signs

I've had many people ask me what prompted me to book a hearing test for Audrey. Afterall, having a child's vision checked it somewhat standard and a hearing test is not. Fair enough. Hearing loss is a gazillion times less common than vision loss but I still think that it is important to have both checked prior to starting Kindie.

Anyway, in hindsight there were many "red-flags" indicating potential hearing loss. But the things that I remember standing out to me were:

1) Her speech stopped progressing. She was always an early talker who spoke well and clearly. Then she fell average...then below average.

2) She wouldn't respond to direction (eg: "time for dinner!!!" bro would come, sis did not)

3) She always seemed to be in her own little world and it was hard to get her attention.

4) She would startle if I walked into her room (now I know it was because she couldn't hear me coming.)

5) She shares a room with her brother and he never wakes her at night but she wakes him often.

6) When strangers would speak to her she wouldn't respond and she'd just stare at me. I had assumed that she was being rude or shy. I now know that she was looking at me for encouragement and to repeat the question that she was asked.

Even though my sons do not show any signs of hearing loss, I am going to have their hearing tested anyway. It doesn't hurt to have a baseline to compare future tests to.