Just been told 2 year old needs hearing aids

[Mishee]

My DD is 2 and has an adenoid problem which means her right nostril streams green gunk all day & night. She needs them out but have been advised to wait til she's 4. Audiologist has just told me she needs hearing aids, but I completely disagree. I think she hears perfectly well. Her speech isn't as advanced as others her age, but she says lots of single words & is trying to join words together. She can follow instructions and loves listening to me reading to her. Should I ask for a second opinion?

When DD2 was only 6 months old I was told she was completely deaf and would need hearing aids. She is now 18 months and it turns out she had severe glue ear which we got cleared using a cranial osteopath. She now hears perfectly. All I'm saying is they get it wrong sometimes.

I really think a mother knows their child best and if you don't agree then definately get a second opinion.

Thanks, I agree completely. I might try asking a cranial osteo for their advice.

If your DD has adenoid problems she may well have blocked tubes esp if it streams out of her nose. I think cranial osteopathy was definately the way to go for us, it was brilliant. Make sure you get a good one though. If you are in Surrey I can recomend ours.

By all means go for a second opinion but, as this will take time, I also think your audiologist should explain how your DD would benefit from the hearing aids. In my DD's case, we were persuaded to try them because she had no speech whatsoever and her glue ear was making sonds under 40-50db impossible to hear. We didn't realise this meant she was missing out on parts of words and a lot of everyday sounds--even though big noises, like car doors slammimg, phones ringing, etc, she could clearly hear. Your audiology team should also have a teacher of the deaf who can help with explanantions.

Since having grommets fitted, she hasn't needed to have the hearing aids back (touch wood). She still doesn't speak but at least we know it's not because of the hearing issue!

BTW cranial osteopathy didn't work for us--her ears were well and truly gunked up!

Perhaps I'm in denial, but I really think she can hear. If I get a text, she brings over my phone, she gets very excited by the doorbell, she can follow instructions, even if she has her back to the person giving them and she can hear me talking quietly. I don't think the test was very reliable - putting a wooden bead to a speaker, waiting for a bird singing then placing the bead in a basket (complicated stuff when you're just 2) and then having to listen to instructions given by a woman with a very strong accent (and speech impediment where she swapped the letters v and w around). If she has bunged up ears from her nose, surely a hearing aid would just make that bunged up noise louder?

My DS2, who is 2, hae been given aids and they are a pain. He wore them for a while when he first got them, now every single time is a battle (screaming, crying, kicking legs, etc), and as soon as they're in, he pulls them out. Even when they're not in he checks to see if they are there or not.

He has a mild hearing loss.

He is a completely different child when they are not in, and I think he is much more responsive when they're not in.

The teacher for the hearing impaired is coming tomorrow....

He's had them for about a month, so far haven't seen any "improvement" with them in fact life for all of us has gone downhill!

Good luck,

Sorry probably what you don't want to hear, but's it's our reality with HA!

Ds1 had HAs at 1.5. Turned that whilst he has signifigant hearing loss due to glue ear (grommets 3x, adenoids and tonsils out)his lack of response at the tests as really a lack of response in general, he has Angelman Syndrome-sld, epilepsy etc etc....

We spent many months puting them back in, every time he took one out and ate it I would put it back in but by the time I had done one he had pulled the other one out!!!

They did seem to work for him at the time, but as you say it depends on what noises hes actually hearing. I tried them and they did seem to amplify some sounds and not others.

He hasnt had them for a few years (7yrs old) but he does still get recurrent ear infections and apparrent headaches/sinus problems.

There must be some loss as the audiologist hs picked it up, but if you thing HAs are un neccessary then just do all the obvious things just in case-speak clearly, try and stay in fornt of her when communicating and maybe try and use a sign language (BSL, Makaton , SSE or Signalong) to reinforce communication. Yo
ur audiology unit should be able to point you in the right direction for local courses. As MGC said, you know your child best. We also tried cranial osteopathy-it didnt work for us at the time. All the best.

Did they want to fit hearing aids straightaway or were they planning another test first? DD had a couple of tests before the decision was made.

Took DD to GP today who agreed that we should get a 2nd opinion. Am going to see adenoids man on Mon so will ask him to do referral. Thanks for your advice. Have spent the day standing behind DD asking her to do things & she has responded each time, even when whispering. Think audiologist needs her ears tested (and her brain!).

The moment we knew that DD2's hearing was at last ok was when we could wake her from sleep by just whispering her name. From what you have just said Mishee her hearing is fine. If a 2 yr old is responding to whispered instructions from behind I'd say she hears perfectly!

Good luck with your adenoids man!

I would take the audiologists advice, DS1 got hearing aids at 3, his speech was good for a child his age and nobody at nursery had any worries, turned out he was a very good lip reader. His hearing has continued to deteriorate and he can now hear nothing without aids. In terms of speech there will be sounds she can access and others she can't at different frequencies, the aids will help fill in the gaps. You have nothing to loose by trying them, she may even like them DS definately did and wouldn't take them out. they can personalise them loads having different coloured aids and pictures in the moulds.

She might get a headband bone-conductor though--we did, for DD's conductive loss due to glue. She took it off about once every 10 seconds.