Sonny’s glue ear journey

Sonny was always a happy, active child. He relied heavily on his sister, who was just one year older, for many things. She spoke for him most of the time. When he turned three, his nursery teacher told us that he and other children could not understand him. She was worried about his language and speech development. We were surprised because we understood him perfectly.

After referring Sonny to an audiologist, we discovered that he had glued ears as well as moderate loss of hearing. The delay in speech is likely due to this hearing loss.

Sonny underwent speech and language therapy as well as numerous grommet surgeries over several years. However, the glue ear kept returning.

When he turned seven, we decided to get hearing devices because his hearing loss was not improving fast enough. He was also missing out on school. He would be able to hear better with the aids. We hoped that eventually, his ear canals would grow and the problem would go away.

Sonny, now 10, has worn hearing aids intermittently since he was a child. He had a grommet surgery in one ear, but it fell out within a few weeks.

Sonny’s hearing loss is constantly changing. It can be difficult to tell when it has improved or gotten worse. He was unable to say to us that his hearing fluctuated, so he had difficulty at school. People often said he didn’t pay attention. He doesn’t recognize it even now. It can take weeks for us to notice it and then months before the audiologist sees him again. He has worse hearing after a cold or during the winter. There’s no doubt that this has affected his development over the years, as it was difficult to manage at both home and school.

We must be aware of all his actions and look for any differences. For example, if he is lip-reading or turning up the TV, or if he says ‘pardon,’ more frequently, we should notice. It would be best if you also communicated with his teachers often to make sure they are looking for signs of hearing loss, such as a lack of concentration or focus.

It’s important to encourage him to speak up when he doesn’t understand something rather than ignore it and continue. It’s been difficult because he’s not always confident about admitting that he doesn’t know something, as he’s afraid of being ridiculed.

The National Deaf Children’s Society’s website is an excellent resource. It has given us information on our rights as a family of a child with hearing impairment, how to ask for extra help from the school or local authority, and also provided guides that parents and teachers can use in order to make their classroom more deaf-friendly.

Recently, we hired some equipment in order to help him at home. Sonny attended the Raising the Bar Event, where he spent time with other children who were hearing impaired and improved his self-esteem while playing his guitar.

We’re working closely with his teacher, the deaf, the National Deaf Children’s Society, and the local authority to manage his hearing loss and glued ear.