My 7 year old failed hearing test...?

Question

I had my 7 year old son (who was speech delayed, but now only has speech once a week, he is in 1st grade) at his yearly well visit today. He failed the hearing test in his left ear. Now, he has had yearly eye/hearing tests done. But the doctor is suggesting a visit to the ENT doctor. "High Decibile Hearing Loss". I already made the appt. Any mons/dads or caregivers want to give me some info. Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

About the only advice I can give is "don't panic." I can't hear high tones in one of my ears, and the only time it affects me at all is when there's a high degree of background noise.

It sounds like you may have already gone past the stage I got to with my daughter when she first started school where they do a lot of game playing and "listen to the beep" type things - but if not don't worry, they make it fun for the child and mine always enjoyed going. (We stopped when it turned out she could hear just fine - the continuous pushing up close to the teacher was because she couldn't SEE properly. Sigh.)

Hope your son is fine - and do reassure him that the doctor will be friendly and any tests will be fun.

Answer 2

It could be something as minor as fluid in the inner ear causing the loss or it may be damage to the ear drum itself causing it either way you will not know until you go to the ENT and have it checked out.  Sometimes it is just the way the tes is given as well.  Our pediatrician told us our son had hearing loss but when the ENT did a test all it was was some wax build up in the ear and no loss.

Answer 3

My daughter is six years old, and has sensoneural hearing loss in both ears.   It was discovered at a routine kindergarten hearing screening last year.  Until then, I had no idea she had any kind of hearing issues.  Her pronunciation was off on certain words, but I just thought she would outgrow it.

We visited an ENT, and he informed us that she had high decibel hearing loss, like your son.  She now wears hearing aids in both ears, and has an FM system in the classroom.  It has made a huge difference in her speech, and also in her ability to read and sound out words.

The ENT might also have you get your little boy an MRI, to determine whether the condition is progressive.  Usually it is not (it wasn't in my daughter's case), but they like to check it out anyway.  

It is good when they can identify these conditions early in the child's school career, so that correction can be made before they start having learning issues as a result.  The hearing aids have made a huge difference for my daughter!