Andrew's ears

Not long after I blogged about sweet Andrew being on my mind, I got word that he didn't do so well on his Kindergarten hearing screening. His right ear, they said.

This is the ear that a couple years ago during a well child checkup, the doctor said he had a hole in his eardrum. At four months old he needed tubes, and after they fell out one ear apparently just didn't heal all the way.  I remember at our subsequent visit with the ENT, they said they didn't like to do follow up surgery until around 8 years old.

I figured it just meant he would have to wear his special earplug around water. I don't remember them saying anything about his hearing being affected.

Andrew went to the lady at the school district earlier this month for a more thorough check of his hearing. He looked so sweet and small and vulnerable and shy in the booth that I took a picture to show JB.

It's slight to mild hearing loss in his right ear, but the bone structure and everything else is fine, so it appears that once the hole closes his hearing will be fully restored.

For now, his left ear is working harder to catch everything -- and his brain has to work harder, especially at school or in high-noise places with different conversations and background noise all going on at once.  She said this could make him seem overwhelmed or grumpy or tired. Before I just blamed that on him being 5 or needing better discipline to control the whining. Or I thought he was ignoring me from downstairs when I called him. The back of the van is another place where he can't hear us from the front. Poor boy!

His teacher should be getting a microphone in his classroom to help. She sits him near the front, and other similar strategies. I wish I could make our home more peaceful for him, where his three brothers and the baby sister don't make too much noise all at the same time. And at night I now read bedtime stories on his left side instead of his right. But I was encouraged at the parent teacher conference when we saw that he is doing very well. His hearing loss does not seem to be affecting his learning in kindergarten, phew.  We love our Andrew.