If you kid will be hard-of-hearing, you have to accept it and make
changes for your future kid's life.
Try the children right coordinators of the Alexander Graham Bell
Association for the Deaf. If he was more deaf, then the American Society of
Deaf Children will be fine.
I wish audiologists do more research on HOH kids' socializations skills
instead of just focusing on how to speak (cure and fix the problem). There
are a lot of things your kid can benefit (captioning, the
telecommunications relay service, TTY, oral- or sign language interpreting,
etc). Meeting some HOH or/and deaf adults can help.
It can be an environmental factor instead of your families' history.
Mike Yared
John Tarczon <johnt at kcco.com> wrote in article
<33C56B86.41C67EA6 at kcco.com>...
> Hello all:
>> My son (age 3 years 1 month) is having some difficulty developing
> his speech and language skills. It may be related to his hearing.
> I give a summary of the history of the problem and ask a couple
> of questions at the end. If anyone out there can help me I would
> deeply appreciate it. I apologize in advance for this long post
> and thank everyone who takes the time to read it.
>> My son was (and is) slow to develop his speech, language, and
> articulation skills. In mid Feb., on the advice of
> his pediatrician, my son underwent
> a speech and language exam at a local clinic which included a hearing
> test. He was diagnosed with significant expressive and some receptive
> speech delay. His hearing was ~45 - 50 db hl soundfield flat across
> .5k - 4k Hz. The audiologist rated the test reliability as
> fair/poor, saying he really did not sit and cooperate. He also had
> flat tympanograms bilaterally, suggesting
> fluid in the middle ears. We went to an ENT who saw the fluid and
> diagnosed him with otitis media with effusion (which means, as far
> as I can tell, that there is fluid present without any inflammation
> of the ear drum). He showed absolutely no symptoms of any kind of ear
> infection in the past year. In mid May he had a myringotomy and tubes
> inserted. In mid June his hearing was tested again by a different
> audiologist (one associated with the ENT). His hearing was
>> 45 db hl - 250 hz
> 40 db hl - 500 hz
> 40 db hl - 1000 hz
> 30 db hl - 2000 hz
> 20 db hl - 4000 hz
> 50 db hl - 8000 hz
>> roughly the same in both ears (using headphones) and his speech
> reception threshold (SRT) was 35 db both ears (using headphones and
> picture pointing spondees). This audiologist rated the test reliability
> as good. At this point, the second audiologist
> and my son's ENT recommended that he get hearing aids. The ENT said
> that a normal hearing child should show about a 10 db SRT.
> My wife and I wanted a confirmation of these results before proceeding,
> so we took him to yet another audiologist. This was early July.
> Audiologist #3 was skeptical right from the start about the last
> test (especially the 8000 hz point). This time my son tested 25 db
> SRT in one ear and 20 - 25 db in the other
> ear. He did not cooperate well enough to produce any kind of meaningful
> audiogram. This audiologist said 20 - 25 db SRT is about all one can
> expect out of a normal hearing 3 year old due to their lack of
> concentration/attendence skills with the quieter sounds. She
> recommended no hearing aids, and retest him in three months, at which
> time she expects a little more improvement. Then proceed from there.
> She also said she did not recommend an ABR test at this time, which
> we were considering, and
> suggested that he may be readjusting to his ears again after
> who knows how many months of fluid filled ears. (We do not know when
> the fluid buildup happened, as it was asymptomatic).
> As you might guess, I am worried about him. Can anyone address the
> following questions?
>> What kind of results can be expected of a normal hearing 3 year old
> on a behavioral hearing test, especially SRT?
>> Has anyone heard about, read about, or have experience with the
> "readjusting to his ears" idea? There is nothing about this
> in the literature the doctor/hospital gives out about otitis media
> and myringtomy surgery and I have not heard of it from any
> other source.
>> If his hearing is no better than this, is this contributing to speech
> delay? Would hearing aids help a child in the 20 - 25 db range
> in view of his speech delay?
>> Are there any parents with similar experiences?
>> Any comments at all?
>>>> Thank you all for bering with me and trying to help.
>>> John T.
>> P.S. There is nothing in either of our family histories or my
> wife's pregnancy or my son's early childhood to suggest a congenital
> or acquired hearing loss. My son is currently in speech therapy,
> which he needs, regardless of his hearing.
>
