profound unilateral hearing loss and autism

Steph - posted on 02/23/2013

Hi yes exactly the same and we have since found out he hasnt got autism or adhd, the problems all stemed from his hearing difficulties, it has taken us a lot of time to get where we are at now but dont give up go with your instints and try and get as much information on the subject as you can you know your child better than anyone else, and the professionals are not always right, you need to fight for the help your child needs regarding their hearing loss as it does have a big impact on their behaviour as they get older, even if the audiologyst says it wont, scour the internet and arm yourself with information and also find out about your legal rights regarding hearing loss as you will need this to put your case forward in schools or with the local L.E.A, they dont want to spend the money on specialist help for your child they will say the behaviours are the problem and want to put your child into a special school for children with behaviour difficulties, when if the hearing loss had been taken more seriously in the first place this wouldent happen, my son is 13yrs old and he is only just getting the help he needs in school, the battle hasnt been won yet but now I have more undertanding of the problems relating to U.H.L.its right what they say knowledge is power dont wait to put things into place for your child do what you can now, neurotherapy can determine Autism/Adhd, a chartered psycologyst, can determine with certain tests cognitive whether there are other problems socially or emotionally relating to autism, and some legal advice can get them moving on the help side of things, it all takes money of course but if you can afford or look into some of this help you may find some is charity based, or you might be able to get help, either way dont give up and push for what you know is right , good look hope this helps....

Hadeel - posted on 01/21/2013

Hello again : so my son now is 7 years old and in first grade :) i am no longer confused if in facts he has autism or not , his speech has improved dramatically but still has alot of communication , social , sensorial and behavioral issues , he also got diagnosed with ADHD as well , we are trying alot of therapies to help and they are but its slow and sometimes something gets better and along comes a behavior like like : his speech is better and so his attitude lol : leave me alone , dont talk to me , i wanna run away ! Lol im laughing cause i never thought i would hear him say that , he is very emotional so we have to help learn how to express and control them :) thabk you all for your replys and i thought an update would be helpful for some of you . We accepted his diagnosis now and we are dealing with it and trying to help him as much as can :)

Hadeel - posted on 01/21/2013

Hello again : so my son now is 7 years old and in first grade :) i am no longer confused if in facts he has autism or not , his speech has improved dramatically but still has alot of communication , social , sensorial and behavioral issues , he also got diagnosed with ADHD as well , we are trying alot of therapies to help and they are but its slow and sometimes something gets better and along comes a behavior like like : his speech is better and so his attitude lol : leave me alone , dont talk to me , i wanna run away ! Lol im laughing cause i never thought i would hear him say that , he is very emotional so we have to help learn how to express and control them :) thabk you all for your replys and i thought an update would be helpful for some of you . We accepted his diagnosis now and we are dealing with it and trying to help him as much as can :)

Louise - posted on 01/21/2013

hi my son has only just been diagnosed with uhl and also adhd. my son struggles in social situacions, he has very few friends because ina group he cannot follow what is going on. if there is anyone who can help i would be grateful

Sharlene - posted on 03/08/2012

My son aged 9 yrs old and has autsim spertrum and is loosing complete vision and now there stating he has another disablity on top off everything else.

Hazel - posted on 03/04/2012

I'm not a mom but my nephew who is 4 months away from turning two was recently diagnose with Autism. He also has hard hearing since he was a baby due to a lot of ear infections. However His parents myself n grandparents do wonder if the diagnose of autism was correct. They say it's low but that he shows some symptoms. We just don't understand the symptoms he shows are do to his lack of speech & social bc he can't hear but at the same time I babysit my nephew & live with him therefore I know him best and he is very active n friendly with me also he is now starting to hug his little cousins.. I just don't understand how they can diagnose him with just one vist to evaluate him.. Please help if anyone has further knowledge on this.

Nicole - posted on 07/04/2011

Hi Hadeel I wonder the same thing and worry I is only natural. My Son has UHL and PDD-nos and ADHD sometimes I dont know which behavour is comming from which difficulty. But what I do know is that you know your child the best and you try to do your best in every situation. keep learning and being empowered by new info and that is the best you can do. Advocate and be there for him. Best of luck.

Debbie - posted on 03/31/2011

My Son Nathan, is just two month's short of his 6th birthday. He has profound unilateral sensorineural hearing loss from birth in his left ear. He has a lot of the symptoms also of asperger's (or ADHD). I've also noticed that a lot of the symptoms overlap. One of the things that puzzles me is that, even though he is deaf in one ear, he is extremely hypersensitive to loud noises. In fact, his grandparents live in the same apt. complex as we do, but they have 2 dogs, both of which are harmless, but are active and bark a lot. As a result, he won't go anywhere near their apt. When we go for a walk, we try to get him to walk by the apt., and he won't even walk by their door.
He hasn't been diagnosed with asperger's or the others on the spectrum, but he is getting occupational therapy at his school due to difficulties with learning to write. of course, he is also getting special education services to assist with his hearing deficiency, to help him better succeed in the classroom. More later...

Keely - posted on 11/02/2010

I have a six year old son who is profound deaf and autism, I had the same problem, people in the autism community told me he can't be deaf and vice versa with deaf community said he couldn't have autism. It is possible to have both. I have met a few moms like me with children like my son. You are the mom and you see your child everyday, trust your gut and make sure your child gets the proper medical attention, you may to fight as I did for my son's education, medical, therapy but it is all worth it as now my son is doing much better.

Hadeel - posted on 10/16/2010

hey michelle im glad u are learning alot from here,, it is the greatest website ever :)

Michelle - posted on 10/15/2010

hi hadeel, great to see you on this site, what great info, I could spend all day on here! i sent you a e-mail

Hadeel - posted on 05/21/2010

hello lori,, yes i would love to discuss things more with you :) please send me ur phone number.. thanx

Lori - posted on 05/20/2010

Hi,
I have an eight year old boy with the same issues you are mentioning. He has been seen by so many therapists who all disagree on this issue. A developmental pediatrician will not give the diagnosis because children who have hearing loss show alot of the red flags of autism due to not being aware of what is going on around them. My sons hearing loss started at 6 mnts of age from illness and he has alot of issues due to the loss. He has a teacher of the deaf in school and is getting intensive therapy there and i have enrolled in some social skills programs at home. Please let me know if you would like to discuss things more with me and I can give you my cell phone number as there is just too much info to type up. Hopefully my experiences can help you and vice versa. good luck !