Hearing aids for 3 year old

Thank you Jalima1108, I am very relieved that there has been some improvement in his hearing and I hope that SALT will now improve his speech. I don't think that he would have coped well with the hearing aids...he's like a human tornado!

That sounds promising Lynker

Just to update...my grandson was seen today for his first hearing aid appointment. His hearing was tested and it has improved. He is therefore not having hearing aids and has been referred for speech therapy.

A little boy in DH's family has had hearing aids since he was 2 or 3. I dont know many details, but I do know that he found them very frustrating at times, and ripped them out of his ears and threw them away on more than one occasion.
I think that after living in an almost silent world for so long, the constant 'noise' generated by his hearing aids sometimes overwhelmed him. He is only 4.5 now, but I think he has gradually got used to them.

There is a very slight risk of infection with grommets but children who have 'glue ear' are probably more prone to infections anyway and grommets could reduce the frequency of infections. I don't think he would be able to go swimming whilst he had grommets inserted, but they are, I think, usually very successful if they have to go down that route later on.
My MIL had them when she was in her 70s.

www.entbristol.co.uk/grommet-insertion/

I hope the hearing aids work but I don't think there is too much to worry about if you have to go down the 'grommet route' at a later date.

Thank you ladies for your replies. My daughter has decided to try the hearing aids, in the hope that his speech will improve quickly without having grommets. My GS will be reviewed regularly and if there are problems with him wearing the aids or no improvement in his speech, grommets will be the next step. He was here yesterday and he never stops talking....just not very clearly. I am reassured by your comments that this is not an uncommon problem and hopefully can be resolved. I think it's harder being a grandparent than a parent sometimes!

Humberhear the poster says it’s her daughters choice not to have grommets as she heard they can cause infections all I can say is from my experience they certainly didn’t and grommets seem nearly as common as braces nowadays Of course it’s the daughters choice but in my opinion a grommet put in can make enormous difference to the hearing and is unobtrusive no one knows it’s there and I ve not heard of any harm done from them

My three year old grand daughter suffered from severe hearing loss and had little speech. Grommets changed her world and very quickly. I cried the first time she said ‘what’s that noise’. I would think grommets would be worth trying, but perhaps she has been told they won’t solve the problem?

agnurse, what an extreme example to give in support of your argument that children have a relatively short window of time in which to learn language skills. It's a million miles away from the question posed by the OP.

Well that little snippet proves nothing really Agnurse she may have had a learning disability that’s only a sentence out of a dreadful life and we have no idea of any of the reasons she’s in a home however I agree a child needs to hear the best way possible all I was expressing was glue ear is a fairly common problem in small kids and normally treated very successfully with grommets which would be well worth trying Obviously if a child has more complex ear problems aids may well be the way to go from tiny

I would tend to expect that kids would be pretty good about keeping them in. It's critical that his hearing gets addressed right away, because sadly children only have a relatively limited window of time in which to learn language skills. Many years ago, authorities rescued a 12-year-old girl named Genie, who had been kept isolated in a room by herself since a very young age. She had had almost no human interaction, not even with her own family. Genie was never able to learn proper language skills and now lives in a home for dependent adults.

My gd, now 10, has had hearing aids on and off since she was a baby. She was born with a cleft palate and some other associated difficulties. Her parents were advised by the speech therapist to follow that route rather than grommets. They said whatever hearing she had when the grommet process came to its natural end may not be good enough and that it was better to leave the grommet option till she was older. To be honest she never had much of a problem wearing them, or the glasses that she also had from infancy, as she quickly understood that both things made her life much easier! She also rather enjoyed being able to chose bright sparkly ones! Since she has had to have general anaesthesia for several other operations/procedures it was good to be able to avoid it for her ears.

I m surprised your daughter refused grommets I had two grandkids have grommets and it’s really easy and successful and they just fall out when finished their job he would be harder for a three year old to get used to hearing aids as opposed to grommets which they don’t even realise theyve got after they are put in

Dear Lynker, I have no personal experience of this, but a close friend is a Doctor in Speech therapy. She did her thesis on children who use cochlear implants or hearing aids. Her findings demonstrated that children who use these from a very early age (2 to 3 years old) speak better, earlier and also have less delay in learning with children with no special needs. In her case she was studying children with profound hearing problems, so your GC should benefit very quickly.

lynker National Deaf Children's Society has excellent support and information for parents of deaf children. Whether they have mild, moderate or severe hearing loss.

Jalima1108 he has 'glue ear'. My DD is reluctant for him to have grommets, as it involves a GA and can result in ear infections. I think that the hearing aids are to help his speech develop, until his hearing improves eventually, as the 'glue ear' clears (hopefully). I am encouraged by your replies Luckygirl, Eglantine21 and Cherrytree59. Thank you ladies.

My DGS (3) loves my hearing aids and it always sparks a chat about a "mate"at nursery who has hearing aids; and it is clear that my DGS is rather jealous of them!

I taught nursery children with hearing loss and for the first two weeks they drove me mad fiddling with their hearing aids. Then they forgot they had them.

I’m sure they’ll be a great success.

Be prepared for him to keep jumping at unexpected sounds!

It depends on why he has hearing loss I would think.

One of DGD's friends has a hearing aid and it has been very successful - and her speech has improved a lot. She is a bit older and had the hearing aid at age 8.

Sorry RNID

RIND are usually quite helpful.
Posting a thread Mumsnet may be useful as they have separate sections for
Children with specific needs.

Good luck and my best wishes to your DGS