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My 8 yo daughter failed her hearing screening/test....


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and I'm definitely a bit concerned. She had her yearly check-up yesterday and after the hearing test, which was done by a nurse in a separate (and quiet) room, the nurse came back and told me that my dd falied the test because she couldn't hear the "low" tones. She said she should be able to hear at 25 decibels but couldn't hear anything until 40 dcb. After getting home and doing some reading, I'm not totally sure what she meant by "low"... I don't know if she meant low as in quiet or low as in pitches/frequencies? I'm guessing my dd couldn't hear any frequencies until 40 dcb, but I can't be sure. So she's going to be seeing an audiologist (don't have that appt. yet).

 

A little background in case it might help with any advice... She was adopted at 3 1/2 so we don't know much about her medical history before that point but she's been healthy since she's been home. She does have HUGE tonsils but no infections so we just keep an eye on them. She snores and moves a lot in her sleep but the dr. says it's ok to just watch the situation for now. I mention this because I read something about a child's adnoids putting pressure on the ear causing some hearing loss. So I don't know if that might be a possibility? I also read about fluid in the ears being a possible cause - although we don't know of that being an issue.

 

Lastly, while we haven't noticed any specific hearing issues, she is having a heck of a time learning to read. Poor thing. It's been so frustrating for both of us. She just turned 8 and we're still working our way through Phonics Pathways. So who knows if there is an underlying issue with her hearing? I know I'm getting ahead of myself now.

 

If anyone has any thoughts or experience, I'd VERY much appreciate it!

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My friend is also an adoptive mother.

Her dd was a bit slow to talk and had a slight speech problem due to being 'tongue tied'. Academics--especially early reading was very difficult.

 

They found out that the dd had an 80% hearing loss!

 

The good news is that after having her tonsils/adenoids out, tongue clipped AND tubes put in her ears she was back up to near 100%! (all done at same time in a very short procedure.

 

After she healed her speech improved dramatically as well as her reading!

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Definitely get it checked out, get the actual test results, and double check what the doctor's tell you.

 

My son was diagnosed with a severe learning delay when he was two years old, and one of the tests he was given was hearing tests. The test came back that he had fluid in his ears and some hearing loss in the higher frequencies. They didn't tell me about the hearing loss because "it wouldn't affect speech at those frequencies". He had that fluid for two years (no infections). I didn't find out about it until I requested his records! I consulted with an ENT who said, "We won't know whether it is affecting his speech until we get the fluid out." So he got tubes put in. Well, his speech therapist, special ed teacher, and DH/I noticed slight speech improvements immediately. So, all that time, he would have benefited from tubes. :glare:

 

Fortunately, other than a slight mispronunciation of the letter R, he's totally fine now, but I was pretty mad that they didn't disclose all of the information to me.

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My soon to be adopted son needs tubes. We are hoping it makes a HUGE difference in his hearing. As he gets his hearing tested regularly, we're pretty sure it will. I can't wait. We were supposed to be setting that up this month, but because the adoption is taking it's sweet time, we will have to wait some more <sigh>.

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I definitely would not worry now. Fluid would be a very common reason for not hearing those low tones. Fluid can often come and go without any issues.

 

One of mine was prone to fluid in her ears but it would always drain on its own. It can come from having a cold or allergies. Once it was so bad, she couldn't hear at all. It was scary but by the next day, it resolved naturally.

 

An audiologist will be able to test to see if its fluid or not. If she finds fluid, then an ENT will want to watch it to see if it's chronic or not. I wouldn't even worry about it until you see the audiologist if you've never had any other hearing problems.

 

Even the worst case scenerio, you already know your dd already functions well. So whatever is the problem, you'll deal with it and it will be okay. :grouphug:

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I would go to a pediatric hospital and get a second opinon. I was told my daughter had a hearing loss due to a problem with the bones in her middle ear. I went to Children's for a second opinion. They had better equipment that was passive in diagnosis. Her ears were fine.:glare: She did have a great deal of wax that was impacted. We cleaered the wax and she was fine. I continue to have to clear her ears once a month.

 

My other daughter had sleep/snoring issues. Getting the tonsils/adnoids out was the best thing we did. She slept better, was happier and healthier. Again, we took her to pediatric specialist for evaluation.

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I really wouldn't worry about it too much. If she has a hearing loss, it is usually very manageable.

 

Our daughter failed her hearing test in 1st grade, and she also couldn't hear the low tones. She did have her adenoids and tonsils removed (not because they thought it would help her hearing, but she was having other problems with them).

 

Her hearing loss continued and it was discovered she has a conductive hearing loss. The middle ear bones are not vibrating, and therefore sound is not being passed on well. She has worn hearing aids since 2nd grade.

 

It did explain a lot of things she wasn't catching on to... little pieces of conversation and important details that she wasn't hearing. She was taking a gym class, and the teacher thought she wasn't paying attention, whereas in reality, she couldn't hear his instructions especially with the echo in the large room.

 

She does just fine with her hearing aids, and she doesn't wear them all the time either. Amazingly, when she sings, she has perfect pitch!

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My soon to be adopted son needs tubes. We are hoping it makes a HUGE difference in his hearing. As he gets his hearing tested regularly, we're pretty sure it will. I can't wait. We were supposed to be setting that up this month, but because the adoption is taking it's sweet time, we will have to wait some more <sigh>.

 

Do you know that you can do surgery with the agency's permission? We had to do that when my son needed surgery on his pen1s as a baby before we could finalize. If its foster care you may have to go before a judge but if the drs believe he needs it then it should be approved...you would hope.

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Thank you all for sharing your thoughts/experiences! I'm concerned but definitely not panicking or anything. I know it's possible that the audiologist may find that everything is perfectly fine. Part of me is hoping that there might a be a small and "fixable" problem that might explain her struggles with reading and whatnot. I'm really curious to find out about her tonsils and adenoids and if they might be causing problems. I know she sometimes seems to have a problem "finding" the word she's looking for (I often hear "what's that called again?") but I don't see how that could be related to her hearing. If her hearing turns out to be fine, we may check and make sure there aren't any other issues. So anyway, I'll wait for the audiologist appt., hopefully this week, and take it from there!

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Phonics is a hearing based skill. If she is not hearing all sounds, she may have difficulty learning to read phonetically because she may not be hearing all the nuances of the sounds particular letters and blends have. I would not panic at this time, but I would be very, very on top of this. Second and third opinions can be necessary. I have a homeschooling friend with a very bright son that is now 13. For YEARS she kept saying she felt his hearing was off but could not get anyone to give her a referral. He was bright enough that he learned to read by sight and could spell words based on definitions but never if she just said the word. She finally had a thorough hearing test last fall and he was 80% deaf inone ear and had tone loss in the other. With hearing aids he is now a different child. The behavior that she had been attributing to ADHD has also dramatically decreased.

 

I was told that my dd may be having intermittant hearing loss with fluids in her ear, which in turn may be causing some delays because she has times when she just can't hear and process. One audiologist was very serious about what is happening to her hearing, the other blew me off. We have had one ENT that was fantastic, another that told me 'no big deal if she has permanent loss'.

 

:grouphug:

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Thank you all for sharing your thoughts/experiences! I'm concerned but definitely not panicking or anything. I know it's possible that the audiologist may find that everything is perfectly fine. Part of me is hoping that there might a be a small and "fixable" problem that might explain her struggles with reading and whatnot. I'm really curious to find out about her tonsils and adenoids and if they might be causing problems. I know she sometimes seems to have a problem "finding" the word she's looking for (I often hear "what's that called again?") but I don't see how that could be related to her hearing. If her hearing turns out to be fine, we may check and make sure there aren't any other issues. So anyway, I'll wait for the audiologist appt., hopefully this week, and take it from there!

My dd does a lot of that and I hope we can assess for Central Processing Dsorders. I think it is related to her not hearing well consistently either.

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As a hard of hearing adult who was diagnosed with my hearing loss at age 4 I put absolutely zero trust or belief in any hearing screening done by anyone other than an audiologist. I absolutely would not panic or even be concerned at this point in time. I would read up on hearing loss and how it is treated so that you have an idea of questions you want to ask the audiologist. And an idea of if she has a hearing loss how you want to address that. I would also look into your state's homeschooling laws regarding the school system providing services for home schooled children.

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DON'T: Beat yourself up or feel guilty.

 

DO: Follow up with the audiologist and ask for an ENT referral.

 

I'm not sure why your ped wants to just wait and see with the tonsils. IMO, big tonsils + restless sleep= possible sleep apnea, which is not something that you just sit on your hands about.

 

An ENT evaluation might get a more specialized opinion about what role the tonsils are playing in all of this.

 

You're on the right track now, so just put that guilt away and do the needed follow-ups. :grouphug:

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My dd does a lot of that and I hope we can assess for Central Processing Dsorders. I think it is related to her not hearing well consistently either.

 

Dd did not hear consistently, and she has CAPD. I took a really long time to get the proper diagnosis. Just a little fluid in one ear messed up the first central auditory processing evaluation she had. The audiologist attributed atypical results to the fluid when it was actually CAPD.

 

To proceed with an CAPD evaluation, I think you really need close to normal hearing levels. I had one dd go through this, and now we're halfway through it with another one. She just had the hearing part and it was fine, so we got the okay to proceed with the processing evaluation.

 

I think you can have hearing loss and CAPD--if I'm right that infections can be related to both. I just don't know how they would test for CAPD with significant hearing loss.

 

What I always tell everyone--so I'm sorry if you've read it before--is to go to a pediatric audiologist that really knows auditory processing so they don't run into the problem that we did.:001_smile:

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Thank you all for sharing your thoughts/experiences! I'm concerned but definitely not panicking or anything. I know it's possible that the audiologist may find that everything is perfectly fine. Part of me is hoping that there might a be a small and "fixable" problem that might explain her struggles with reading and whatnot. I'm really curious to find out about her tonsils and adenoids and if they might be causing problems. I know she sometimes seems to have a problem "finding" the word she's looking for (I often hear "what's that called again?") but I don't see how that could be related to her hearing. If her hearing turns out to be fine, we may check and make sure there aren't any other issues. So anyway, I'll wait for the audiologist appt., hopefully this week, and take it from there!

 

I don't know much about this but there's something called expressive language disorder. Try reading about it and see if it fits.

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My 5 yo failed her hearing test this spring. We took her for an evaluation at the local children's hospital, and everything was fine. They felt either it was fluid in the ears from allergies / rhinitis or a poor test (such as not quiet enough, or not occluding the opposite ear to mask sounds). I hope it is something simple like that!

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Thank you again for your input and encouragement! Still waiting for the audiology appt. but in the mean time I asked the peds office to fax the info from the screening to me. This is what I got...

 

Right ear

500 Hz:

40

1000 Hz:

40

 

Left ear

500 Hz:

40

1000 Hz:

40

2000 Hz:

25

4000 Hz:

25

 

Findings

Hearing loss:

Mild hearing loss

Pure-tone average: 25 dB

Comments: Referral to Audiology

 

 

So I guess it is the low frequencies that seem to be the problem - if there is one. ?

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Thank you again for your input and encouragement! Still waiting for the audiology appt. but in the mean time I asked the peds office to fax the info from the screening to me. This is what I got...

 

Right ear

500 Hz:

40

1000 Hz:

40

 

Left ear

500 Hz:

40

1000 Hz:

40

2000 Hz:

25

4000 Hz:

25

 

Findings

Hearing loss:

Mild hearing loss

Pure-tone average: 25 dB

Comments: Referral to Audiology

 

 

So I guess it is the low frequencies that seem to be the problem - if there is one. ?

 

Sorry, I can't read the numbers. :(

 

I think I probably said this in an earlier post, but I remember the first audiologist we saw specifically said the low-tone loss (which wasn't really a loss) was due to fluid. Both dd's had this.

 

Oldest dd was re-tested years later at a better place and they said her hearing was normal and there was no fluid in her ears at that time.

 

Next dd has never been re-tested except at the pediatricians, but she's actually an amazing auditory learner so I really have no worries about her. And, FWIW, she's the one who would have the occasional deafness as during those late toddler/pre-school years.

 

I had a friend who adopted her dd and the dd had hearing loss. I don't remember all the steps they took to figure it out, but I can't remember them going to an audiologist (though I think they must have). I do specifically remember them going to an ENT associated with a major children's hospital. The ENT had a CT scan done of the girl's ears and they found something to explain the hearing loss. Now, it's been so long, so I could be wrong about the details, but I think the girl had trouble with the high frequencies because I remember there may have been trouble with the high pitch voice of the female teacher. Eventually, they were going to go with an FM system on her desk in school, but I can't remember what happened with that.

 

If I can dig up our old audiology reports, I'll let you know if I see anything that compares to your numbers.

 

ETA: I found the reports but there are no numbers. Sorry. If this helps, this is the language that they used:

 

"Results of conventional audiometry revealed normal hearing bilaterally with a low frequency conductive component in her right ear only." This relates to the low tone hearing issue.

 

"Impedance audiometry indicated negative middle ear function in her right ear and normal in her left ear." This part relates to the fluid.

 

The language is the same in my next dd's report, except that for her the problem with low frequencies and fluid were in both ears.

Edited by NJKelli
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NJKelli, thanks so much for all the the info and for taking the time to find and share those test results! I appreciate it! It's interesting to know that not hearing low tones can indicate fluid in the ears. If there is a problem at all, I'm guessing it's that or maybe the tonsils/adenoids. The good news is that we got our audiologist appt! So next Tuesday we should find out more! Thanks again!

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NJKelli, thanks so much for all the the info and for taking the time to find and share those test results! I appreciate it! It's interesting to know that not hearing low tones can indicate fluid in the ears. If there is a problem at all, I'm guessing it's that or maybe the tonsils/adenoids. The good news is that we got our audiologist appt! So next Tuesday we should find out more! Thanks again!

 

You may want to write out a list of questions to ask the audiologist. Sometimes we focus so much on what the specialists are saying that we forget to the questions that we wanted to ask.

 

Also, it couldn't hurt to try to remember any history of ear infections and write that down as well. Lastly, you may want to take note of any auditory behaviors like saying "what?" or "huh?" frequently or having a hard time following spoken directions. Lastly, make note of any problems with speech or reading or spelling. I think when we've met with audiologists, we've had forms to fill out beforehand that touch on these issues. You may already have received forms like that, but if you haven't, it couldn't hurt to write a few things down.

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*UPDATE*

 

So we saw the audiologist yesterday! After some testing, it looks like we're dealing with fluid in the ears! The audiologist found there was hearing loss with the kind of testing that required the sounds to go all the way through the ears and through the fluid, but when she did the testing behind the ear where it skipped the fluid my dd's hearing was normal! So I'm thinking this is good news! I got a copy of the results with the chart and everything and the audiologist wrote "mild conductive hearing loss from 25-2k Hz in the right ear and from 25-1k Hz in the left ear".

 

So she's going to send the info to the peds office. She said she didn't know what the dr. would want to do but she mentioned that they might want to put her on medicine or maybe send her to an ENT? When I asked if by medicine she meant antibiotics she said yes, so I told her that my dd recently finished a round of antibiotics for a tooth abscess. So I don't think it's going to be as simple as antibiotics? I asked about my dd's huge tonsils and she said it's certainly a possibility that her tonsils and adenoids could be the problem - something about pressing on the eustachian tube I think? She talked about ear infections but my dd hasn't had chronic ear infections - maybe a couple in the 4 years she's been home? And to my knowledge she hasn't had one recently or even been sick recently. I wish I knew how long the fluid has been there.

 

Oh, and I am curious about central auditory processing disorder so I asked about that. She said she doesn't do any testing for that but she gave the names of a couple audiologists that do. So I guess I'd have to see someone else if I decide to investigate that. Seems like we should deal with the fluid first though?

 

I'd love to hear thoughts on this as I haven't dealt with it before and am not sure what, if anything, we should do from here. Thank you!!!!

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I guess they will send her to an ENT. My 21-month-old had a similar issue. She has never had an ear infection in her life as far as we know, but had chronic fluid in her ears. Her hearing tests indicated moderate to severe hearing loss and she was at the critical age for language acquisition, so we had to do something. Initially, we tried chiropractic to help, but didn't see any changes. Finally, she got PE tubes. I wasn't thrilled to do that, but the tubes seem to have improved her speech. Her hearing tests are still coming back in the moderate to severe hearing loss range, but I think it's mostly that she's just not cooperating with the testing. She will be having a sedated hearing test next week. We'll find out then if she has any actual hearing loss, or if her poor test results post-PE tubes are merely the result of her not cooperating with the behavioral testing.

 

So, yes, I would definitely see a ENT. They might want to do tubes or something with her adenoids. I don't see what I point of antibiotics would be if she has no other signs of infection other than the fluid, but I am sure they will counsel you regarding that. In your case, she is only experiencing a mild hearing loss, so I don't think you need to be in a big rush to commit to a specific treatment plan. You can request that her hearing/ear drum movement be retested after a couple months to see if the fluid is still present. If the fluid is not chronic, my decision would be to hold off on any surgical treatments, but that is something you could discuss with the ENT. Ours did not recommend the tubes until we had confirmed the presence of the fluid for over six months.

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So, yes, I would definitely see a ENT. They might want to do tubes or something with her adenoids. I don't see what I point of antibiotics would be if she has no other signs of infection other than the fluid, but I am sure they will counsel you regarding that. In your case, she is only experiencing a mild hearing loss, so I don't think you need to be in a big rush to commit to a specific treatment plan. You can request that her hearing/ear drum movement be retested after a couple months to see if the fluid is still present. If the fluid is not chronic, my decision would be to hold off on any surgical treatments, but that is something you could discuss with the ENT. Ours did not recommend the tubes until we had confirmed the presence of the fluid for over six months.

 

:iagree:

 

Fluid can really come and go. You can definitely have fluid without it becoming infected and having to take antibiotics. It can come from a cold or allergies and eventually just drain, unless the tonsils or adenoids are causing a problem. An good pediatric ENT will guide you.

 

Don't even worry about the auditory processing issue until the fluid is taken care of.

 

I'm happy that you got an answer. It must be such a relief. :grouphug:

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Ugh... maybe I've gotten ahead of myself? The peds office called today with a referral to an otologist (not otolaryngologist/ENT). The audiologist wrote "mild conductive hearing loss" and, although she didn't write anything about fluid, she did mention to me that the test results (which I have a copy of) are generally indicative of fluid in the ears. But apparently the audiologist just does the testing and then sends the results on to the dr. for interpretation? So I guess the dr. said that she had just looked in my dd's ears recently and there was no fluid. So I don't really understand. Maybe she thinks the conductive hearing loss is due to something other than fluid? Isn't it possible that it could be fluid even if she can't see it? I don't know. So I ended up making an appt. with the ped. tomorrow to talk about all of that and we have the otologist appt. in a couple weeks.

 

Drs. never cease to frustrate me.....

 

Thank you for your continued advice and input!

Edited by beccasboys
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I think the otologist isn't a bad call at all. You will certainly get all the answers you need. It must be a little scary and confusing, but just go through the necessary steps and you and your dd will be taken care of.

 

Your post is very timely. I recently communicated with an audiologist because of an unusual finding that came up in my dd's evaluation and still puzzles me. Initially, this audiologist thought I had already seen an ENT. When I said I hadn't, she suggested the possibility me seeing an otologist or a neurotologist. I'm torn between being a little burned out but wanting to cover all bases before dd is grown up and on her own. Ugh.

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: doh! should have read whole thread! sorry!

 

That's ok! :lol:

 

 

So after doing some reading, I canceled the ped. appt. today (seemed like a waste of a trip and copay!) and will stick with the otologist appt. It seems that otologists have all the training that ENTs have and then a little extra to specialize in ears/hearing? So hopfully if there is a problem with dd's tonsils or adenoids, this dr. will still be able to help with that - if not treat it, at least recognize it. We just need to know what is causing the conductive hearing loss and I'm optimistic that this dr. will be able to help.

 

NJKelli, I understand how exhausting it can sometimes be (trying to get health issues figured out in general). Hope you get some clear answers if you decide to see the otologist!

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I don't have any experience with otologists, but it sounds like a good option. My daughters ped never saw any fluid in her ears either, until it was pointed out by the audiologist and ENT. I don't know if the audiologist you saw did this, but ours did a specific test that measures the movement of the ear drum in addition to the hearing testing. I guess there is more than one reason the ear drum wouldn't move as it should, but fluid seems to be the most common reason.

 

I don't know if you ped is good or not, but ours seems to be generally unhelpful with any issue that is in any way out of the ordinary. I just wait for her to refer us to get real information and help.

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That's ok! :lol:

 

 

So after doing some reading, I canceled the ped. appt. today (seemed like a waste of a trip and copay!) and will stick with the otologist appt. It seems that otologists have all the training that ENTs have and then a little extra to specialize in ears/hearing? So hopfully if there is a problem with dd's tonsils or adenoids, this dr. will still be able to help with that - if not treat it, at least recognize it. We just need to know what is causing the conductive hearing loss and I'm optimistic that this dr. will be able to help.

 

NJKelli, I understand how exhausting it can sometimes be (trying to get health issues figured out in general). Hope you get some clear answers if you decide to see the otologist!

 

I just got back from auditory processing evaluation with another dd. My goal was to rule it out, and we have. She definitely does not have CAPD. But since she has the symptoms, I think I know what we might be dealing with...

 

The other good outcome of this visit is that I got to pick the audiologist's brain and she gave me the name and numbers of a neuro-otologist and an auditory physiologist. Unfortunately, after I got home, I couldn't find the paper and now I'll probably have to call her to ask for them again. :o

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