unilateral hearing loss

Steph - posted on 02/27/2013

Hi my son was diagnosed with uhl right ear, but only after we had payed to have a private consultation with a specialist, they told us that there was nothing that could be done, my son had an M.R.I scan done on his ear they told us there was nothing there, after, they said that as he could hear ok in his other ear that we shouldent worry he wont have any problems, OMG if I knew then what I know now 10yrs later I would have smacked the audiologyst who told me that.
We have had a really bad time over the years, my son is now 13yrs old and he has had a hell of a time aswell, from nursary to juniors to secondary, dont let anyone tell you different unilateral hearing is as bad as total deafness,.
My poor boy has had all sorts of problems, he was diagnosed with A.D.H.D at 7yrs old because of the behaviours he was displaying, always getting into trouble always the one getting the blame, he has recently had a diagnosis of autism given by our local school psychologist because of his social difficulties, as if all that wasn't bad enough he was put on medication for 5yrs for his A.D.H.D also an antipsychotic medication for his moods and aggression as he was coming down from his meds, he had all sorts of problems while on them the only thing they were any good for was that his attention was a little better, but all this time they didnt seem to do any good, and I kept asking the question are you sure it isnt anything to do with his hearing.
Over time I have read everything I could find on u.h.l by chance and out of desperation I spoke to a neighbour who had been a teacher and H.M.I. inspector for schools I told her everything that had gone on over the years and also the fact that we hadnt recieved any help either from the local authority regarding help for his behaviours or from school as to stratergies that might help, she said that she would contact a friend she knew who was a neurotherapist, he agreed to work with my son because of the work he had done with Autism/A.D.H.D, it was from there things really started moving, he told us that my son DIDNT HAVE AUTISM, or A.D..H.D, but did have problems that he could see relating to the medication my son was taking , they were fogging his brain and giving him the symptoms of A.D.H.D.as well as mood swings and aggression, since then we have asked for second opinions, and also payed for a private psycologyst, (Chartered) who is also a physician/H.M.I. inspector and has a lot of clout, she also told us that our son doesnt have either of these diagnoses, as this process goes on and the more I read up on difficulties relating to U.H.L, the more I want to warn people about the problems a WRONG DIAGNOSIS CAN CAUSE,
Ihave found a lot of useful literature as I have searched the internet and have given lots to the local lea and school relating to U.H.L.as its not something they know a lot about, the point I am trying to make is to as a mum trust your instincts and go with what your guts tell you, and question everything if you think it doesnt feel right keep questioning untill you get the right answers, dont always take the professionals word for it, I just wish I had pushed harder sooner and searched the internet for answers instead of listening to people who thought they knew my son better than me, things are only now being put in place for my son regarding his hearing, look at wainrights law find out where you stand legally and be prepared to go into battle with what you know to get the best possible help for your child, my son has a long way to go regarding behaviours due to his hearing, he has put these behaviours in place because he missed out major language intricacies and social cues, he didn't have any speech delay just pronounced some initial blends wrongly, dont let them mess your child up by giving medication they don't need, especially if you suspect it is hearing, go with your instincts as a mum and fight them all the way if you feel your right, good luck mums I hope this makes you think.....

Amy - posted on 07/25/2011

hi my son also has a profound hearing loss in his right ear, he is 21 months old and i found out at birth about his loss, his speech started to deteriorate so i got a hearing aid for him and his speech has just flourished, he also throws tantrums alot of the time its wen hes frustrated or he is in a very loud environment as loud places are harder for tjem to focus on specific noises because anything you say blends into the background noise, ive done alot of research and my dad has a similar loss so ive had him to talk to about wot my son is likely to be hearing, i found that wen at home reducing as much background noise as possible helps him focus and wen hes more focused his behaviour improves greatly. hopefully that helps :)

Brandy - posted on 07/04/2011

thanks bliss. I just hope the speech will get better after we find out about his hearing...

Bliss - posted on 07/04/2011

Brandy- There is not a way to find out if hearing loss was present at birth. You can only get that info if the loss is found at birth. Getting a ABR will give you an accurate result of what degree your son's HL is and CT or MRI is the best way to find out what is causing the loss.

Nicole - posted on 07/04/2011

Hi Hadeel. I wondered about my sons autistic symptoms too in because they didn't relate to the unilateral hearing loss. And I had wondered about your son too. Glad you got the answers. It always is a bit of a relief. All the Best

Brandy - posted on 07/03/2011

my son is 2 and has a speech delay and i just found out last week that he has a hearing loss we go in aug to see if he is going to need hearing aid(s) or not..so confused I had to switch ents to figure this out thats bad but hopefully we will get somewhere now we also have a speech therapist that comes out once a for an hour and my son got his second set of tubes in April because he failed a hearing test then and then last week he failed two more..how do they know if u have had hearing loss since birth...any info please

Hadeel - posted on 05/23/2011

Waw !! Kathy thank you for ur reply , my son have been diagnosed with autism a year and half ago and i always kept thinking what f all those autistic symptoms were just because of his hearing ? But it sounds from ur experience with ur kid that this isnt the case.. Thank you so much for the reply me and couple of moms are n similar situation and i am gonna share this w them :)

Kathy - posted on 05/23/2011

Hi, my son began complaining of a "quiet ear" in October last year, two months ago we found out he was profoundly deaf in his right ear. He has no speech difficulties, infact it came as a huge shock to us as parents and to his school when we spoke to them. My son is one of the most able children in his year group, his left ear is good and is compensating for the right. We found out just last week that he has been profoundly deaf in that ear since birth, yet no-one picked it up in 8 years!

Hadeel - posted on 01/23/2010

ya i ment it makes no since that kids with hearing loss dont have speech delays..but u just said that some have speech delays and some don't ..i guess it is different in each one..

Bliss - posted on 01/23/2010

What doesn't make since? That they know kids like our sons with no speech delays or that it isn't possible for them to have the speech delays? In my opinion every audiologist and ENT has there own opinion. There are no telling how many kids in the world have profound UHL and these kids are seen my hundreds off audiologist and ENT around the world. One audio and Ent can't know about every kid possible in the world. My son is speech delayed, so your son is not the only one! I have talk to several mothers with kids that have hearing loss like our sons. Some of there kids are speech delayed and some aren't. Kids are different and handle it different.

Hadeel - posted on 01/23/2010

uuuhhh im soo confused ! the audiologists keep saying that they know kids that way and they have no speech delays!! which makes no since to me:(

Bliss - posted on 01/23/2010

His left ear is normal!! I have talked to a few adults that are deaf on the right side and they say it is hard to hear certain letters of the alphabet and and may make it difficult to learn a lot of new words. You know children say what they hear! They can't always hear what people are saying or if they do hear it, the words are distorted. There is research being done that suggest that being deaf on the right side can cause speech delays. I don't know how much truth there is to this but, a lady that visits with my son works with "hearing impaired" kids and she had mentioned it too me.

Hadeel - posted on 01/23/2010

hello nicole..i was wondering about ur son's other ear too?? how s the hearing in that one??

Hadeel - posted on 01/23/2010

hello bliss..thank you so much for ur respond..i was wondering about ur son's left ear?? dose he have any hearing loss in that ear?? im asking that because my son's audiologist said that my son's hearing on the other ear was perfectly good and there for he shouldnt be delayed in speech!!! he wants me to test him for other developmental delays:(

Bliss - posted on 01/23/2010

My son is 2. He was diagnosed with severe to profound HL in the right @ 5 months. 3 weekd before his 2nd birthday he was diagnosed with full profound HL in the right ear. He is very speech delayed! He only says "ma-ma" and "cat". I started doing signs with him and it has worked wonders!! He is sucsessfully signing 21 different words. He can put words together, "more milk" "eat more" "more cheese". At first I thought this was stupid but, I was like you. He was throwing all kind of fits because he couldn't tell me want he wanted. So when the speech therapist suggested it I thought well I would give it a try. We started teaching him at 15 months. He has learned a lot in that time. His fits have decreased and he can communicate sooo much better. He continues to learn a new word about every week to two weeks. You can sent me a freind request if you want. I would love to keep in touch! If you have any other questions please feel freee to ask!!! I have a blog to further explain about my son. I plan on making another one soon about his HL and sign Language here is the link if you want to read it. : )

http://miraclechristian.blogspot.com/

Nicole - posted on 11/27/2009

My son has unilateral hearing loss, servere to profound in his left. When he was learning to talk I made sure he watched my mouth to copy. He has had no speech problems. But as far as behavour goes patience does seem too work best and getting their attention first before speaking to them. My son also has ADHD and PDD-NOS so this is extra important even if I can't get eye contact.

Hadeel - posted on 10/19/2009

hi renee,,ya i do the same thing with my son with words but he is confused most of the time and i did see that being patient with him makes a huge difference but it makes him act like a baby though ! :) ... i hope this will get better but i guess i wanna test him more since i really feal like he dosent understand what im talking aboout most of the time! thank you for replying and good luck :)

Renee - posted on 10/19/2009

I completely understand my son is also 4 years old with mild hearing loss in his right ear. He has hearing aids that help sometimes he wears them at school mostly won't wear them at home though. He also goes into trantrums the only difference is he completely understands what I am saying to him just sometimes plays the role and acts if her doesn't understand. I have figured out to be patient with him as much as possible. He now seems he wants to learn his words more and more. So everynight we go over the words he knows and then I add a new one. And everytime he wants something I tell him show me and then he does and before I give it to him I make him repeat me if he dosen't I wont give it to him until he does and it seems to helping..I hope some of my tricks help. If I think of anymore I will let you know good luck