For everyone: Have you ever had your children's hearing tested?

[fhjmom]

Hearing loss in children is obviously a topic near and dear to my heart. I have seen several posts here that asks about hearing issues in children and it got me to wondering, as homeschoolers, do you ask that your pediatrician or other health care provider perform hearing evaluations for your children? I ask because public schools are required to do vision and hearing screenings on students, but since our kids obviously do not get those screenings, I was wondering if homeschool parents ask for them.

 

I realize newborn hearing screening is in place in almost all states now - at least for hospital births - but the incidence of late-onset (after-birth) is pretty high. Both of my girls passed their new-born screens but they were diagnosed with hearing loss at 4 years old and 7 months old. I believe NBHS is great and it does catch some losses early, but it doesn't take away the need for screening as the child gets older.

 

Also, since home births tend to be common in the homeschool community, have those of you who had home births asked for newborn hearing screenings? Just curious.

 

I do know that many children with mild and mild-moderate losses go undiagnosed. Also, kids who have undiagnosed hearing losses are sometimes wrongly "labeled" with ADHD or other learning disabilities.

 

May is Better Hearing and Speech month so I thought I would take a few minutes and give a little PSA for you to think about. Have you had your children's hearing tested?

[LittleIzumi]

Dd3 had hers tested again when she began with Early Intervention (17 mo)... and flunked on both ears. She had some wax so the pedi cleared it out just in case, and found a raging double ear infection hidden behind it (no symptoms). A month later she still had fluid in her ears. No wonder she couldn't communicate well. Her next two checks she passed without issue.

We realized later she could respond to our rising or descending tones, but not the words themselves, due to the hearing impairment.

[kokotg]

My ped. does routine hearing screenings at certain appointments. My son has unilateral hearing loss, and the first clue we had was when he failed the hearing screen at his 5 year check up. So I'm a big advocate of hearing testing, too. My son has a lot of social anxiety, much of which I suspect we could have avoided had we caught his hearing loss earlier (she actually tried to do a screen when he was 4, but he wasn't being cooperative, so we put it off a year).

[melmichigan]

I need multiple choice. :)

[Jean in Newcastle]

I had my kid's hearing tested (full audiologist test) when they were preschool age. Then I had dd9's hearing tested again when we were first aware that she was having speech difficulties - age 6. Both their hearing is normal. If I noticed that they were having trouble hearing in the future, I would take them in again.

 

I've had my hearing tested yearly for the last 6 years. My mom started to lose her hearing in her late 30's and her dad was the same. I'm borderline for needing an aide but it has stayed at that level for the last 6 years and I've chosen to not get them at this time. If that changes, I will get them.

[....]

My son lost all of his hearing in one of his ears and was losing his hearing in the other year (when he was 3). He had tubes put in and his hearing came back.

 

Yep, we check hearing. :D

[mazakaal]

My oldest boys had their hearing tested when they were young because they both had minor speech issues. Both tested fine for hearing. I've never even thought of testing again because it hasn't seemed like they have a hard time. I'm not even sure if the two youngest, who were born here, had newborn screening! I didn't think of it at the time. Maybe I should call the medical centre and see if they do routine screenings. Thanks for the PSA. :001_smile:

[athena1277]

Both my dc have had hearing tests. Dd had it due to an ear perforation that required surgery (twice). Ds had a hearing test to make sure that was not part of his speech troubles before starting speech therapy (his hearing was fine). We never did it as part of a routine screening.

[TravelingChris]

Well I didn't know how to answer the test. All my kids had newborn screening. My oldest had numerous tests because he did have hearing issues. They were related to ear infections and he had delayed speech as a result. (We tried and tried to get help and no one believed us until we moved to CA which had extensive help for speech and hearing for young children). My next one definitely has and had no hearing problems- she hears better than normal people do. My third learned to speak the earliest, never has complained of any hearing problems, and hears perfectly well (much better than the parents). So I really didn't know how to answer the question. We tested and treated the child who had a problem, we didn't the kids who had normal or better hearing.

[Diana B]

Had my son's hearing checked by the pediatrician a few years ago when I thought there might be a problem. At the time they said it was fine, but I don't really trust it.

 

I'm waiting for our new health insurance info and than we'll be seeing a pediatrician again and will bring up the issue. I want both hearing and vision screened. I don't think there is a problem with the vision, but he's definitely got outer ear issues (excess wax, itchiness, dry skin in the canal) and I want to make sure its all OK inside.

 

If I had my life together prior to this and we had insurance I'd have gotten him checked previously.

[Gailmegan]

I chose "Other". Mine are screened regularly by the pediatrician, but when my oldest turned two he wasn't talking, so we had the full evaluation by an audiologist just to be sure the hearing wasn't the problem. (It wasn't - he just didn't feel like talking yet.)

[amyable]

My daughter (11yo) also has a unilateral loss that was detected at 4yo. She passed the newborn screen but as her speech was slow to develop (among other behavioral things) I thought to have her tested.

 

Due to the experience we had at our ped, I'd like to issue a warning - it is possible to "prompt" a child through this test. The nurse giving the hearing screen at her 4yo appointment kept saying, "Did you hear that? Pay attention, let's try that again" etc and PASSED my daughter who has a moderate to severe loss in that ear (and did at the time of the test). I was not in the room but could hear them from the hallway. Being a speech language pathologist I *knew* she shouldn't be prompting the kid so I filed that away in my memory bank and soon got her tested by my friend/slp who had a audiometer she could bring to our house. She failed, and we had her taken to the audiologist.

 

So if your "tester" talks to the kids in any leading way, or if the child can see the person moving to press the buttons, or he can read facial expressions and can see the "concern" on the nurses face when he doesn't raise his hand like he should so he tentatively raises his hand anyway...these are all signs that they should be tested again/somewhere else if you have any concerns.

 

I'm so thankful I knew better -- I felt guilty *enough* that she wasn't discovered until 4+...it probably would have been another year or more if I hadn't looked into it myself. I mean, why shouldn't I believe my pediatrician that she can hear if she was tested??

 

Now if I could only get my dd to wear her expensive hearing aid... :lol:

[kokotg]

Well I didn't know how to answer the test. All my kids had newborn screening. My oldest had numerous tests because he did have hearing issues. They were related to ear infections and he had delayed speech as a result. (We tried and tried to get help and no one believed us until we moved to CA which had extensive help for speech and hearing for young children). My next one definitely has and had no hearing problems- she hears better than normal people do. My third learned to speak the earliest, never has complained of any hearing problems, and hears perfectly well (much better than the parents). So I really didn't know how to answer the question. We tested and treated the child who had a problem, we didn't the kids who had normal or better hearing.

 

Just want to point out that we had no way of knowing my son was having hearing problems without the screening. He spoke early and well. He never complained about his hearing, and we never noticed him having any trouble hearing. That's because he hears perfectly out of one ear, so when he's with immediate family and in relatively quiet situations, he hears just fine. The reason I link his hearing loss with his social anxieties is that unilateral loss becomes a big deal in groups and in situations with lots of background noise. With just one good ear, you can't tell where sound is coming from and it can be hard to pick out what someone's saying to you from all the background noise. But just based on the fact that he freaked out in group settings, we never could have guessed it was because of hearing loss. Most kids with social anxiety don't having hearing loss, after all. He was saying 500 words at 21 months. He almost never had ear infections. We have no family history of hearing loss. There was just no way to know without the screen.

 

Not trying to single you out or to suggest that you're wrong about your kids' hearing. Obviously most kids hear just fine. But after our experience, I'm a big advocate for screenings even if you don't suspect there's a problem. I still feel really sad and guilty when I think about what DS went through and how we might have been able to prevent it or at least alleviate it somewhat.

[Elizabeth in WA]

I clicked the obligatory other. My children have all had regular hearing screenings, and the two that had speech difficulties have had multiple complete evaluations by audiologists. Since they haven't all had full evals, but some have had more than just screenings, I would have needed multiple selection options to avoid other. :)

 

On the tangent subject of speech therapy, we have had more success with outrageously expensive, intensive private speech therapy than with public school therapy, although we have used both, generally continuing public school therapy beyond the end of private therapy. It isn't even necessarily about the quality of the therapist as about targeted 1:1 therapy not limited by public school eligibility rules (which are very late for some sounds and very specific) versus small group therapy that is limited and has to meet multiple different needs. On the other hand, we could have had 1:1 public school speech therapy while oldest was in a social behavioral program (because he has Asperger's) with a 3.5:1 child:adult ratio overall, but he was unwilling to cooperate and therefore unable to benefit at that time.

[Sasharowan]

We have them do the screening at 5yo checkup. The school screening in 1st grade pickup substantial hearing loss when I was in 1st grade, apparently nerve damage from a fever, so we do additional screening just in case.

[Parrothead]

Dd has had the test at the pedi once when she was much younger. Hearing loss doesn't seem to be a problem in our family. We have plenty of other hereditary issues.

[fhjmom]

I need multiple choice. :)

 

Sorry, I intended to allow multiple choices then hit the submit button too fast. :tongue_smilie:

[Desert Rat]

Thank you for posting. No, I haven't had my kid's hearing tested since they were newborns. Can you recommend another place to get their hearing tested besides the pediatrician's office? I don't like ours (or the office) and I'm kinda stuck with them for awhile.

I would appreciate any guidance as to where else I might go.

[MorganClassicalPrep]

DD has had her hearing tested by an audiologist multiple times. She actually failed the newborn hearing screen, passed an audiologists screening awhile later (couple weeks, couple months?) then failed the check up and the one after that.

 

When she got her tubes in at 11 months- she finally started passing! It was quite a relief when she passed.

 

Now that her tubes are out (and have been out for awhile) she needs to go back in and get checked. I do also. Finding an audiologist is actually on my to-do list for next week (after final exams are over!).

[Carrie12345]

I voted "other".

Ds failed 2 newborn screenings, but he was fussy both times. Passed the third. His hearing was also tested at 4/5 with ASD evals.

 

I wouldn't hesitate to have hearing tests done if we suspected any sort of problem, just like we get their eyes checked when we suspect an issue, but it isn't on our general to-do list. Neither are blood tests, allergy tests, or learning disability tests. Unless something seems off, which would prompt us to get things checked out.

[angela in ohio]

I talk to my family doctor about the fact that we homeschool, and I ask her to cover anything the school would be doing/requiring. That included a general vision screening, a hearing screening, etc.

[jenn-]

All of my kids have been screened at some point or another. All 3 boys have delayed speech issues and therefore have been tested by their speech therapist. Nathan has also been tested at the ENT when he was a lot younger (I think he was released from their care a little before 2) because of persistent fluid.

 

DD has had hers tested the most. She started failing K (PS) and after we ruled out her vision being the problem, we got her hearing checked. Imagine our surprise when she failed it miserably. She had passed the school screening. We were later told that the school screening is not very sensitive and only detects the most severe cases. We were lucky that DD's hearing loss was just to fluid build up. Once she had her tubes placed, her hearing returned to normal. The ENT came out of that surgery saying with the thickness and amount of fluid build up in her ears, she probably hadn't heard well in years (which explained some lingering articulation issues and why she couldn't grasp phonics). She was followed carefully for several years after that resulting in another round of tubes and a T & A in an attempt to keep her ears clear. We think she has FINALLY outgrown most of her ear issues.

[secular_mom]

May is Better Hearing and Speech month so I thought I would take a few minutes and give a little PSA for you to think about. Have you had your children's hearing tested?

Thanks for the PSA :)

My kids have all attended school at some point, and all but my youngest have had hearing and vision screening via public school BUT the vision screening did not show any problems even though I found out they all badly needed glasses after taking all of them to an eye doctor to have exams (I wanted to make sure because one was complaining that the letters were too small, since he did need glasses I wanted to make sure the others didn't but they did so I'm really glad I made the appointments for them).

I will see about scheduling hearing tests for them ASAP.

[Punks in Ontario]

Yes, but only for my youngest. That was because of speech delays and a belief that he didn't hear me quite often. He passed all the preschool tests, but I'm not convinced that he hasn't had periodic hearing loss. Since he's had his adenoids out, he's quite a lot better.

 

I've never had my others tested because there were no concerns. They can always hear any conversation about them from the far end of the house.:glare:

[GoVanGogh]

DS has had his hearing testing many times by an audiologist, due to early ear infections, temp hearing loss due to repeated infections and tubes.

He consistently mis-hears the letters "f" and "v," though, and I have been at a loss for what to do. Our ENT said they would have to do high-level testing where DS is sedated. He said he thought it was more of an attention issue, not actual hearing.

 

Regarding the original poll and hearing/vision screening at school.

Our son has had a long history of vision issues.

Our opthamologist is actually opposed to school screenings. His point: The more common vision issues that a child has are not what they screen for in schools. They only screen for actual vision and don't screen if the eyes are working together, ie: lazy eye, strabismus, etc. He feels that the free vision screenings at schools give parents a false sense of security, that every child should have a full vision screening with an opthamologist not a vision chart by a school nurse.

I'm not arguing for or against his opinion, just think it is an interesting perspective.

I know - for us - I spent two years taking my son to an optometrist and banging my head against a wall that he couldn't progress in reading. I finally took him to an opthamologist and found out that he had a very, very slight case of strabismus - his eyes were not working together. I wasted so much time trying to find the root of DS's reading problems and kept thinking, "Well, his vision is 20/20." I had no idea there could be more to it than that.

 

I think, for us, homeschooling has actually made us more proactive regarding vision and hearing issues.

[Rosie_0801]

Nup, not yet. Dh has a hearing loss so we observe carefully. The tests aren't terribly reliable until about preschool age, so we didn't bother because we figured our own observation was likely to be no less reliable than the tests. Dd is speech delayed, though I'm 99% sure that's due to a lack of interest/practice rather than hearing problems, so we'll be taking her for a full evaluation later in the year. I think she needs a little more maturity before she'll co-operate properly. :glare: She knows Auslan is an option.

 

Rosie

[Shellydon]

Yes! My pediatrician checks every year.

[Jyniffrec]

Due to the experience we had at our ped, I'd like to issue a warning - it is possible to "prompt" a child through this test. The nurse giving the hearing screen at her 4yo appointment kept saying, "Did you hear that? Pay attention, let's try that again" etc and PASSED my daughter who has a moderate to severe loss in that ear (and did at the time of the test). I was not in the room but could hear them from the hallway. Being a speech language pathologist I *knew* she shouldn't be prompting the kid so I filed that away in my memory bank and soon got her tested by my friend/slp who had a audiometer she could bring to our house. She failed, and we had her taken to the audiologist.

 

So if your "tester" talks to the kids in any leading way, or if the child can see the person moving to press the buttons, or he can read facial expressions and can see the "concern" on the nurses face when he doesn't raise his hand like he should so he tentatively raises his hand anyway...these are all signs that they should be tested again/somewhere else if you have any concerns.

 

 

This is good information. Thank you! I have to wonder if that is what happened at one of our dc's test.

 

On a tangent concerning newborn screening. I had always wished I could have home births but it never worked out that way. If I had gone that route I would never have consented to newborn screening and it would have resulted in my fourth child losing her life from a rare genetic disorder. We never suspected anything like that could happen to us but it did. Happily, I am hearing her shout at her older brother right now so all is well. :001_smile:

[LizzyBee]

Two of my kids have had full evaluations by an audiologist, including APD evaluations. The oldest has only had screening tests at the family doctor's office.

[LisaKinVA]

My youngest 3 all had newborn screenings. My youngest DS has had a full screening by an audiologist (he failed the screening at the Peds office). My oldest two have never had anything but the Peds screening (beeps, raise hand... like they did to me in school). My youngest two have only had the newborn screenings... but my rising Ker will have her peds screening, and probably a full eye exam this year.

[Veritaserum]

I've had four home births. I got my babies' hearing tested. There were two that got tested at other times in addition to newborn screening. My minor is in audiology and speech language pathology, so I know it's important. :)

[La Condessa]

My girls have only had the newborn screenings, but they are still little. I know that my older daughter has good hearing, because she will frequently help me with my own loss.--I am hard of hearing, and she will tell me when she hears the baby wake up in the back bedroom, or the garage door open as someone comes home, or the dogs are barking at someone behind our backyard fence.

[Chris in VA]

I put that their hearing is regularly screened, but we did extensive testing with ds21, because we were ruling out hearing loss. Turned out to be Aspergers, we think (pretty positive).

[ScoutTN]

A basic hearing test is automatic in a yearly check-up here. :)

[HS Mom in NC]

My oldest child was born at home and I did not request a newborn test. She always turned her head toward sounds or jumped at loud sounds as an infant so it was obvious she could hear normally.

 

We think my child's alopecia areata might affect her hearing loss.

 

My middle child was a transfer from home to a hospital for delivery and passed the regular newborn hearing screen. Everything was normal until about 6 years old. I took her to the ped and he asked me dozens of standard questions, and the only one I answered "yes" to was "Does the child seem to want the tv volume higher than you think is normal?" I also noticed she tended to not quite be able to break the ending consonant sounds down in words in the very early stages of Phonics at about that same time.

 

So, the ped had the nurse do a screening test telling me the results would be completely worthless unless she had a serious hearing loss. The only reliable hearing tests are done in sound proof rooms. So, when she passed the screening in the ped's office, he said it would require going to the audiologist for a more sensitive test picking up mild or moderate hearing loss.

 

The audiologist had both of us sit in the soundproof room together so she would not be nervous about the testing. The testing showed she had mild hearing loss in both ears to slightly different degrees. It's the similar to a middle aged person just noticing a loss. There was no treatment available for her case. They were not sure why it was happening. He did mention it was possible the hairs inside her ears that can affect hearing may not have grown properly, genetics, etc. He wanted an annual test for 5 consecutive years to see if anything changed.

 

The next annual test was better and stayed the same. At 9 she developed observable alopecia areata (hair loss in limited places) on her face and head, so it's possible that was a factor in her ears.

 

Things are much closer to normal now, but since aa flares up and goes away, things could continue to change. If it's not aa, who can say?

[AnitaMcC]

I voted "other" because three of my kids have had hearing tests.

 

Ds#1 and DD were tested at 18 months of age when they were evaluated for speech delay. They didn't have a newborn screening and they had several ear infections as babies.

 

Ds# 2 was not tested. He passed his newborn screening.

 

Ds#3 was tested often, but he had failed the newborn screening so he was at risk and had hearing loss from early on.

 

I think the school district does a very simple hearing and vision screening a few times between K and 6th grades. Twins attended ps from K-8. Younger two attended ps from 3 yrs old to currently still are.

Edited May 13, 2011 by AnitaMcC

[texasmama]

Other - my answer differs depending on the kid.

 

Three of my kids have been tested by healthcare providers at yearly checkups. They always pass just fine, and they seem to have very good hearing so no further evals were needed.

 

The fourth child had two sets of ear tubes and failed the hearing screens when he was in private school for k and first grades. I took him to an audiologist and an ENT, who both said that he had hearing in the low normal range. His hearing seems to have improved slightly in the years since, but he hasn't been tested at the audiologist, just at the pediatrician's office.

[Homemama2]

Our pediatrician includes hearing and vision screening in their kindergarten check up. He also said that if you bring the kids in for a regular check-up after K, you can just ask to have these screened.

[J-rap]

...

Edited September 11, 2023 by J-rap

[Amber in AUS]

All 4 of my kiddos have had and passed the NBHS. The older 2 have had a pre-school hearing screen, #3 will have her's next year. Little DS is seeing an ENT & audiologist for a full eval in 2 weeks. There is some concern he has hearing loss and he ticks almost every box for high risk so we are going to check it out properly.

[Hannah C.]

Other. I had dd in a birth center which didn't do hearing screening on site. They gave me info about it. I was worried about her hearing when she slept through two different fire alarms, but other people weren't. Since then she's startled at noises that aren't that loud, so I think we're good. I haven't actually taken her to the pediatrician yet, so this may change. There's no history of deafness in the family.

 

I had my hearing tested when I started public high school in 10th grade. I must have passed, since they didn't tell me that I hadn't. I think pregnancy has effected my ability to process speech sounds properly, though.

[Sputterduck]

No, but I know he can hear well.

[Wendi]

My son was evaluted by an audiologist when he was 3yo, because he had a lot of allergy problems, fluid on his eardrums, etc., and his articulation was a little below average. His hearing was fine.

 

Wendi

[Veritaserum]

Some children with hearing loss significant enough to negatively affect language acquisition will still startle/respond to sounds. Early detection helps prevent language delays, which is why newborn screening can be helpful. :)

[FrogMom5]

Yes, my kids are screened regularly by my Pediatrician. My oldest had auditory processing issues so he's had lots of screenings. He had surgery last summer and has been a bit louder since that time so I'll be taking him in for another screening soon.

 

Denise

[Tap]

I said 'once while back' just because is broadly covers all 3 kids.

 

Ds 16 was fully evaluated by an audiologist in a lab, at least once, and more informally in his office a couple times under 7yo. He has many, many ear infections and a slight speech issue. His hearing is 'above normal'.

 

DD12 was evaluated by a physician as part of an neurological exam around 1st grade for migraines. It wasn't by an audiologist but it was more than a pediatrician's observation.

 

DD4 was evaluated as part of early intervention. It was an informal exam by a hearing/language specialist as part of her OT evaluation. There were 'no concerns in this area'.

 

I have never had a concern with my kids hearing but I appreciate the heads up to consider the options. DD4's bio-uncle is deaf. The family has told me it is non-genetic but that is all I know.

[Crimson Wife]

My kids' pediatrician does basic hearing tests as part of their annual checkups. My two youngest have been tested by pediatric audiologists at around age 2 because of speech delays. Both tested within the normal range so I wouldn't bother with further audiology testing unless I was concerned about CAPD.

 

By the time my 2nd reached the age where he was old enough for CAPD testing, he'd grown out of his speech delay. I'm hoping for the same for my 3rd child.

[weddell]

DD and DS both had the newborn screening. DD passed. DS failed 3 times in the hospital. They kept saying that he probably just had fluid so they kept retesting hoping it would clear. Since he failed that, he saw an audiologist as a newborn a few weeks later. He passed that screening and we haven't had it repeated. Both kids can hear things across the house with no problems and I think hear better than I do. I think DD had a screening at preschool, but I don't have a lot of faith in those. They also have both had very clear speech from an early age, so I think they are hearing correctly since they seem to have picked up language.

 

DH had hearing loss as a child because of ear infections but both my kids have managed to have pretty healthy ears so far.

[dirty ethel rackham]

My children have much better hearing than me. When ds14 was 6 years old, we suspected he had hearing loss. So, we had him screened at the local school. It turns out that he is hyperauditory - that he can hear better than the average person. We later found out that he had auditory and sensory processing issues. I have a small hearing loss (can't use my right ear for talking on the phone) so I am sensitive to this issue. In fact, I just recommended that dh get his hearing checked because either he has hearing loss or selective hearing (which, if he is ignoring me, is a HUGE problem.)

[lisamarie]

My DS had his hearing tested at 2 1/2 due to speech delays. The test did show slight hearing loss due to repeated ear infections. Ear tubes solved that problem but the speech issues have persisted 5 years later. I wish I'd pushed for ear tubes much younger. My girls have not had full hearing tests, just the quicky ones in the regular dr's office for routine screening.