On Monday, we had hearing screens done on all 3. They initially passed their newborn hearing screen in the NICU but hadn't been tested again since then. Since they're all experiencing some speech delays, we got the recommendation and referral from the development clinic to have their hearing tested....just to make sure! A lot of times, when there is a speech delay, it will prompt the medical team to do a hearing evaluation and that is the problem and the reason for the delay.
Not in our case! All of my little guys passed their hearing tests! Woo hoo!
Layla and I took all 3 of them in to the hearing office and had to divide and conquer. We had 2 tests going on simultaneously and 1 more immediately following. The appointments began right at 9:00 AM downtown (I have to allow for 30 minutes of travel time each way), so we had 1 hour in the morning to get up, get diapers changed, put on clothes (including socks and shoes), eat breakfast, brush teeth and get out the door. I know that probably doesn't seem very difficult to do, but it was a fast-paced morning for us.
We got to the office and I had the fill out some paperwork (of course) and the boys were starting to get a little noisy and didn't want to sit still. I thought we were going to be in for a rough appointment. They behaved pretty well, however, once we got called back to start.
They did three tests on each of the boys (three is our magic number!). First they had us in a soundproof room with speakers all around and little stuffed animals in the corners that could move and make noise. By the way, being in a soundproof room is weird. It makes your ears feel strange! So anyway, the test administrator would turn on some noise so that speakers only in one part of the room would be making noise. When the boy would look in that direction, the stuffed animal in that corner would start moving and lights would blink, I suppose it was positive reinforcement for them looking in the correct direction from where the sound was coming. Then the admin would change the sound to come from a different part of the room and wait for the boy's head to turn and then let that animal move. That test lasted maybe 5 minutes or so. They tested different types of noises as well as volumes.
The second test involved some instrument that checked for fluid in the ears and rules out ear infections. We've only had one known ear infection - Stokes had one this spring. Pretty good considering how common ear infections can be!
The third and final test focused on the outer hair cell function - whatever that means! They stuck a little ear bud into their ears and got a reading.
All three seem to have normal hearing, which means we don't need to have a follow-up. That's what I like to hear! The only concern they noted was Ryan's sound field responses from the first test were a bit slow. This is not a surprise to me because his reactions as delayed, just like his development. For example, if you do something that will make him laugh, there's always a second lag time before he actually laughs.
We actually finished the appointment relatively fast, it was about an hour and half from the time we arrived to when we left. Not too bad! The hearing screen is in the books and the boys passed!
Not in our case! All of my little guys passed their hearing tests! Woo hoo!
Layla and I took all 3 of them in to the hearing office and had to divide and conquer. We had 2 tests going on simultaneously and 1 more immediately following. The appointments began right at 9:00 AM downtown (I have to allow for 30 minutes of travel time each way), so we had 1 hour in the morning to get up, get diapers changed, put on clothes (including socks and shoes), eat breakfast, brush teeth and get out the door. I know that probably doesn't seem very difficult to do, but it was a fast-paced morning for us.
We got to the office and I had the fill out some paperwork (of course) and the boys were starting to get a little noisy and didn't want to sit still. I thought we were going to be in for a rough appointment. They behaved pretty well, however, once we got called back to start.
They did three tests on each of the boys (three is our magic number!). First they had us in a soundproof room with speakers all around and little stuffed animals in the corners that could move and make noise. By the way, being in a soundproof room is weird. It makes your ears feel strange! So anyway, the test administrator would turn on some noise so that speakers only in one part of the room would be making noise. When the boy would look in that direction, the stuffed animal in that corner would start moving and lights would blink, I suppose it was positive reinforcement for them looking in the correct direction from where the sound was coming. Then the admin would change the sound to come from a different part of the room and wait for the boy's head to turn and then let that animal move. That test lasted maybe 5 minutes or so. They tested different types of noises as well as volumes.
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| Stokes climbing the wall before his test began (view from outside the room looking through the window) |
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| Ryan and William waiting patiently |
The third and final test focused on the outer hair cell function - whatever that means! They stuck a little ear bud into their ears and got a reading.
All three seem to have normal hearing, which means we don't need to have a follow-up. That's what I like to hear! The only concern they noted was Ryan's sound field responses from the first test were a bit slow. This is not a surprise to me because his reactions as delayed, just like his development. For example, if you do something that will make him laugh, there's always a second lag time before he actually laughs.
We actually finished the appointment relatively fast, it was about an hour and half from the time we arrived to when we left. Not too bad! The hearing screen is in the books and the boys passed!
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