Mom Needs Answers About Hearing Loss

I am sorry to hear you're freaking out! Did they do a hearing test at the ped's office? I don't see why they'd mention Autism...

Did you try to wake him up from a nap by making loud noises ,such as banging to pans together? I have 2 deaf sisters ,there are so many things out there now a day to help the deaf ,or people that are hard of hearing .

Hi!
I understand what you are going through. I have been there with my son. He has hearing aides in both ears. I would be more than happy to talk with ya and help ya through this difficult time. My e-mail address is ____@____.com, and my name is S..

M., being a teacher of special education including working with children of Autism and hearing impairements, I would advise you to make an appt as soon as possible with a neurologist and developmental pediatritian. Get your child a full evaluation, don't wait. If its nothing, you can breathe, but if there is a real diagnosis the best thing you could do is seek out Early Intervention.....it will make all the difference in the world for your child's future.Hearing impairement will be pretty clear cut, but autism has a great deal of "gray area", a child can be very loving, on target developmentally and still have autism....it is a spectrum disorder, there are different degrees of the disorder. Ask your pediatrician for a good neurologist or Dev. ped. in your area and get an appt. I am also talking to you as a parent of a daughter that was not diagnosed until 3, and it took a year to receive services......please take action ASAP.E.

Just relax.. I know it is hard and waiting is even harder.. My son has gone through all of this.. They thought he might have been slight Autisic but he isn't. He is 3 now and still see the intermediate people.. It is a great thing having the intervention people come out.. My son has done so well with them and they are so nice and on top of things.. Best of luck and if you need to talk more please feel free to e-mail me.

M.,
I took our son to and ears/nose specialist and they refered us to the Crozer Hospital sound booth for testing he was 14 months old and the outcome was he needed tubes placed in his both ears for drainage. His wholes where not open enough to let the fluids out which causes ear infections.

Thankfully we caught if that he had no hearing loss.
Kim in Ridley

first of all relax...you have a great ped if he is sending you out all ready.. it doesn't seem like autism to me but he may just have water in his ears and it makes him hear like he is under water. Having him evaluated is a great thing so that if that is the problem it can be easily fixed and with early intervention he will catch up faster. My daughter is three and has autism and when she was seventeen months the ped wouldnt do anything when she wasn't talking they just said oh her brother is talking for her it wasn't until she was a little over two that something was done so she missed three years of early intervention.

Hi! It's good that you will be getting early intervention because we did not find out that my son had hearing loss until he was in Kindergarten and he failed his hearing test given by the school nurse. We had some concerns with his speech but we thought that he just talked very low. We took him for a hearing test and to a ear,nose and throat doctor. We found out that he did not have fluid but his eardrums were retracted. I don't know how this happens but they told us that he would probably grow out of it. He now in the first grade and receives speech services at school and is doing great. Good luck!

My son had a similar problem with expressing himself vocally. He was about the same age as your son and I observed how other children his age were talking and wondering what was wrong with my son. Everything else he was fine with as far as socially interacting and walking. My problem was when talking to him he would pronounce the words wrong or he wouldn't talk clearly. I spoke to his doctor and she suggested that she wasn't really worried but, he wasn't where he should be as far as interacting for his age. When he turned 2 he saw an ear, nose and throat specialist and had a couple hearing tests. The results were he did have mild to moderate hearing loss from the frequent ear infections as a baby and it developed fluid in both ears that was clogging his ear drum. He had surgery where they drained the fluid from his ears and inserted tubes in them. I saw immediate results and although I was scared at first, I thought it was best. My son is now 3 1/2 and I can't stop him from talking. Everyone that I come in contact with are very suprised when they come across my son because he talks very well for his age like he's 6. Eventually as the years go by the tubes will fall out and they would have served their purpose, now I just have to make sure I keep water out of his ears.

Wow...our doctors must have really different opinions. My daughter is 19 mths now. At 17 mths, I took her for a checkup and talked about my concerns (she wasn't cooing as a small baby, crawled late, didn't start walking until 15 mths, only says a couple words and not very often, and very rarely laughs) and our doctor suggesting waiting a few more months before doing the followup testing that yours has suggested. He seemed to think that some kids just have different time frames.

i was in the same boat...my son was 18 months..didnt say mama,dada..anything...we had early intervention come out...they had a speech therapist do once a week sessions with my son..he is four now..still goes every other week..even though his speech has greatly improved..we saw a pediatric neurologist (when he was two)and they mentioned autism..we never saw the developmental pediatrician(who you really want to see to know whats going on)because the wait was over a year at the time and then they lost our paperwork..my son wouldnt even mimic sounds until he was 2 1/2.i knew he could hear because he would run to the tv when the wiggles came on and dance to the songs(even when it was on a wiggles music cd)..he used to have alot of ear infections due to a milk allergy(ear drum even burst several times)and they sent us to an ear nose throat specialist because they felt the ear problems may have caused some hearing damage..they put tubes in my sons ears..my son also started motor skills very early..crawling at 6 months and walking at 9 months..he was very sociable,happy and loved to play..for two years i worried about autism...when my son turned three he just started talking..slow but steady..now at 4 he doesnt seem to have much problem with speech...althoug,he was not,until recently, up to speed with the other kids his age..i have heard that boys tend to speak later than girls..but it was worrisome at the time..i would recommend doing the early intervention(its a very good program)and please try not to worry about it...i know easier said than done..but if i knew then what i know now, so much stress,worry and pain would have been avoided..it may be nothing at all, they are just being proactive in the event that there may be something...at least if your child is dealing with a true developmental delay,you are on the right path and helping your child (the earlier the better)...if he is like my child, and just starts talking years from now, it will have hurt nothing to have had him in speech therapy..i am here if you want to talk or have any questions...i can imagine how you must be feeling...take care..R.