Does anyone know anything about hearing tests for babies? I know you're not all mum's but lots of you know lots about lots!
Dara failed her hearing test on Friday and I am beside myself with worry!
The test they did was the 'Distraction Test'. That is... Dara was sitting on my knee directly facing a health visitor who was playing with a toy and engaging her in play basically. The health visitor then stopped and a second health visitor, who was behind Dara and me, started making quiet noises both on the left and right sides. She did three different noises - two low whispers, one with a mumumum sound the other with a tisktisktisk sound and a very light noise with a small rattle.
Dara didn't seem to hear the mumumum sound and although she seemed to hear the other two she couldn't locate them. When I say she couldn't locate them she didn't really try - she just didn't seem concerned with them. All she wanted to to to re-engage the attention of the first health visitor who was playing with her.... Dara was clapping her hands, kicking her feet and 'calling' her.
I am really very worried. I've been the total paranoid mother this weekend and have been checking her hearing at every opportunity! I'm driving Denis mad. I know she can hear because she has always reacted to sounds, she loves musical instruments, responds when we call her name, has a good startle reflex. But maybe she has some sort of a hearing problem...?
The only other thing I can think of is that she has had a cold and I wonder could that have effected it at all. We went to Ireland for the weekend and she seemed to be a little worse after coming off the plane this evening... Maybe I'm just being over paranoid...
Did she get tested in the hospital at birth? Maddie had one with wee earphones on at a day old.
With Anna I found some of the tests quite unscientific, I mean, if a baby's attention is caught by something, even the HVs jumper, she may not look round for something else. I hope you have nothing to worry about. ((hug))
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I'm not a doctor but am a teacher and studied Special Needs - including lots of stuff on early childhood development and standardised tests - at postgrad level, if that helps.
I'd say the health visitor tests are so unscientific and subjective as to be entirely pointless. (Sorry any health visitors reading this!) One of my sons is autistic but scored as *normal* on every test ever given in babyhood - so they don't show you much. Testing by a proper audiologist would of course be fine, but all the amateur hand clapping and stuff isn't telling you a lot. Babies have very short eustacion (sp?) tubes - which easily get blocked, or infected after colds. Otitis media (ear infection) is one of the commonest of all early childhood illnesses and could easily skew a test result. As can simply having a blocked head! As can being a bit too intelligent for the test - a bright baby may well not react because they're too busy looking at something else!
By Baby No 5 I was relaxed enough to cut out the Health Visitor totally - but I know with your first it seems like a big thing and like they're the font of all knowledge. They're not. I wouldn't worry even if she doesn't react when re-tested - the time to worry is if a qualified audiologist/consultant says to you there's a problem. Their tests are far more sophisticated.
With my oldest I was loyally at the Health Visitor each week or fortnight or whatever it was (That was before I did the studies in Early Childhood and child development myself!) and they were always putting the frightenenrs on us with rubbish about something or other... I forget now but I think my oldest didn't build a tower of 4 bricks or whatever. He's now 16, getting As in his mock GCSEs and has an IQ so far above 160 we've been told it's unmeasurable. The Health Visitor had us believing he was going to be a thickie! Such unscientific tests seem to serve only to panic parents - it's likely that if you had a hearing impaired child you would already have noticed. I think the medical profession can be about empowering the 'professionals' and disempowering parents to the point that new parents feel unconfident in their own gut feelings and instincts.
To reassure yourself, watch Dara closely today. When you're out does she react to sounds in the environment? Have you noticed anything that worried you?
It's advisable to watch any baby closely after a cold because they are very prone to ear infections. These are easily cleared up with antibiotics - but kids that get repeated ones are not so much in danger of losing their hearing as in danger of developmental delays, as their impaired hearing can affect language acquisition (temporarily) - so if in doubt after Dara has had a cold, always get a doctor to check her out to reassure you - but health visitors are a waste of space! (Sorry - I'm from Yorkshire. I only do 'blunt'!)
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Im sure everything is fine- I dont know much about hearing tests but if she hears when you are out and about I wouldnt worry too much.
Let us know how the test in one week goes.
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I'd say the health visitor tests are so unscientific and subjective as to be entirely pointless. (Sorry any health visitors reading this!)
I totally agree with Polly on this one, don't stress too put, Dara seems very clever and was probably ignoring the other health visitor. If you are worried get another test done - one with a bit of foundation.
take care
Cazza
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Thanks Eva, Deeds, Polly, Naomi, Caz... You are all stars!
Deeds - Little Maddie got the new test that they have brought in for babies born after some date this summer. Dara is on the old testing method....the method they are phasing out because of its inaccuracies - you'd think that alone would stop me worrying!
Quote:
Originally Posted by PollySis
To reassure yourself, watch Dara closely today. When you're out does she react to sounds in the environment? Have you noticed anything that worried you?
Polly girl, I'm glad you do blunt! I agree that some health visitors are scary, scary monsters, but in fairness to the ones who did the test on Friday they did tell me not to worry. But you know what it's like...it's hard not to worry. She does react to some sounds definitely... But some she just ignores, especially when she's engrossed in something else. She seems to have incredible levels of concentration. I've noticed her moving into a new phase of ability and she's really trying so hard to get to things, picking up things etc. She has incredible focus on new tasks... I wonder could that have something to do with it. And yes, I do think she's clever for what it's worth.
She's being retested on the 24th. I've decided to take her to the doctor on Wednesday. I reckon that it's worth getting her ears looked at in case they are blocked in some way...at least then we can deal with it (if possible) before the retest rather than her having to go to a consultant.
The more I think about it the more I'm driving myself nuts... Sometimes I think she can hear me, other times I'm convinced she's stone deaf.
We still laugh about something else the Health Visitors did - when my oldest was a baby he was small and they decided he was 'underweight'. All our instincts told us he was fine - just not a big eater. Which turned out to be the case, but at the time they had us really worried (preys on yer mind, doesn't it?) Anyway we decided to get them off our backs by feeding him summat DH called *The Do-Nut Diet* - basically stuffed him with do-nuts and fatty rubbish we'd never normally feed a kid, just so he'd go to looking 'normal' on their graphs and they'd leave us alone. It worked!
He's now 16 and like the proverbial streak of gnat's wee, so no permanent danmage done. Although he never eats do-nuts....
Dara sounds like a bright little un - she's at one of the optimum ages now for pre-linguistic development, so it's my bet her head's just full of ideas and thoughts and she's busy noticing things and figuring things out and she's just too much her own woman to be distracted by nonsense like people trying to make her turn, to order!
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Just a quickie. I took Dara to the doctor today and she looked in her ears. She has FLUID in BOTH!!! So that is more than likely the cause of her failing the hearing test. I'm so relieved I could just burst! So if it's not cleared by the test next week she might fail again, but apparently it's not uncommon and the test they use is very subjective and has been deemed to be quite inaccurate! So fingers crossed! The doctor totally reassured me... I also took her to be weighed. Over the past month she has lost 2 ounces! But I'm not worried about that, I think it's because she's been sick on and off throughout the month and when she was in hospital and for pretty much most of that week she didn't eat a morsel!
Thanks everyone for the support...I'm so very glad to be part of this group.
I am so pleased that they have found a reason for Dara failing the hearing test it must be such a relief for you.
I did read this thread a few days ago but have been so busy with Holly I hadn't had time to reply - sorry.
I wouldn't worry too much about her weight loss, it sounds as though she has had a tough time of it recently. I am sure she will be putting on again soon
Lucy xx
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Wehey, Paddy! Great news that explains why Dara wasn't so keen on the whole hearing test thing! You did the right thing taking her to the doctor - don't worry about her weight, it's such a tiny amount, I bet it's a blip.
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Help.... 
I can imagine how worried you are. I rmember when my son got his done. Is your daughter due another test?? 
