Glue ear or ASD?

[EagerHiker]

Hi all, just looking for some advice.

My son is 2.2 months. Hes been to an audiologist and confirmed fluid in ears, with bulging drums. Referred to a private ENT who found the same and now booked in for grommets next Monday.

I guess I'm just wondering how much of his behaviour is down to hearing loss, or if I should also be looking into ASD.

So at present, he doesn't respond to his name, or any loud noises. I could slam a door or drop a brick on the floor and he wouldn't even flinch. If he sees me coming through the door, he will run to me. If his back is turned and I call his name - nothing.

His speech is behind, babbles alot and will say the first letter of a word, or the first syllable. Receptive language is hit or miss but I genuinely don't think he can hear properly.

He uses gestures, blows kisses, claps, High 5's, waves bye bye and hello, holds arms up to be lifted etc. He's only recently started pointing. Will most often hand lead us to what he wants.

His eye contact is great with us, but just not there with strangers.

He's very attached to me, and loves hugs, kisses, and just sitting with me in general playing / reading / interacting. Loves bringing people to sit and play with him. Loved holding hands when out walking.

He pretend plays, will feed baby, walk toy animals and make the noises, drive trucks and cars along the floor, pour tea from a pretend kettle. He also imitates pretty much everything we do.

He loves rough play, so being turned upside down, going up on dad's shoulders, climbing on us and furniture, running back and fourth etc.

His diet is quite limited, will try new things but has maybe 10-15 "safe" foods as such.

I guess I'm just wondering, my main concern is the social aspect of his development. He's very much in his own world and will not respond to loud noises and will not care at all if someone new comes into the room etc, he's just stuck to me and wants me 24/7.

Has anyone's little one been like this and improved after grommets or should I also be looking at as ASD diagnosis?

Thank you all x

I would wait until after the grommets have been in a while then revisit. For some children, glue ear can cause social difficulties.

i don’t know if it’s going to help much. But I was in the same predicament when my child was 2, had delayed development socially and communication. You done the right thing booking into have grommets as the glue ear can have an affection on the toddlers behaviour. You haven’t mentioned the level your child was hearing at? Overall the HV for us did developmental review and we was still referred on to the list for ASD but I had to push it. After operation grommets 18 months ago behaviour improved drastically same week and has just started speaking 3.5 years old 1 year post op. My child has come along a lot, but due to some sensory behaviour difficulties/lack of understanding that is expected for the age group is not all the way there yet. We have recieved an ASD diagnosis this year. But one thing that made clear to me that hearing loss will not cause any behaviour differences so if your child has behaviour difficulties and developmental delay then it is best to see a paediatrician for ASD assessment. Every child is different on the spectrum e.g my child is very social but socially awkward at the same time. I think it will take time to see a better picture as they are young. Hopefully that helped you. Wish the best on the journey!

But one thing that made clear to me that hearing loss will not cause any behaviour differences

It is very surprising you were told that because it isn’t the case, particularly social difficulties.

Thanks all for your replies. He doesn't have any behaviour issues as such, it's all social difficulties. Not responding to name, not noticing when someone walks into a room or reacting to noise or speech etc. He's very visual, dances and signs to the tv. He can pronounce the first letter of lots of words but I think that's because he is lip reading the first letter and after that he can't hear the rest of the word.

I don't notice any stimming, but he does sometimes walk on his tip toes at home. Mostly when watching tv.

I guess it's just a waiting game to see how his speech and social skills come on once he's had the surgery!

He's on a waitlist for a private ASD assessment which should happen in 4 months so hopefully that's enough time to see any improvements and know if we should go ahead or not!

Tip toe walking can be part of normal toddler development. Most grow out of it around 2. If it persists after 3 it can be good to seek medical advice even if you don’t go ahead with the ASD assessment.

i was very surprised aswell. This was reiterated to me through the teacher of the deaf as they see children with hearing impairment day to day. The not responding and eye contact could be linked to hearing loss. But behaviour such as fixation on objects/routines, diet, sleep problems and “own world” not socialising with other children Can have an underlying cause. I personally don’t think 4 months is enough as most private institutions will give you that diagnosis at the time if behaviour present 6-12 months is a good time frame to see how he progresses. You should get a follow up from ENT consultation 6/12 months post op. If you are eager for early intervention SALT and occupational therapy did wonders for us privately.

There is a lot of research hearing difficulties can causes social difficulties and sleep difficulties so that was very poor advice. Of course, there can be other reasons too or instead of.

Any update please?

Hi, sorry I'm only getting back to this now! He's just had his surgery this week as he had a chest infection last month, it had to be cancelled. I've already seen improvements within 24 hours of the surgery - I called to him yesterday to blow his dad a kiss, and he heard me and blew a kiss! A week ago, I would have been ignored. Then just this morning I was down cleaning his room when I pressed a button on one of his toys (a play guitar) he came running down shouting GAR GAR GAR! (his word for guitar). I'm so chuffed already and can only hope for more improvements in the social aspect, I hope he'll answer to his name soon too 🤞

Wow that’s amazing! Well done! I bet you are so chuffed.

my little girl is 18 months, the doctor couldn’t tell whether she had glue ear in her mid ear as she had a lot of congestion in the outer ear! She’s got drops to soften the wax so hopefully that’ll shift it. We’ve also booked a private hearing test for next Monday… it’s such a hard waiting game!!

It really is! And when they're that age it's also so hard to know how much the fluid or wax is actually affecting them! Even the audiologist said there's no way to really tell how much they can hear without something called an ABR which is like a brain scan to see how the brain reacts to noise - as theyre too young to let us know verbally. It's so tough but you got this 🙌 I hope you get some answers on Monday x