Joseph was born in October 2004. He was by all means a pleasant baby. He was sleeping through the night at 6 weeks. He reached all his physical milestones early or at the appropriate time. He even had his full set of teeth in by his 1st birthday...yet he barely said a word. At his one year check up, his pediatrician asked how many words he spoke and he barely said ten.
During his second year, Joey was noticeably quiet. As friends' children who were the same age were advancing with their speech, Joey was not. He was more advanced than other children when it came to everything else so I wasn't worried. As his second birthday approached, my Mom voiced her concern that he wasn't repeating after us. I spoke to his pediatrician who ordered a hearing test and a consultation with an ENT. The audiologists were concerned and wanted to see him back for a retest when the middle ear fluid cleared up, while the ENT thought it was too soon to put tubes in his ears. The audiologists also hooked me up with a program through the state to get Joey started with speech therapy, which I started shortly after his 2nd birthday.
I had Joey's hearing retested in March '07 and again I was told to bring him back when there was no middle ear fluid. He was prone to ear infections but was not having one at the time of the test so how was I to know when the middle ear fluid was present? I brought him back to the ENT, who finally agreed to place tubes in both ears. Joey had his surgery a few weeks later and on the very same day, he started repeating after us!
I urge parents who feel that there may be trouble with their children's hearing to have it tested right away. Pay attention to signs such as your child not answering you when you call their name or sitting too close to the television when it's on. The ENT said Joey had "glue ear" because the middle ear fluid was solidifying. He heard everything as if he were underwater. I can't imagine what that was like and feel terrible for not catching it sooner. When your children don't have a voice, parents need to be their voice and I failed my son by not being his soon enough.
I'm happy to say that today, with 2 years of speech therapy behind him, my son amazes us everyday with how many new words he picks up. I'm so glad he's not living in silence anymore.
Thanks so much for sharing Joey's (and your) story. So many times parents hear the word "tubes" and balk at the thought of putting their babies through surgery. It is important to hear stories likes yours where such a dramatic difference was made because of the procedure.
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