Glue ear or autism?

[zoeybrooks45]

Hello,

I really would like to hear people experiences with glue ear v ASD. Bit of context, my little one 2y6 months is currently awaiting grommets and adenoids removal surgery and has had glue ear for a year now. He doesn’t speak consistent meaningful words but does babble and use gesture. He does some repetitive behaviour and spins and has picky diet. I am being optimistic by thinking once he has had surgery these things will disappear or is it likely he has ASD? He is on the waiting list either way. I would really like to hear people experiences in regards to post grommets and the impact it made on child speech and behaviour.

My advice is if you suspect autism get on a diagnosis pathway ASAP. My son had glue ear and had to wait a long time to get diagnosed and get an operation (during COVID) and he didn't get a diagnosis until 4. They will use glue ear diagnosis to kick things into the long grass, so insist on going on the wait list and if things improve you can always take them off.

The hearing issues delayed getting an EHCP application and diagnosis and we now have our child unsuitable placed in a mainstream when they should be in specialist. It was probably partly our fault too though as we were waiting to see if they made much difference and underestimated the wait times that would come after funding out they didn't.

The gesture and speech sound promising though. My son is still non verbal and uses my hand to gesture. You will only know until after the grommets fitted unfortunately. Do they have interest in other children and play with toys appropriately? My son completely ignores other kids and chews non food items a lot and runs back and forth a lot, which is what really stood out for us as ASD. He interacts really well with adults, which made us question if he was autistic sometimes. It's different for everyone.

Thank you for the advice. Are you talking about securing a ECHP for hearing difficulties? My LO is still on the ASD pathway, wait is around two years now. If I am honest with myself he displays a lot of characteristics with ASD, the only thing is he isn’t sensitive to sound and loud noise but has no sense of danger and loves loud things such as hoovers. He has been diagnosed with sensory processing disorder. I am completing an ECHP at the moment, do you think I will struggle with just moderate hearing loss as a diagnosis? He wears a BAAHA hearing aid. Please let me know.

My experience Is you don't need a diagnosis as the assessment of an EHCP is based on need, although a diagnosis would help. Hearing disabilities would probably fall into an EHCP if school and nursery need to make adjustments for him. I think anything that your child needs help with where other children don't should be mentioned on the application, so his sensory needs, lack of sense of danger, hearing issues and communication issues. Does he need help around mealtimes? We have applied for an EHCP as he is so behind other kids he clearly needs specialist provision, but EHCPs can be funding for smaller adjustments in mainstream. I think there are other routes for funding too with some LA'S. If your child is in nursery they should be able to help and they will probably need to submit a statement at one point.

You will need to chase the LA a lot with an EHCP. SN provision is monumentally poor at the moment. We are on week 31 of EHCP application and my son's case is only just going to panel after ringing them +++ and then threatening legal action due to the 20 week time limit breach.

My son doesn't mind noise either and he is probably at the other end of sensory processing where he is sensory seeking. He chews things of lot and shouts to stim. He loves cuddles and anything tactile. Blinks a lot. My son also has no sense of danger and runs into things. He also looks to one side as he runs near railings due to liking visual sensory feedback. All kids with ASD are different and have their own unique profile of symptoms and sensory processing issues. I think we convinced ourselves it must be hearing issues and not ASD because my son will literally eat anything and interacts well with adults (albeit non verbally, but that's just where he is unaffected by his ASD). He also presents as having an ID too but this has only become apparent in the last year as his skills receded with his autism then stopped where they were.

My other son who is NT pointed and grunted until about 26/7 months. He now doesn't stop talking. He is also a picky eater and loved spinning things, so there were a few traits I could have picked out, but he seems fine. It's just hard to tell when they are young.

Have you spoken to your HV about SLT referrals?