Hi!

My now 8yr old was diagnosed with glue ear at age 2. (We did one lot of grommets then chose hearing aids. There's now more to his story but nothing to worry you about!)

The biggest help you can give your child is to always get their attention first, before whatever it is you want to say to them. So always start with their name, or also waving, and ensuring they are looking at you when you talk to them. And minimise background noise in general. So try not to always have the tv/radio in background for eg.

We also used a lot of Babysign (which is for all children) and that has continued to be a godsend for us! So I would definitely recommend that as a group to try and join if you can. So helpful to add a sign to the key word such as food/milk/love etc!

I hope that's helpful - so sorry not to have seen your post sooner.

Hello, our, almost, 2 year old son has a moderate hearing loss and glue ear. He is having surgery soon. His glue ear is said to not be effecting his hearing loss. He has two hearing aids which are a hit or miss. He's more tolerant of them now he has nice, soft moulds. Our area has specific SALT's for deaf children. It might be worth a call to ask if your area does too. There are also teachers for deaf children and sensory habilitation folk who see my son. I imagine all of those roles would be very helpful with questions around adaptions that may be needed for nursery. 

Thank you all for your replies. It's been very helpful 🙂

Hi.

Learning about a diagnosis is quite overwhelming and you have certainly turned to the right place. NDCS has a ton of information and professional advice to offer you.

Good news is that it's only a mild hearing loss. But even mild can impact the child and if that is so (likely cos you took for testing) it would probably be good to aid for even a mild hearing loss. If you are anyway going down the route of getting hearing aids that can also help for the glue ear as they can be programmed to help for the extra hearing loss caused by it and then in summer if it clears up can be reprogrammed to just amplify the mild hearing loss. Also once aided it's enough of a visual cue for others to notice and take extra care in talking clearly, facing the child etc. Also once aided you should be getting support from the local authority hearing impairment team which should have a teacher of the deaf and speech therapist to support the childs development.

Good luck!

and in response to your questions. 

For example,

- Is there anything as parents we can be doing to support? Yes. Get attention before talking or giving instructions. Talk face to face with clear lip movements (but not exaggerated). Use your hands - does not lit have to be sign language but motions and visual cues help a lot. Give short instructions. One word at a time. And during play or on walks talk and talk so that they can learn about the world around them.

- What should we be aware of in terms of challenges and how to overcome? Your motto should be is there anything i can do to make it easier. Hearing aids and all the above tips. If development is lagging behind with speech, language or just learning find out what support there is for each age and stage. Once in school if still significant challenges technology such as radio aid can help. You can also try to apply for Disability Living Allowance with the help of NDCS but it's a big job filling out the forms but worth the money if you are eligible. 

- Is there anything I should be asking her nursery to do? same as the first question. It's also possible that the local authority can come in and do training for staff. They can also provide 1:1 to help with assignments such as speech therapy and vocabulary enrichment. and ensure children are trained to communicate with a hearing impaired peer. 

- Are there Facebook groups I can be joining? This wonderful community! The NDCS also has a help line for specific questions. and lots of wonderful resources.

- I'm located in Surrey/Berkshire area. I've joined the local group but unfortunately cannot attend their next event. Does anyone know of anything else in this area that would also help? Contact local authority council should have a hearing impairment team and speech therapist to offer support for family and school.