Let’s Talk About Glue Ear
To wait or not-to-wait?
This is a question I found myself asking when contemplating whether or not to refer my first-born daughter (Layla) for a hearing assessment at 16 months of age. At 16 months she wasn’t imitating any words, animal noises or sounds out in her environment. As an SLT I knew just how critical this period in her early development was to lay the foundations for successful speech and language development and each time I saw other babies her age spouting forth with words, that seed of worry intensified. With my SLT hat on, I had tried every strategy in the book to encourage her language development!!
But was I worrying too much? Should I give her another couple of months before I sought a referral?
Through my training, I knew that despite a clear newborn hearing screen and no ear infections, poor hearing could be a factor in the slow development in her first words. Layla had previously had a number of nasty colds and bugs spanning an 8-month period so I had a strong gut feeling that she had developed glue ear.
Glue ear is caused by a build-up of sticky fluid behind the eardrum. This fluid stops the eardrum moving freely when sound hits it and this can result in temporary hearing loss that ranges from mild to severe.
It’s often caused by congestion of the nose from recurrent ear infections, frequent colds/flu, large adenoids or allergies.
So you may be asking, what are the signs that could indicate glue ear?
These are some of the more common signs:
Frequent ear infections
Unclear speech & mis-articulation of sounds
Delayed language skills
Talking loudly or turning up the volume on the ipad or TV
Seems to hear only ‘when they want to’ and not when there is background noise
Frequently says “Pardon?” or “What?” more than usual
Appearing to be more withdrawn or daydreamy
Over-activity and difficulties concentrating, leading to excessive tiredness by the end of the day. Some children may have more temper tantrums as a result of this tiredness.
Some children may also experience problems with their balance.
Note also that our little ones between the ages of 2-5 can be particularly prone.
After contemplation, I decided to seek a referral for Layla. As I suspected, the public health nurse and GP were reluctant to refer her before the age of 18 months. I found myself agreeing that, yes, she still had 6 weeks to hit the milestone of at least 5-10 words by 18 months. All the while knowing it was too risky to wait and I didn’t want my daughter to wait until she was 20-22 months to even be assessed only to have to wait longer for treatment if she needed it. So what did I do? I pushed.
Was I right to push? Absolutely! Layla was diagnosed with Glue ear at 18 months, received grommets by the time she was 2 years old and took off with her language immediately. She continues to have a few persistent speech errors and often mis-interprets words and sentences at 3 years 8 months, but had I not acted early, who knows what difficulties she may be facing now..
Don’t WAIT.
To find out more about getting your child’s hearing assessed, stay tuned for our next blog.
Donna Jaynes
Speech Language Therapist