I know she is 3 but was she born in a US hosp? I know they checked both my kids hearing when they were born in the hosp. I would look for those papers or call the hosp, her Dr. and ask. My daughters hearing has been checked over 6 times and she passed every time. But she does have sesnory issues.
[QUOTE=tzoya]DEFINTELY get an ABR. I believe ALL kids on the spectrum should have one. My son has moderate bilateral hearing loss and he's worn aids since before age 3. MOST of the pros who saw him before his HI dx thought it was just due to his ASD. Just because many kids with autism appear to be deaf but aren't doesn't mean that SOME aren't deaf or HI. Had they not discovered my son's moderate hearing impairment EARLY, he would probably have never talked at all and it would have been blamed on autism. IMHO, the "pros" were all too eager to tell me that it didn't really matter that he was not cooperating with the hearing test because his delays were probably certainly due to autism. Well, he has a 55 db loss in each ear. Not very good. But mostly correctable with hearing aids. GET THE TEST![/QUOTE]
Thanks for everyone's thoughts. Reading about your experience has made me reevaluate my decision. The thought of sedating her makes me very nervous, but maybe she does have some issue with her hearing.
Thanks again for the responses. It's given me a lot to think about. I thought it was a definite no, but now I'm leaning towards getting it done.
[QUOTE=amberwaves]I know she is 3 but was she born in a US hosp? I know they checked both my kids hearing when they were born in the hosp. I would look for those papers or call the hosp, her Dr. and ask. My daughters hearing has been checked over 6 times and she passed every time. But she does have sesnory issues.
[/QUOTE]
She did have a hearing test when she was an infant. She passed, but I remember it taking a LONG time for the tech to get her to pass. I'm not sure why.
Just wanted to chime in...our dd "failed" 4 hearing tests, so she had an ABRMy daughter has been diagnosed by the school psych as ASD, she is 3 years old, and I also have a son 5 years old who is on the spectrum. We're trying to get qualified by the State for respite, etc. but they're demanding a hearing test be performed before they'll qualify her.
Anyway, she's not cooperating with the hearing test at all. It appears she can't hear at all when they're performing the test. I believe she can hear fine. The next step they want to take is sedating her to do some other type of hearing test that she needs to be sedated.
To me it's not worth it to get some respite and whatever else, but now in the back of my mind I'm wondering "Can she hear?" Since my son is on the spectrum I feel pretty confident in her diagnosis, but maybe she has some hearing loss.
Do you think I should wait until she gets some ABA, which should start soon, and maybe try again a few months down the road? If she does have hearing issues I obviously want to address them.
Just confused and wanted to know anyone else's thoughts.
Thanks!
do they use flashing funny toys in the test.? Is the examiner captivating?
In my experience I was shocked to have both my kids cooperate and I can oly attribute that to the examiner and the process.
I'm sure someone with more experience will have some advice.
They had to try three times with my youngest son to get a good test on his hearing. He was just not into it at all. The next step was like what you mentioned where they sedate the child. In our situation we didn't "need" the test for services so we just took him once every three months until the third time he did it.hi hun
many kids wont do an hearing test in fact i dont know of any who have sat a full audiology test.
why carnt they do an informal test at your home or you could video her turning to you calling her or playing instruments behind her dropping a pan lid and watching her turn
your health vister is qualified to dot his test they are allowed.
the sedation is not bad they may use a drip or mask and it takes around 15 minutes
There are several methods of testing a child's hearing. The method chosen depends in part on the child's age, development, or health status.
Behavioral tests involve careful observation of a child's behavioral response to sounds like calibrated speech and pure tones. Pure tones are the distinct pitches (frequencies) of sounds. Sometimes other calibrated signals are used to obtain frequency information.
The behavioral response might be an infant's eye movements, a head-turn by a toddler, placement of a game piece by a preschooler, or a hand-raise by a gradeschooler. Speech responses may involve picture identification of a word or repeating words at soft or comfortable levels. Very young children are capable of a number of behavioral tests.
Physiologic tests are not hearing tests but are measures that can partially estimate hearing function. They are used for children who can't be tested behaviorally due to young age, developmental delay, or other medical conditions and in some conditions can help to define the function of the auditory system that is at fault.
An infant is sleeping or sedated for the ABR. An infant may be sleeping naturally or may have to be sedated for this test. Additionally, older, cooperative children may be tested in a silent environment while they are visually occupied. Tiny earphones are placed in the baby's ear canals. Usually, click-type sounds are introduced through the earphones, and electrodes measure the hearing nerve's response to the sounds. A computer averages these responses and displays waveforms. Because there are characteristic waveforms for normal hearing in portions of the speech range, a normal ABR can predict fairly well that a baby's hearing is normal in that part of the range. An abnormal ABR may be due to hearing loss, but it may also be due to some medical problems or measurement difficulties.
An infant is typically sleeping or sedated for the ASSR. This is a new test that currently must be done in conjunction with the ABR to assess hearing. Sound is transmitted through the ear canals, and a computer picks up the brains response to the sound and automatically establishes the hearing level. This test is still under development.
This test is performed with a sleeping infant or an older child who may be able to sit quietly. In this brief test, a tiny probe is placed in the ear canal. Numerous pulse-type sounds are introduced, and an "echo" response from the outer hair cells in the inner ear is recorded. These recordings are averaged by a computer. A normal recordings is associated with normal outer hair cell function and this typically reflects normal hearing although in some cases the hearing loss may be due to problems in other parts of the hearing pathway.
ABR or OAE tests are often used at hospitals to screen newborns. If a baby fails a screening, the test is usually repeated. If the screening is failed again, the baby is referred for full hearing evaluation.
Tympanometry is not a hearing test but a procedure that can show how well the eardrum moves when a soft sound and air pressure are introduced in the ear canal. It's helpful in identifying middle ear problems, such as fluid collecting behind the eardrum.
A tympanogram is a graphic representation of tympanometry. A "flat" line on a tympanogram may indicate that the eardrum is not mobile, while a "peaked" pattern often indicates normal function. A visual ear examination should be performed with tympanometry.
shell
We had the same problem. We did do a sedated hearing test. It wasn't too bad.
I demanded they give him Versed when we walked in the room, and that he be in a private room and not on the general ward that most kids were in at the peds sedation unit at the hospital. (the hospital has since changed to doing away with that unit and do the sedations in private hospital rooms, which I suspect is more common). Once he had the Versed on board, he was loopy and cooperative with putting in the IV and such. He played gameboy with one hand while they did all the blood draws (since he was sedated, I had them do all the blood draws for the various genetic tests to rule out Fragile X and some other metabolic things that could be causing the autism symptoms).
He was asleep through the test. I would have been able to stay in the room with him if I didn't have a noisy infant with me. He came out of the sedation with no problems, and was only a little off balance when we went to his ST and OT later that day.
It was easy for him, a little stressful for me to see him with the IV and blood draws, but managable. We got a lot of answers with it, like knowing his hearing was normal, and his auditory processing was on the low end of normal, but still considered fine. It was, in retrospect, really worth it.
DEFINTELY get an ABR. I believe ALL kids on the spectrum should have one. My son has moderate bilateral hearing loss and he's worn aids since before age 3. MOST of the pros who saw him before his HI dx thought it was just due to his ASD. Just because many kids with autism appear to be deaf but aren't doesn't mean that SOME aren't deaf or HI. Had they not discovered my son's moderate hearing impairment EARLY, he would probably have never talked at all and it would have been blamed on autism. IMHO, the "pros" were all too eager to tell me that it didn't really matter that he was not cooperating with the hearing test because his delays were probably certainly due to autism. Well, he has a 55 db loss in each ear. Not very good. But mostly correctable with hearing aids. GET THE TEST!