Hearing Loss in 3 1/2 Year Old??

Hi M., you need to talk to a lady I know her child's hearing improved, she found some ways to help him,I will connect you with her. Call me please ###-###-#### A.

My son was 3 and failed a hearing test, he had a speech delay and we thought it was associated possibly with him having a hearing loss.

However, we were told that a lot of times kids that age fail a hearing test because they are not sure exactly what they are supposed to be listening for. We made an appointement with the audiologist and as stressed out as we were... everything came back just fine.

We don't know why he had a speech delay, but his hearing is just fine. He will be turning 6 in June and is doing great, with no issues of hearing impairement.

Stay positive....Best of luck!

My daughter goes to Sunshine Preschool in Berkeley which is a hearing class in a Deaf and Hard of Hearing school. I know they have lots of speciailist and help the community folks so you may want to check in with them, maybe they can acess him. The school is called CEID "Center For the Early Intervention of Deafness - http://www.ceid.org/.

Good luck!
J. :)

The low-tech hearing test at the doctor (I assume you mean where they wear headphones and listen for beeps) is very innaccurate for kids that age. My son took the screening for kindergarten a few weeks ago, and he completely failed. His hearing is perfectly fine, but kids that age don't quite get the "raise your hand when you hear something" and don't know they are supposed to be hearing beeps. I wouldn't worry too much about that test. I would wait for a more accurate test from the audiologist.

Hi M.!

Tell your sister to relax until after you see the Audiologist.

Sometimes a Dr cannot always look in and "see" that there is a problem, which is why your nephew has been sent to a Professional Audiologist.

Chances are, the test will confirm that your nephew has fluid in his ears (behind his eardrums) which is preventing him from hearing you as well as he should. This DOES happen, especially after a virus. Actually, this is more common than you might may think.

Antibiotics should clear it up, and maybe another Professional hearing test will be done to make sure the fluid is all gone.

I really believe it's as simple as that! :O)

~N. :O)

I am not a Dr. but it could be any thing from a cold or such or nothing. I have 2 sister-in-laws who are hard of hearing and have been since children, they are not deaf one wears hearing aids and the other should but has problems with them hurting her ears. When they were kids there were not resources like there is today they still had the philosophy of Deaf and Dumb so one of them can lip read but that is it. I would suggest going to http://www.signingtime.com/ even my fully hearing children love their programs and they have all kind of resources just for children with hearing loss. Good Luck!

Hello M.: Actually I have 2 sons that had major hearing problems from 2 completly different problems. Neither could be figured out until the specialist went in to check with surgery. It turned out one son had under devloped ustation tubes and had them repaired and he was so startled by the loud noise of everyday activity we had to be extra careful for about 3 weeks until he was used to sounds.
So know that hearing problems can be varied and develope slowly without being noticed- then you think it happened suddenly. I hope that your family will have success and the doctors will find the problem. Having friends that are deaf I know that it doesn't stop one from being the smartest or most talented person either. Nana glenda

I hope you don't mind my answering. I don't personally have the experience that you asked about, but I have known people who have. And I know children whose hearing loss was permanent. Your situation prompted me to write because I want to make sure that it is known that school districts are responsible for all children on their 3rd birthday.

The next step after the audiologist is to write a letter to the school district that your nephew is in. They will probably want to evaluate him and then decide if he qualifies for services (speech therapy and the like). If his loss is permanent, don't despair! It will be OK!

My kids are at the same school that houses the Santa Clara County school for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (D/HOH). It is integrated into the typical school in varying degrees as is appropriate for each child. So all info I have is from observation (and both of my boys have been in speech therapy with the school district since they were 4). My son is in kindergarten with 4 children who have varying degrees of hearing loss. The quality of everyone's education is enhanced by the experience of being together. The entire class is taught by a regular teacher with a full time interpreter.

It was so smart to notice your nephew's hard time. So much can be done when hearing loss is caught early. His intelligence will only help him. I hope that the audiologist has good news for you, but all will be OK.

He may need tubes in his ears. My son couldnt hear or speak very well at 18 months and it turned out he had fluid in his ears. Immediately after the tubes were put in he could hear and speak much better. The tubes fell out on their own and he hasnt had any problems since. Hope that works for you.

M.

I cannot speak to this issue in a 3 1/2 year old, but I have personally wrestled with temporary hearling loss. I went to an audiologist who told me I most likely had a brain tumor. When that was ruled out, I was told that I had lost my hearing due to a virus and that it would never return. I went to an acupuncturist and within 3 months I was hearing better than I had in years. I don't know if an acupuncturist can treat such a young child, but it might be worth a consultation at least. Good luck!!

E.

sign language can be a great backup to speech.
it doesnt hurt to have an extra language.

Helllo-
I know this is an old post, but I would love to know what your problem ended up being. My 3.5 year old is having the same exact issue. She has always had great hearing and is very well-spoken. One day last week, she had a hard time hearing us. We thought it was water in her ear from a water park that we took her too. She has been to 2 regular doctors, both of which say there is no water/infection. I read that they can't always detect an infection in the middle ear. She did have a small cold about 2 weeks ago, but it is gone now. She has no ear pain. It has been 5 days now where her hearing has been bad. The doctor said wait another week or so to see if it goes away on its own. I am worried sick. Please let me know if you have any information.

Thank you!

That happened to my pastor's son... He had a cold the week of his checkup when they did the hearing test prior to kindergarten. He didn't pass because of the cold and his ears were just stuffed and they had him come back the month after that and his test was just fine, but it was a bit of a nerve-wracking month for them. See what the audiologist says... it doesn't seem common to spontaneously lose hearing like that and if he's reading sentences and speaking clearly, it's pretty sudden because you need to hear those to reproduce them. Try not to worry, but seeing an audiologist is the way to go because they have better equipment and will check everything.
Good luck!

Are you sure he's really having a hard time hearing you or just choosing not to hear you? I myself would do a couple of simple things at home like stand behind him and offer him something you KNOW he will want to respond for. See if he hears that. Then later do the same with something he may not be interested in and see if you get the same result. It simply could be that he's not interested in what you're saying to him.