Hearing and Speech

The ABR test went well. After being given the sedative, it took Isaac a few minutes to fall asleep. He’s finally letting us caress his head too, which made it a bit easier to help him fall asleep. Just a few months ago he absolutely hated it! He still doesn’t always like it but if you keep trying he might let you and then starts enjoying it. Anyway the test revealed that he has a rupture/hole in the right ear drum which is potentially causing moderate hearing loss at low frequencies and mild hearing loss at high frequencies. The left ear seems fine but the drum is a bit too tight.

Today I scheduled an appointment with an ENT specialist so we can figure out what to do next. The audiologist said that the ear drum might be repairable through surgery or sometimes could heal on it’s own. They will also need to clean the ears out better as they still have a good amount of wax (can’t believe it!!). Next week we have a follow-up visit with the Ophthalmologist to see how his eyes are progressing.

The audiologist also said that the hearing loss should not be contributing to speech delay as there is enough hearing for speech development. Isabella is acquiring the language real well and seems to be picking up new words and concepts everyday. Just today as Lori picked them up from pre-school and was reprimanding them for not being very good at school, she started telling her how “Isaac was more bad because he was kicking”. So I guess the positive side of the story is that she’s absorbing words and phrases quite well and using them in the proper context. Now if she could only be “More good than Isaac” :)