Sunday, January 18, 2009

"Mommy, I can't hewr it."

Huh?...huh?...huh? is the most frequent word (or noise) out of Andrew's mouth these days. Whenever we ask him a question or tell him something, 9 times out of ten, he will respond with "huh?" As we repeat ourselves, he will continue to say, "huh?" until we speak louder, slower and make sure we have direct eye contact. At first, it was cute, but now it drives me nuts. I am starting to think he really has something wrong with his hearing because as we were watching tv (that was clearly loud enough) and he said, "Mommy, I can't hewr it." As I was trying not to be an over reactive mom and just assume it was a stage, I can't help but wonder he really can't hear well? I'd hate for him to go through life not hearing all the wonderful sounds in this world.

The luxuries of being a teacher (and their are not many) means that I am surrounded by experts on children with all abilities and disabilities, so I talked to a colleague who is a speech specialist. Because my husband so gently reminded me of how well and clear Andrew talks, he thought there was no way for him to have a hearing problem. However, my teaching friend and expert tells me that is not necessarily true. She suggested some at home tests and evaluations I could do with him to see if it's a "stage" of being 2 or if it's something more to take him in for.

So tonight, I will be whispering sweet nothings to Andrew about candy, cookies and movies to see if he responds and hears me. If he responds, it's a phase of rebellion. If not, than I will need to move on to test 2- which I don't know yet!

Do you have a 2 year old that loves the word "huh?"

2 comments:

  1. My daughter (3) is always saying "Huh?" and it drives me nuts! I'm pretty sure she can hear just fine because she happens to not say it when I do mention something like *ice cream* or *cookies*. I think, for her, it is a phase and she has just gotten into the habit of saying it. We're trying to break her from saying it having her say something else ("excuse me" or "Mom, I didn't hear what you just said") and by not repeating ourselves a hundred times, which I end up doing by habit. I hope it is just a phase for you guys and not something more serious! Good luck with the tests!

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  2. Haeley went through that and I took her in to have a hearing test done because I just wasn't sure. As it turned out she was diagnosed with selective hearing. :) When I took her in I kept going back and forth on whether it was necessary, because she would hear sometimes and not others. Brad and I could be whispering in the front of the van with the music up and she would be in the backseat and throw her 2 cents into the middle of the conversation. On a serious note---at his next appointment, have his doctor check for a wax build-up. She has had to have her ears flushed now the last 2 times she's been into the doctor.

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