Help - my DS cannot tolerate the hearing test and he needs his hearing screened
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
My son was flagged for speech issues by his preschool teacher. He is 3.5. I set him up for a hearing test and a speech evaluation on the same day. The hearing test was at 11 am and speech at 3PM. He freaked out as soon as she put the things in his ears and he said it hurt. He would not sit still and not be quiet. She was unable to test for anything. We also did the thing where the stuffed animals make noise, but he didn't really understand it. He sat on my lap and pretended to be asleep. And honestly, because he has a receptive speech disorder, I don't think he understood the idea that he is supposed to "look for the sounds." Even though we were not able to do the hearing screening, the SLP diagnosed him with an expressive and receptive disorder. She told me that we HAVE TO have his hearing checked (for obvious reasons). We made another appointment with another doctor at the practice for next month, hoping a change in scenery/doctors will not trigger a freak out. The SLP said to practice with headphones and ear buds in advance.
However, I know my kid. He is stubborn, and practice and bribes etc is not going to work with him. He's just going to freak out again. One option is that I can send him with his dad and we can see how that goes. I also read about sedation hearing testing - does anyone know anything about that? If you have any suggestions or options I would greatly appreciate it! |
Anonymous
| My 2 year old did this recently and he freaks out with everything. He was fine with the animal sounds. He doesn’t need to understand it, he just needs to look in that direction. It seems as though you need to get an appointment first thing in the morning, so not tired. Use candy. You need to relax also. Kids feed off of anxious parents |
Anonymous
The 11 AM time slot was pretty good - he's pretty good at that time of day. I tried candy but he screamed NO and the doctor was also like "sorry mom, no food or drinks". The doctor was not great with him - maybe the other doctor will be better. |
Anonymous
| what kind of practice are you going to? I would go to TLC where they are used to working with kids with SN and sensory aversions |
Anonymous
We are military and they sent us to Walter Reed. What is TLC? I'm ready to pay out of pocket if needed. |
Anonymous
Treatment and Learning Center in Rockville. |
Anonymous
I had my little one (l.5 year old) doing hearing test at pediatric ENT office at the hearing booth, and it was not going great & he got freaked out & cried a lot. And, they suggest to do sedated hearing test at children hospital if needed. I know the sedated one is the most accurate, but I am worried about the sedation. So months after, I tried again & took my 2 year old to another practice (TLC as mention above) to do hearing test with those making nose stuff animals. They also have someone to play with him while doing the test with headphone on and a ear bud, and also someone to play with him with a toy sitting at the kiddie table. He did not cooperate completely (sometimes trying to take off the headphone or earbud & sometimes does not follow the instruction), but at least they are comfortable to give me a hearing test report saying that his hearing is fine. My son has severe expressive speech disorder, & okay receptive speech disorder. For 3.5 year old, I am not sure if they are going to use the same test technique as I mention above. My kid was younger & only had 5 words at that time, but he understand all the instructions, just got distracted by the toys/environment. I was sitting behind him at that time. And, yes, I warned them that he had an unsuccessful hearing test before, did not talk, and what kinds of toys he liked when I booked the appointment. Good luck. |
Anonymous
Wait a few months and try again. We had that happen too at that age at Walter Reed. Stay with Walter Reed. They have good audiologists and much better equipment than anywhere else. Get your child some fun character headphones and practice getting him to wear it. It may take a few visits but he'll do it. My child has receptive issues and we had multiple ones done there but it did take us several tries for him to cooperate. Walter Reed staff have this happen all the time. They don't mind. Tricare will pay for speech therapy. You may have to get it approved via the developmental ped clinic vs. your regular ped. We could never get it approved via the ped's clinic but the developmental ped pushed it through. I don't know if she is still there but there is an excellent SLP at Ft. Belvior who did speech evaluations for kids (there are no SLP's at the military facilities who see kids) - I forget her name but she was great for an initial evaluation. We went to Children's and they were terrible so a parent in the waiting room told me about her. She was worth the trip. She was civilian so she may still be there. |
Anonymous
Good suggestion but most people here don't understand the military system. Walter Reed has good audiologists and just go back in a few months. We had the same thing happen the first time. They told us to get headphones and practice wearing them. We did and went back. They have fun character headphones now to use with an iPad or kindle. They are used to this. My child did it too at 3 but has had several tests since and no issue. Just keep going back till they cooperate. The staff are generally really nice about it as it happens all the time. Stay with Tricare so its in the system as that will help get the speech therapy approved. You may need to see a developmental ped. Our ped could never get the speech therapy approved but the developmental ped did and tricare was very generous about how much we could get - a few times a week with just a minor co-pay. |
Anonymous
Walter Reed will not sedate but you just go back as many times as you need to. |
Anonymous
Thanks everyone so much. We have an appointment to go back and we will keep practicing. The SLP at Walter Reed told me to ask my ped to put in a referral for speech, so crossing my fingers for that. Thank you for the advice. If it is declined, then I ask my ped to refer me to the developmental ped, who will then put in the referral for speech, is that right? |
Anonymous
|
My 1 yr old did the "look in the direction of the sound" thing. I'm positive she had no idea what was going on, but she instinctively looked towards the sound, when she could hear it.
The hardest part was for me, I had to look straight ahead and not look at the sound! (She was sitting on my lap, I'm assuming this is typically how it's done for little kids.) |
Anonymous
| Try a gain with a place that has peditratic specialist if he is not doing it with the people who are specialized with toddlers I personally would sedate and do the ABR test while he is sleeping. As a mother if a child with hearing loss, I can tell you you don't want to wait and delay it. If he has hearing loss a hearing aid will make a huge difference and in this age each month count. Good luck! |
Anonymous
|
Try Feldman ent. They have a booth. It may be covered through your insurance rather than going to a speech therapist, e.g. TLC.
I'm not about how military insurance works, but ours did not pay much of anything for ST. It would have if we had an autism diagnosis but we didn't. |
Anonymous
Put in the request for the developmental ped. Just relay health your ped. and you probably don't have to go back in. There are only 2, or were two so it takes a month or few months go get the appointment. That way, you have it set up in case your referral is denied for speech. Is there an SLP at Walter Reed for kids now? We never had luck with the ped getting our speech referral through. They tried on many occasions but this was a few years ago so they have the new heath system so it may be different now. National Speech in Bethesda (they have other locations) takes Tricare and they have some good providers (and some just ok ones). Years ago they only had a few provider but we private paid and they had some strange set up with National Speech so the developmental ped was able to get our referral approved based on a pre-existing relationship. Keep trying with the hearing test. I think it took us a few tries. They are very good there and your kid isn't the first to refuse (mine did too). They always have you do a hearing test with the speech evaluations so we have done multiple ones for each evaluation, which is good. In the meanwhile, get some headphones and work with your child on wearing them. Watch some youtube videos on the hearing test too if you can find them. |