Toddler Hearing Test - Kansas City,MO

How well does he talk? Our son didn't talk at all at 18 months. Our pediatrician referred us to an audiologist to get his hearing checked. I really didn't think anything was wrong because he would respond when we called, he could hear the doorbell, etc. Well, he had complete blockage in one ear (fluid) and 50% in the other. The doctor explained he couldn't hear enough to repeat the sounds, therefore did not talk. Most kids with excessive fluid have numerous ear infections, but our son did not (probably because I was a SAHM, he was an only child, and not around other children much--therefore not much exposure to sick children). He had tubes put in and began speech. Now he is 5 and in Kindergarten. He speaks very well and has no problems with hearing or speech.

My son at 14 months had a hearing test in a booth & failed all three in one ear & one in another ear. I'm like you & don't really know the terminology. We went for several follow ups & each time, he was sick or had fluid in his ears. Three months later, we saw an ENT & he had a very simple surgery where they put ear tubes in his ears & removed his adenoids. The Dr. said that he basically heard like he was under water & his adenoids were so large the fluid didn'd drain from his ears when he was sick. He had very few ear infections in his life & we never noticed any problems with his hearing. Post surgery, I cannot believe how much he is talking & how fast he is when walking. I think it affected his balance.

I have not heard about this scoring 9 out of 15. Kids toddlers and younger get a hearing test called ABR, during which they're asleep, because the booth test is unreliable given their age (3 and younger). Also, 9 out of 15 for which ear? Both, one, what? Can you get more answers from the doctor? The father should have access to all the information.
Also, what triggered the hearing tests? I am reading he failed his newborn test? How does he talk? Do you have to call his name too many times? Does he sit close to TV? Is he directing one specific ear to hear better etc? So many questions, yet again, the scoring you were given does not sound familiar (we have had, without exaggerating, at least 200+ hearing tests in 5 years).

She may not have told you more than she did because she may not know much more than that yet.

My daughter is 15 now and was diagnosed with a 70db loss in one ear (that means she could only hear sounds as loud as an airplane or lawnmower) at age 3. She now has no hearing at all in that ear but that's because she had meningitis when she was 15 months old.

Try not to worry too much yet because he may have failed the hearing test simply because he had wax in his ears or fluid behind them (from a cold for example). Generally the next step in a child this young is a referral to an ENT or Audiologist for a test in a sound proof booth, if he fails that test as well the ENT will set him up for an ABR or BAHR test which is done sedated in the hospital.

If he has a one sided loss like my daughter's, you may not have noticed because he may be compensating for the hearing loss by lip reading or it may not be severe enough to affect him. It could also be that he is only having problems with certain pitches. We were floored when we discovered my daughter's hearing loss because she used to sing along with the television and radio so we thought her hearing was normal. She was lipreading when we talked to her and we never even realized it until after the testing when a non-family member pointed it out to us.

Even if he doesn't pass the test there are so many things that can be done to help him with his hearing from hearing aids to cochlear implants.

They can fail them at birth because the fluid isn't out of the ear yet. My son failed a screening at age 3 (he wasn't really cooperative up until that point) and everyone that knew him swore he heard fine. Turns out he was almost flat in both ears. He had fluid from large adenoids and ear infections that we also knew nothing about. Because of his large adenoids, the fluid just got trapped in his ears and it was like he was under water. Big surprise his speech is delayed. After having the adenoids removed in tubes put in he is actually overly sensitive to sounds now. Don't feel bad about not noticing, if it wasn't for the free hearing screen at school we wouldn't have had a clue.