Why it is necessary to test your child’s hearing when you notice Inattention? My experience
Written by: Ms. Sai Harika Boppana, BASLP
                     Consultant Speech pathologist
                     Dhara Speech Therapy ClinicThere are many reasons for Inattention like ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders), and Learning Disability e.tc. Directly from my personal experience, 3 months ago when I have started my private clinic in Hosur, TN, I have got my first client for therapy. The child (9 year old) was brought with the compliant of Misarticulations and Inattention. When they have approached me the child has already been diagnosed as Language Delay due to Inattention and has been prescribed medication to reduce hyperactivity.
                   During my assessment I haven’t noticed any signs of hyperactivity infact he sat for 1 hour.  Parents reported that his hearing was within normal limits. I have done articulation assessment and noted down the errors and started giving therapy from the very next session. I have noticed that the child is not able to identify the sounds that are being said specifically the difference between /n/ /ng/, /th/, /t/ and/h/ sounds through auditory only mode. He was able to identify /th/ and /t/ sounds by lip reading. I then referred him for detailed hearing evaluation. The hearing evaluation results revealed that he has moderately severe hearing loss in LE (Left ear) and Moderate hearing loss in RE (Right ear). Then the child has been fitted with Binaural Hearing aids now and is continuing therapy for Misarticulations and higher language skills.
                   His birth history revealed normal language development till 4 years of age and he had history of Jaundice around 4 years and when the child was 6 years old they have noticed changes in his behaviour. Though parents have noticed that he had difficulty during telephone conversation they have concluded that it could be because of his Inattention. At present he is able to comprehend and express better though with syntactic and morphological errors and speech intelligibility is good.
              
  

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