I just don’t understand. My 2-year-old was failing hearing test after hearing test but when she had the ABR test, she passed. My question is- Do she now don’t need hearing aids or is there a possibility she still has hearing loss? I am reaching out to a different hospital for a second opinion as well because she still cannot talk at all. Something is not making sense to me. I am just lost at this point.
Could be a related disorder in the brain like apd? That sound makes it to the brain doesn’t mean it knows what to do with it. I pray you find good, resolvable answers.
WH
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She might have the auditory processing disorder. You need to do an multidisciplinary diagnosis approach because it could be multiple conditions. Make appt with an audiologist to perform a hearing test. A speech-language therapist can evaluate your daughter’s communication skills. Also maybe an psychologist can assess cognitive functioning testing of your daughter.
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I think you are right to get a second opinion, then if this doesn’t help google specialists in your area. I did this and you will have consultants who only deal with otology or the specialist area you need help with & ones who specialise in paediatrics. The secretaries are often very knowledgeable-if you explain what’s happening they can suggest the person most suited to advising on your daughter’s situation.
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My friend’s daughter had a false negative result from ABR.
She had a real pain to get her retested but showed that she was profoundly deaf in the end.
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@floodmartina You are doing an amazing job advocating for your child, asking questions, searching for information and helping your little one learn in different ways. That takes strength and determination and you are demonstrating both in a big way. Follow your instincts and get that second opinion, find specialists, and talk with all sorts of people who may have some ideas for you, like special education advocates. Your baby is lucky to have you in their life:)
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What is ABR? Please educate me. And after reading the first response please enlighten me further by telling me what APD is.
If she slept well through the ABR and the person who completed the test was experienced, the ABR results are reliable. Your daughter does not have hearing loss. Good news! Behavioural tests are difficult with 2 year olds–if they aren’t interested in the lights/games/toys and won’t sit still for OAEs the tester is out of luck.
The next step, I suppose, would be to follow-up with your pediatrician and speech language pathologist.
Don’t worry about auditory processing disorders, they cannot be diagnosed until your child is years older and would not interfere significantly with language learning, so this is not what you are currently dealing with.
Really? Really? From a full diagnostic ABR, not a screener? Within the last decade? I’d be interested in how that would have happened. When you really screw up an ABR, you don’t get false negatives you get false positives.
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Full ABR. I don’t know all the details but I know my friend was frustrated the whole experience as they wouldn’t retest for a long time.
Second ABR, they put her to sleep, rather than trying to get her to sleep as they agreed that might of contributed.
That’s all I know.
First ABR was about 6 years ago. Then took nearly 2 years to try and get retested.
How about a Neuro-psychology evaluation? or perhaps screening for autism?
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Like. . . they refused to retest when the audiologists were asking to retest? That doesn’t really sound like the first ABR was a pass. Clear passes just get discharged.
Natural sleep ABR is done here typically at 6-8 weeks, although regularly between 2 and 18 weeks. After that, it can be really difficult to get a natural sleep ABR and sedated is often better.
I need to remember, however, that Ontario’s infant hearing program is currently the gold standard for the world, and that standards in other places may be quite different.
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Audiologist said pass or someone from the hospital, not 100% if it’s was ENT but friend / mother said no, can’t be right.
We are in the UK.
I am just confused by this process. She took three different hearing test and failed all but when she went for the ABR the audiologist said her brain is responding to sound. Something is not adding up. She can’t say her name or repeat it, the number one or letter A. Something is not right and I will not stop until I get to the bottom of why my child can’t say anything. But thank you for all your help and understanding.
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I’m a pediatric audiologist. We often see kids at this age who are unable to complete the booth testing for whatever reason (disinterest, fatigue, etc) and then when we do the sedated ABR test, most come back in the normal range. We do find kids with hearing loss though, too, which is why we do the ABR, in order to find those exact thresholds. As long as audiologist running it knows what they are looking at, those tests usually match up well with how a person is truly hearing.
There is something else going on if she can’t do those things - has she seen a speech pathologist? As someone else commented above, I would also want to rule in or out autism, so a neurodevelopmental evaluation would likely be appropriate. The sooner you can get in for those, the better.
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She is in speech therapy, and she had an autism assessment. I initially thought she had autism because I have an autistic son as well but the dr who did the autism screening said she wasn’t ready to label her autistic. I am just lost. I will not post anymore because I don’t think this is the right forum for me. I will keep fighting to find the answers I desperately need. Thank you to everyone who gave advice. It was very helpful.
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Sounds like you are on the right track. Hope you get answers soon!
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