Friday, 8 April 2016

Hearing test and chasing appointments

April 08, 2016 , , , , , , , ,
For this month of autism awareness I'm revisiting early posts on this blog; in these ones, written a couple of weeks after the first suggestion of a diagnosis, I was to be found chasing up appointments and complaining about food intake. Both issues have remained a constant feature of this 'journey' we are on... 

 Then I talk about the age-old, very common occurrence of taking children with autism for a hearing test. The reason this happens for most autistic children is that they often tend to struggle with following directions and demands, and so at times it feels as if it must be because they can't hear. It's not the ears that are a problem though, it's the processing information and those pathways from ears to brain.
Spot the Upsy Daisy boots, mentioned below, which were much loved. Sasha developed a fear of slides at some point in the years after this, and will now only sometimes go on baby slides.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Today I called both the SALT and paediatrician to find out about next appointments, and had to leave answerphone messages for both. The paediatrician's secretary did call me back just before 5pm, but only to say that she knew the report had been written but that she couldn't say when the next appointment would be. I pointed out that the paed had told me I'd see her again in a month, but she sounded confused and unsure of that, saying she is away at half term and so she really didn't think I'd get an appointment before early March. My heart sank and I'm already sure this is the start of lots of brush offs. Still I tried to stay as polite as possible, realise I need to stay on the right side of this lady!

 Sasha was in nursery all day today - she was very pleased to see Tamsin and I when we went to collect her, but the fact I had taken her Upsy Daisy boots home and she would have to wear her nursery boots home was a dealbreaker. Eventually we left with no boots on her feet (so she had to sit in the buggy when normally she quite likes walking home). At home it was straight to the kitchen as usual, and refusal of all healthy tea options, so I compromised and let her have one little chocolate to calm her whilst I then warmed her Dora pasta shapes (her favourite), and made her some toast. Am sure she doesn't get snacks as often as she would like at nursery! Hunger is definitely something that sets her off and sometimes she's not patient enough to wait for 'proper' food. Having said that, she will still eat some good foods happily, unlike her big sister who only ever really wants to eat the sweet unhealthy stuff! Ah food, the bain of my life!

 So straight after tea Sasha made her way upstairs alone and came to find me holding the summer dress AGAIN (freshly washed now though!). Only slightly worried about what will happen when she grows out of it....
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(January 29, 2010)

Today is a great day. Was fretting last night over taking Sasha to a hearing test this morning, as the last time we went for one in December she wasn't interested at all in doing what the lady wanted her to. So this time I explained about our 'maybe' diagnosis, and that I thought it best to just do a physical check as she would be unlikely to 'play ball' (or stack the blocks on poles when she heard a sound in this case ;) ). Typically Sasha then went on to prove me wrong, and played the 'game' perfectly straight away and without any complaints! She heard most of the noises and it was obvious she could and that she knew what she was doing, which was such a great relief. The physical check did show no result instead of a peak, which means her ears are quite waxy and she has glue ear, which in turn I'm guessing could be a contributory factor to her poor speech - or maybe even the cause? Next appointment there in 2 months hopefully - at least now I'm not dreading going back, and Sasha won't remember it as an evil place!

 Still no word from speech therapy, so off to chase again. Looking forward to another lazy weekend... :)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Good news and bad news?
(February 22, 2010)

So today I took Sasha for a follow up hearing test. Really it was more for my benefit to speak to a more qualified person who could maybe explain the last results better! Anyhow the same tests were done again, and Sasha behaved beautifully yet again, which is always a relief - although it was touch and go, as we had to wait 10 minutes past appointment time and she'd put her hat and boots back on and was trying to drag me out of the door when the lady came to get us!

So the frequency test she completed as well as last time, and this time they got a reading from her right ear, which means the fluid had drained so hearing all OK. Still a flat reading from her left ear, meaning some glue ear there, but they confirmed that they had no concerns over her hearing generally and they wouldn't need to see her again until she's about 4.

So good news in that her hearing is OK and we won't need to go along for more appointments, but bad news that it obviously isn't the hearing which is affecting her speech development. I guess I had been clutching at straws and hoping that bad hearing was the cause of her not being able to pronounce words properly, and it now seems that isn't the case. Which means that autism is a more likely explanation. At least it's good to have had this result before we go and see the paediatrician for the second time this week, it eliminates one aspect of her delay.



For more information on autism please do visit www.autism.org.uk and for more information on the specific type of autism Sasha has (Pathological Demand Avoidance, or PDA), please visit www.pdasociety.org.uk.

 For Day 5 of our story please read: AAA Day Five

For Day 4 read: AAA Day Four

For Day 3 read: AAA Day Three

For Day 2 read: AAA Day Two

For Day 1 read: A is for April and Autism Awareness


No comments:

Post a Comment

Comments are always very much appreciated and can really help the conversation go further...

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
©Copyrights 2011-2021 Sora Templates