Hi, girls:
I have a good friend whose newborn (1.5 weeks old) failed his hearing test 4 times in the hospital. He is now scheduled to see an audiologist. Has this happened to anyone else? What were the causes or result of the failed test? One thing to mention is my friend is deaf/hard-of-hearing, however her hearing loss was NOT thought to be genetic, as her loss was acquired later in life.
Thanks to everyone with their thoughtful responses. As a person fluent in ASL and well educated in Deaf Culture, my friend and I are pretty aware of her options if her son is deaf. She is Deaf/HOH herself and a teacher at a deaf program in CPS. She and I are glad to hear that there have been cases where a failed test is the result of excess fluid, as this is exactly what her doctor told her. She just needed a little reassurance. Even though she is deaf, she is devastated by the possibility of a hearing loss. Thanks again to everyone for your feedback. I truely appreicate it!
Yes, I agree with the other response. My son failed his hearing test several times at the hospital as well, but passed a couple weeks later and has been wonderful ever since. I'd give it a little more time. Just tell her to hang in there!
If he does have permanent hearing loss have her look into getting him a coclear implant. It is magnetically placed on the head and surgically implanted in the head as well however, when done early on children can learn to speak just like their peers. It only becomes more difficult when dealt with later. Good luck and just be supportive - she needs your shoulder and ear to lean on right now more than ever. Good luck!
my oldest son failed several times and we just continued to retest through our pediatrician until he was about 4 or 6 weeks old and he passed. some kids take longer for fluids to dissipate, according to my doc, and they're used to retesting for a while.
good luck!
Hi tell her not 2 worry my son rigth now is 18 month. wen he was a newborn he failed the test like 10 time even with audiologist until we accept 2 the surgery wich they pleas a tube on the ear. rigth now he dosent stop blabing.
I know nothing about this, but it did occur to me that if hers truly is NOT genetic, and she has SOME hearing, then maybe she tended to listen to things like radio or tv at abnormally loud levels? I don't know what the chances are that it would cause damage to the unborn child, but I do remember reading about not listening to the car radio too loudly during pregnancy.
Just a thought. I doubt if I would mention it, as it does seem far-fetched and I'm sure the audiologist can give her better info! Also, it may just be "one of those things" that defies explanation. I would encourage her to have him checked though.
Luckily, with more and more people learning to sign, being deaf does not have the horrible stigma it once had!
I know this wasn't much help :( Sorry!!!
M.
Hi J.!
I am a teacher for kids that are Deaf and Hard of Hearing and my oldest failed his first hearing screenings. The way they initially test newborns is a very basic ear function test which can be invalidated in many ways. For my son, he simply has a crooked ear canal, which doesn't affect his hearing in any way, however it caused him to fail the test. Also, if all the amniotic fluid is not out of his ear that could give you a false negative too. What the audiologist will probably do is give him an "ABR" or Auditory Brainstem Response test where they will put electrodes to his head, (no shaving or anything involved except a good bath later) introduce a variety of sounds in his ears, and the electrodes will show how his brain responded to the stimuli.
As for Cochlear Implants, Modes of communication, etc etc. that is all things that need to be researched and decided on later. Although it is recommended for a child to receive a Cochlear Implant as early in life as possible, he will still need a mode of manual communication (sign language) before he can be implanted, and the earliest I have heard of is 18 months old. If he has no communication before then, you can cure his hearing problem totally at 18 months and the opportunity of learning language will be so impacted that he will have a GREAT deal of difficulity learning any language.
Early intervention is the most important key in all of this, and if your friend can accept his hearing loss, if it turns out there is one, and provide the most appropriate intervention, he will be WONDERFUL!
Good luck, your friend is blessed to have as caring friend as you!
J.
It did happen to one of my six newborns, and it is not altogether uncommon. They requested a second screening a few weeks later and the second one was fine. They are not always accurate, or predictive of future problems, but since it is such a critical issue not to overlook, cooperate with the most serious of attitudes. Better to overdo the care than not do enough. Everything will be fine! Last of all, remember that hearing greatly effects speech and vocabulary, so step up your childs' play to high gear, giving lots of time to singing, storytelling, learning alphabet, and PHONICS!!! The schools in Wisconsin, I have found, neglect this critical reading catalyst. SO IMPORTANT, AND A HANDICAP TO YOUR CHILD IF THEY DON"T GET IT
In my opinion, the important thing to encourage your friend to remember is that if her son does truly have a hearing loss, they have discovered it early and can take steps to "remediate". The really important thing is that this time is such a critical age for learning language and if her son has a loss, then he can be aided and they can use sign language or whatever mode of communication they might choose...but her son would not be missing opportunities for learning language, which is critical for overall success.
