update on Thursday after her hearing test!

@atay27 Fab thank you!

Hi! I’m an audiologist and just wanted to chime in as this comes up a lot. Yes – difficulty localising sound can definitely be a sign of glue ear, especially if it’s affecting both ears. Other things parents often notice include needing the TV louder, not responding when called (especially from another room), unclear speech, or seeming a bit ‘in their own world.’

If you’re still unsure or waiting on a referral, I’m actually running a webinar next week with a paediatric speech therapist all about glue ear – what to look out for, how it impacts speech and hearing, and what you can do to help. It’s especially for parents navigating this kind of situation. I’ll pop the details below in case it’s useful!

My daughter had very unclear speech and her speech plateaued after a good start. She only had one ear infection after diagnosis.
The hearing test was quite clear even though she didn’t have a cold.

@Dryovina Hiya, does is sometimes cause irritability and unsettledness in a baby/toddler?

Yes it can do but there are many things that can cause this in babies/toddlers so its best to have it checked :)