Hearing loss/test for nearly 3 year old

[grumpalumpgrumped]

DS2 appears not to hear high tones, his speech is ok, not always clear but 80% understandable to others I would say.

Noticed he does not hear the smoke alarm, and nursery said the same. He sometimes appears not to hear me (but he is a typical 2 yr old and ignores me half the time!)

My mum, brother, all maternal aunts/uncles and nieces/nephews have hearing loss (high tones). In fact I am the only one not affected. My knowledge of genetics from school is awful, seem to remember something about dominant genes?

Going to ask for a referral for a check up. Is it best to go to GP or HV? How long am I likely to wait? Can use BUPA if needs be but will cost £100 we could find but do not have unless necessary.

[Lweji]

I'd go straight to the GP.
In any case, it looks like there is a problem and if the waiting list is too long, I'd probably go private.

[SweetPeaPods]

Go to the GP. The referral to your local audiology dept shouldn't be too long.

[cathpip]

Go to gp and ask for a referral, it should not take long. They like to pick up and deal with hearing loss quickly in children as it's cheaper for the nhs in the long run. Explain to the gp about your family and high frequency hearing loss, this may get you seen even quicker.

[nomdemere]

You are probably thinking of the fact that genes are paired (one from father, one from mother). In dominant genetic diseases, only one faulty gene is required to cause the disease (so the faulty gene dominates over the ok one). In recessive, both genes have to be faulty to cause the disease (so a faulty one has to be inherited from both parents).

I think 50% of hearing loss is 'unexplained' - probably a lot of genetic causes that are not well understood.

I have high-frequency hearing loss (genetic). Like everyone else, the best thing you can do is to get a hearing test ASAP and get the necessary interventions (hearing aids / speech therapy / etc.) The quicker the better to minimise the problems.

[grumpalumpgrumped]

Thanks everyone.

Off to GP this week then.

nomdemere That rings a bell, guess I was wondering if he would be affected, if I am not. Bit guess its irrelevant really, he obviously needs checking.

The whole family wear hearing aids but most of then got to teenagers before it was picked up (althought youngest is now 25 so was some time ago).

Thanks again.

[Laundryangel]

In our area, only the GP can refer. My DS is 2.2yr. I had a letter from the Audiology depth within 10 days and the appt was two weeks later. The audiologist spoke with me about my concerns, ran through a checklist of questions & then we went into a soundproof room. DS sat on my knee by a low table, the audiologist went behind a screen & her assistant was on the other side of the table with some toys to entertain DS. There was a sound box to the left of us & another to the right & DS was supposed to turn to the relevant side when a sound was played. She did say it was a bit of a dull test and therefore not perfect for a child of that age as you can't really explain what they are supposed to do & some prefer the toys to the noise so don't bother looking over. For the tones that DS didn't turn for, she tried to say a word which used mainly those tones or at the right pitch to test (eg "train").

[nomdemere]

Make sure you tell GP and whoever you get referred to about the family history OP as that's important. Also, it's quite possible that your DS's hearing loss is something different.

[Lweji]

BTW, if it's genetic and you are not affected, but your child is and your relatives are, then the gene (or rather allele of the gene) would be recessive (i.e. they don't show up when paired with the "normal" version of the gene, but can be transmitted to the next generation). It would require that your OH also carries a copy of the gene.

It may be a frequent gene on your mother's side of the family, but rare on your OH's side. But it's more likely that transmission is more complex than a single gene, or that expression of the gene was different in you (it might have been silenced). That would mean that it was dominant but with incomplete penetrance (not evident in all carriers).

[grumpalumpgrumped]

Lweji that is very interesting, thank you.