Speech therapy/ ear tubes?

chelseymat

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience or information they could share? DS2 just turned 3. He started talking very early but his articulation is not getting considerably better. He has an apt with an ENT to evaluate for tubes tomorrow. Even though he has never had an ear infection, his tympanogram was flat so the pedi thinks there is fluid on his ear drums impairing his hearing. He also has a speech therapy referral but they can't get him in until January. From what I've read, if he needs tubes his speech should get better pretty quickly. Has anyone experienced this? Anyone's littles have tubes? The idea of putting him under is also a little scary for me. Sorry I guess I'm rambling…..

dizzycooks

My dd got tubes on Friday, she said has said 8 new words as of today.  I want to cry every time I hear a new word.  It's absolutely amazing.  She got tubes because of fluid, not infections.  The poor girl couldn't hear us unless we were 2-3 feet away.  It was super easy.

chelseymat

dizzycooks said:

My dd got tubes on Friday, she said has said 8 new words as of today.  I want to cry every time I hear a new word.  It's absolutely amazing.  She got tubes because of fluid, not infections.  The poor girl couldn't hear us unless we were 2-3 feet away.  It was super easy.

Thank you for this.  It breaks my heart when my son, who is very friendly can't tell another adult his name because they don't understand him. I also think he's starting to notice that I'm always translating for him….

dizzycooks

chelseymat said:

dizzycooks said:

My dd got tubes on Friday, she said has said 8 new words as of today.  I want to cry every time I hear a new word.  It's absolutely amazing.  She got tubes because of fluid, not infections.  The poor girl couldn't hear us unless we were 2-3 feet away.  It was super easy.

Thank you for this.  It breaks my heart when my son, who is very friendly can't tell another adult his name because they don't understand him. I also think he's starting to notice that I'm always translating for him….

I understand.  My dd can't say her name.  I counted her words and she had 28 words before surgury.  Adults expected that she could talk and I felt awkward 'translating' for her, like people were judging me because I wouldn't 'let' her talk.  That was never the case.  I was at the point I would write on her name tag "Ask me if I need to go potty, I don't talk, but I am potty trained" because other wise she would have an accident because adults assumed she was either in a diaper or would say when she needed to go.  I can't wait until I don't need to do that for activities she attends.

chelseymat

dizzycooks said:

chelseymat said:

dizzycooks said:

My dd got tubes on Friday, she said has said 8 new words as of today.  I want to cry every time I hear a new word.  It's absolutely amazing.  She got tubes because of fluid, not infections.  The poor girl couldn't hear us unless we were 2-3 feet away.  It was super easy.

Thank you for this.  It breaks my heart when my son, who is very friendly can't tell another adult his name because they don't understand him. I also think he's starting to notice that I'm always translating for him….

I understand.  My dd can't say her name.  I counted her words and she had 28 words before surgury.  Adults expected that she could talk and I felt awkward 'translating' for her, like people were judging me because I wouldn't 'let' her talk.  That was never the case.  I was at the point I would write on her name tag "Ask me if I need to go potty, I don't talk, but I am potty trained" because other wise she would have an accident because adults assumed she was either in a diaper or would say when she needed to go.  I can't wait until I don't need to do that for activities she attends

Hopefully there will be a quick change now that she can hear better. 

hokies94

DS got tubes at 13 months due to fluid in his ears.  His tympanogram was also flat.  He failed hearing tests repeatedly.  We eventually had to have a sedated hearing test where they measure brain waves to make sure he could actually hear.  Everything was normal.  He could hear but due to the fluid it was like he was hearing underwater. 

He did not babble at all prior to tubes.  A few weeks after surgery he started babbling.  He eventually started talking, but he's always been behind on speech.  He's now 5  and still has articulation issues.

We've been in speech therapy since he was 2 and he has made huge improvements.  At the beginning I couldn't understand most of what he said.  These days I can understand about 90-95% of what he says.  He still has some sounds that he doesn't make properly (for his age) but generally most people can understand most of what he's saying.  

Tube surgery is super easy, 5 min outpatient surgery.  It's amazing the difference it can make.  

ArmyWife114

DS got tubes in May, and also never had an ear infection just consistent fluid. He failed several (3 if I remember correctly) hearing tests. Super quick procedure (even having his adenoids removed at the same time), 20ish minutes I'd say. I felt like I noticed a difference in his babbling the next day. I could just tell he was hearing sooo much better.

He'll be starting ST soon because they haven't seen as much improvement in his speech as they wanted to. He had no understandable words before tubes, and now has about 10-15. And he uses phrases (he will hold something up and say "what's this?"). Honestly, the improvement has been remarkable.