Hearing

[daycare]

I have a dcg that will be 4 next week.

A couple of months ago I asked the parents to have her ears tested because her speech is very hard to understand, she is very loud all of the time to the point we have to set her out because she just gets so loud the other kids are upset by it. When anyone here at preschool calls her name or talks to her, there is no eye contact and she often ignores up the first several times we call her name. It's to the point were we almost have to yell her name to get her attention and it's always like this.

Well DCP come back from the doc and said that they could not do the hearing test, doc tried and dcg didn't respond to any of the sounds so they think she is too young. I don't know what to think about this, my own kids took hearing test at age 2 and had no issues.

I am starting to get frustrated of how loud the child is and feel bad that we have to constantly quiet her down. I guess I just can't buy the fact that they are saying she is too young to take a hearing test.

i want to talk to the parents about this again, because it seems like it's getting worse, not better. BUT what else can I say to get them to go. They are the kind that if the doc says it's fine, then it must be.

HELP any ideas or advice on how I can help get this kid properly tested or ideas of what I can do to get her to stop being so loud and to respond when we talk.

[daycarediva]

ouch, tough spot. They do hearing tests on infants. My own kids did them at 2 and with their K screenings at 4-5, too. If she can't follow the directions OR she can't hear the sounds wouldn't that be red flags for the pediatrician. At 4 kids can follow simple directions like 'raise your hand if you hear the beep'.

Is it possible they lied and didn't do the test? I would ask for a form for her file.

[daycare]

ouch, tough spot. They do hearing tests on infants. My own kids did them at 2 and with their K screenings at 4-5, too. If she can't follow the directions OR she can't hear the sounds wouldn't that be red flags for the pediatrician. At 4 kids can follow simple directions like 'raise your hand if you hear the beep'.

Is it possible they lied and didn't do the test? I would ask for a form for her file.

I do not think they lied, they went for vision too as the dcg still does not know colors and I believe she could be color blind. ASQ-SE and ASQ-3 also behind.

doc said he felt the child is very immature and babied by everyone in the family so this is why.

The child was taken out of school the day they went. Next day DCG did tell me about what the doc did.

the family is very good at following through with my request, always follows rules, never fights any of them. I love this family, but at this rate DCG has me pulling out my hair....

[daycare]

ouch, tough spot. They do hearing tests on infants. My own kids did them at 2 and with their K screenings at 4-5, too. If she can't follow the directions OR she can't hear the sounds wouldn't that be red flags for the pediatrician. At 4 kids can follow simple directions like 'raise your hand if you hear the beep'.

Is it possible they lied and didn't do the test? I would ask for a form for her file.

also that is what I thought. To me that was a huge red flag that she could not participate in a hearing test at this age.

[hope]

If the child is really suspected of having hearing issues they can put her under and do a test. My DD has some disabilities. At the age of 2 she wasn't making any sounds. There is a genetic disease in DHS family that causes hearing lose and blindness. So we took her to get her hearing tested. Her disabilities made it impossible to test her so her pediatrician had us take her to the hospital to put her under and they tested her that way. I would suggest this for dcg because if it is serious enough to be affecting her speech than it is serious enough to test for.

[Kabob]

Sounds like she needs a different doctor. My son's old doctor brushed off my concerns about his hearing with "boys will be boys" and then a different doctor (whom he saw because his regular doctor wasn't available) referred him to get his hearing checked at the ENT doctor after taking just one look at him.

The ENT did end up doing a hearing test while he was under anesthesia before and after he got tubes in...he basically had no hearing until he got the tubes in. He didn't cooperate for a regular hearing test. A tympanogram showed his one eardrum wasn't vibrating at all and the other just barely.

So, yeah, at 4, I'd tell the doctor he is full of BS...unless the parents are the ones saying she's too young...I mean their doctor did say they were babying her, right? Even if they were babying her, she should at least be able to respond to her name. What if it isn't her hearing? What if there is some other developmental difficulty occurring here?

[Blackcat31]

I agree with Kabob. I think the family needs a new Dr. MANY non-verbal children have hearing tests conducted and a lot of them don't require the child to respond at all. If I recall correctly they measure sound waves in the inner and/or outer ear drum.

http://www.asha.org/public/hearing/Types-of-Tests-Used-to-Evaluate-Hearing/

[spedmommy4]

The OAE is one of the most common screening that doesn't require a response. It DOES require the child to be absolutely still and silent for about 30 seconds per ear. I watched the slp's at our district do them.

A formal hearing test (that would measure hearing levels) that wouldn't require a response would require sedation. Many pediatricians don't like to refer for those unless they are certain there's a problem.

I agree with Kabob. I think the family needs a new Dr. MANY non-verbal children have hearing tests conducted and a lot of them don't require the child to respond at all. If I recall correctly they measure sound waves in the inner and/or outer ear drum.

http://www.asha.org/public/hearing/T...luate-Hearing/

[Unregistered]

Maybe they would all take it more seriously if you suggested an evaluation for her speech. Starting therapies with early intervention creates waaaay better outcomes than if you wait. For example children with autism, 90% will learn to speak with therapy started before age 2, compared to 70% if they wait till age 5. Early intervention is extremely important and the Dr and parents are affecting this child's life- for the rest of her life by 'wait and see' method... Very sad.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Being hard of hearing myself, all I can say is please be patient and don't get frustrated. Try a tap on the shoulder instead of yelling her name. Speak directly to her, with eye contact. Can you bring in an outside tester to your home and test all the children? The ELC offers that here for free. If she is hh......patience and following proven techniques for the deaf/hh will be very important.

I'm not a kid, nor was I hh as a kid......but even as an adult its painful sometimes when folks get frustrated over hearing loss. I know you're a good soul, daycare, so hang in there! Inquire about in house testing. Best wishes. :hug:

[daycare]

Being hard of hearing myself, all I can say is please be patient and don't get frustrated. Try a tap on the shoulder instead of yelling her name. Speak directly to her, with eye contact. Can you bring in an outside tester to your home and test all the children? The ELC offers that here for free. If she is hh......patience and following proven techniques for the deaf/hh will be very important.

I'm not a kid, nor was I hh as a kid......but even as an adult its painful sometimes when folks get frustrated over hearing loss. I know you're a good soul, daycare, so hang in there! Inquire about in house testing. Best wishes. :hug:

Sorry don't want you to think that we are yelling at kids in frustration, it's not like that...

Often we have to raise our voice/yell their name when we are outside or on the other side of the room and not always able to get on their eye level and grab their attention.

For example, just this morning, the child was going to try and get up onto a book shelf, yes the child tries things like this still at this age. I had a child sitting on my lap, so I could not get up fast enough and called out to the child to get off/down. I said her name more than 3 times before I had to get loud, by that point I was starting to walk over there, but needed immediate attention from this child to stop them from doing something unsafe.

We do have a hearing program that will come in and conduct the test, the issue right now is that they are full until fall and said by fall they may be out of funding to be able to service in-home daycares...WHICH stinks....

I think the part about all of this that frustrates me is that the parents are ok with accepting the doctors response of "they are too young to take the test". I am frustrated with that part, because I know in my heart of hearts there is something wrong and they are not getting any help for it. They are really struggling here because of it. I see it every day. I feel sad that the child's needs are not being met and there is nothing that I can do right now........