Hearing Evaluation

[aidensxmomma]

Hi ladies,
I hope you don't mind me posting...you just seem like you might have the best answers for me.

My son is 5 1/2 years old. Since he's started talking, he's always had a slight speech impairment. At first we thought it was something he would grow out off, but we kept an eye on him. Once he hit 4-year-old kindergarten, we realized there was a problem with his speech and started to take steps towards finding out what the problem was. He's in kindergarten now and has finally been refered for a speech evaluation. In the meantime, my mom had noticed that it doesn't seem like my son can hear things properly and therefore doesn't say them properly. I've noticed this more lately too. So I talked to his doctor and he's been referred for a hearing evaluation.

I don't know what to expect or how to kind of help him prepare for the test. I want him to feel comfortable and everything (he doesn't like new situations a whole lot and can easily get upset if he gets too nervous). Does anyone have any experience and can offer me some advice? Thanks ladies.

 

[Blue12]

Most places are really good with kids. My dd has had a number of hearing tests and I grew up having them my whole life.

Often you go into a sound proof booth (they may or may not let you go in with him). They put on a tight set of headphones. Then one test is if you hear a beep in the left ear you raise the left hand and if you hear it in the right ear raise your right hand. They always so a practise that is very obviously. It's starts out loud and slowly gets quieter. With my dd they also had a toy light up and spin on the side that there was a beep for a bit of extra incentive for her to turn to the side she heard the beep since she is too young to raise her arm.
The second test I had was where they say a word and you need to repeat the word you hear. Again it goes from louder to very quiet.

Good luck.

 

[joeyjo]

If he won't/can't comply with other tests they can do brain stem response tests whilst he sleeps or is sedated. My 2yr old amazed me by sleeping for these yesterday

 

[sequeena]

My son has had a few hearing tests in the last year. The way they do it in the UK is they play a series of sounds and they then 'reward' the child when they look in the right direction (there is usually a TV which shows a picture when they look). The most stressful part of the test for my son is when they put ear phones inside his ear to measure what's getting into his ear. He doesn't like the feeling of them in his ears and that's when the test goes downhill. If your son is ok with having them in his ears it should be a straight forward test

 

[smileyfaces]

My sons hearing test was as Sequeena explained it he has another one next mobth as he faiked to complete the first one due to his nonexistent attention span lol

 

[sequeena]

My sons hearing test was as Sequeena explained it he has another one next mobth as he faiked to complete the first one due to his nonexistent attention span lol

It's hard at their age isn't it? Thomas went into a meltdown when they put the ear phones in. He should be due one in the next month or so also

 

[smileyfaces]

Sorry just seen all my typos haha!

Yes very difficult! They got a good idea what his hearing was like but would obviously like to comlete the test. Oscar had to be held down while he had the things in his ear!