Glue ear and autism

[JessicaKenny2018]

We are on the waiting list for an autism assessment for my little boy, we are also waiting to hear from ENT as my little boy also has glue ear.
Anyone else experienced this, will they wait for ENT to fit grommets before they do asd assessment or will they start autism assessment before. Thanks

In my area, the wait for an autism assessment is soooo long, the grommets (if that is what they choose to do) will be fitted ages before it comes through. However, they have stopped fitting grommets very readily now and tend to give hearing aids first.
If you get an autism assessment, before the ENT, just take it with both hands

Thank you
I was also wondering whether there's a chance that the glue ear could be what is causing my little boys speech delay, when I went to a SALT drop in session the speech therapist told me glue ear wouldn't cause a speech delay it would be more likely that he would have a speech impediment. My little boy has lots of asd traits I understand it probably wouldn't cause him to display so many traits, I do know my little boy can hear when he chooses to respond to his name you can whisper his name and he will turn and look

Hi Jenny

I’m going through a similar thing with my son minus the glue ear. He has a speech delay and some ASD traits and we are waiting on a hearing test but have been referred by the speech therapist for an autism assessment. We’ve been waiting since he was 18 months and in that time he has dropped some of the traits but picked up some new ones. It’s al so very confusing.

My son has lots of asd traits, he hand flaps, spins, covers his ears, he cannot deal with any form of shopping he will just scream and cover his ears, he does not try to play with other children he goes to nursery, somedays he will scream if children come too close to him, if toys are put in the wrong box he will remove them so that only the ones that belong are in there, he has lost language but only was saying mum, dad and dog he no longer says these words anymore, he walks around with one eye closed a lot, he only really plays with his shape sorter, he gets me to build a tower with the shapes then knocks them down he will only let me do this he screams if anyone else tries.

Hi Jenny

It's likely the grommets will be fitted before. Ear issues and autism seem quite common. As is bowel issues and autism. Not sure why. Hopefully the grommets will help with things, but asd is it's own condition and once you start working with it you will see lots of improvements! Try to seek out local Sen groups and read up on here for advice with specific asd things that arise. These boards have been a God send for me! As have local mums with Sen kids. X

I totally agree that the losing language is a big red flag, in all honesty I don't think we ever questioned ds hearing, ok he doesn't always respond to his name but then some days you can whisper his name and he will turn, he can be in the kitchen and hear the distant sound of the waybaloo tune on the tv in the lounge and go running off to watch it.

Yes language regression is deffo a red flag. Our son had a language regression too. Now he speaks well, but is delayed for 4.