Hearing problems
A will be 5 in August and I can't decide if she maybe has a hearing problem or if she's just ignoring me. She is a very airy fairy girlie girl. Gets totally caught up in what's she's doing, so much so that I feel like I am constantly shouting on her/at her.
I can repeat myself 5 times before she does what I'm asking. For example this morning she was sitting at the table having finished her breakfast, I shouted from the kitchen (attached to dining room) for her to bring dishes through. 4 times I said it before she acknowledged me. The same when it came to putting her shoes on.
Sometimes I think she is just ignoring me but then other times she miss hears, repeats words back to me that sound similar to what I said to her. It's so frustrating but I can't decide if its her hearing or just mischief.
Would you bother the GP with this? Do they get a hearing test in school?
Does anyone have a similar problem with a 4/5 year old?
thanks
Replies
Has she had colds recently? How is her speech? Recognising of consonants etc?
I got both of mine referred to audiology by my GP - it turned out they both had moderate hearing loss from glue ear and needed grommets (S had hers at 5, M had his at 2). We had the same 'is she just ignoring us' issues with S but when we had her checked it was a relief that something could be done. The improvement was more marked in M as he had less language before his operation, but we've no regrets for either. Both sets of grommets are coming out naturally, although S has residual glue ear and may need more treatment. We had to push quite hard but if you know what you want you can usually get a referral I find.
Good luck!
Thanks. Her speech is great, no worries there other than she say f rather than th, but I think that's laziness rather than hearing!
She does get waxy ears, dark dirty looking that I clean 2-3 times a week. Is that a symptom of glue ear?
Not especially, glue ear is right inside the ear. Wax can be an issue on its own though, and you may find the doc wants you to try olive oil or similar first. You can't 'see' glue ear. M also had a lot of infections (the driver for getting him done so young). Best advice is to get her a GP apt, they'll sort it out.
There are also things to remember when communicating that it's easy to forget - we did. Attention can be an issue so we made sure we were in S's eye line when we spoke, we started sentences by saying her name to grab her attention etc - so we had some work to do to, notwithstanding the medical issue!
Thanks that's a big help. I just feel like I'm constantly shouting her and repeating myself. Nursery arent concerned which I suppose is a good sign.
Think ill try for a GP appointment next week!
Thanks again
Big S is 4 1/4 and drives me nuts at the moment. He just doesn't listen. Especially if he's watching tv or playing. Nothing wrong with his hearing though as e can hear quiet things if he wants to!
We got referred through the health visitor. We went in April when he was 4.5 and found he does have mild hearing loss. We have to go for him to be retested in 3m and shall see what happens next if things haven't changed.
I've always had a niggly feeling about his hearing and was hoping the test would rule it out but unfortunately I was right. I would get a referral and see what they say x