When Tommy was a newborn he didn't pass the newborn hearing test, which is required in our state for all newborn. The pedriatic audiology who tested Tommy at that time told us he wasn't concerned because it may be just fluid in his ears and it would go away in a couple of months. After this, we had to take him for a retest three months later and he didn't cooperate, so the audiologist couldn't complete the test, but she could test one ear. The audiologist got enough information from one ear to make sure he was hearing and because of his age at that time she wasn't concerned of not having results from both ears. We were not concerned either because Tommy was responding to his name since he was 4 months old and it was enough proof for us he was hearing.
Tommy has a high risk for hearing lost because of his genetic disorder, so he has a hearing test every year. Last year, he cooperated better than in the previous test. Both ears could be tested and the results were normal hearing.
This year, it was time to take Tommy to his annual hearing test and my husband took him for the appointment on January 17th at 9:15 am. Everything was going fine that morning until the test started. The test results were showing concerns for the audiologist and her assistance. After doing the test twice, he failed the test. They were questioning my husband and my husband began to be concerned about Tommy's hearing. Suddenly, Tommy said 'Memo' (Elmo) because he wanted his Elmo doll. Then the audiologist asked to my husband if Tommy liked Elmo and husband said: YES! The audiologist decided to test Tommy again using a test with the same sounds, but with an Elmo video instead of the dolls she was using. Since the Elmo hearing test began until the end, Tommy listened to all the sounds. The hearing test results were NORMAL HEARING.
I can imagine how many thoughts were through my husband's mind thinking something was wrong with Tommy's hearing. Tommy's selective hearing would have caused a lot of trouble because he could be misdiagnosed. This situation also proof what I have told my husband that Tommy has a selective hearing because my husband complains Tommy doesn't do what he asks for. According to the book The Wonder Years by the American Academy of Pediatrics:
"You'll find it amazing, however, that your three-year-old won't hear you when you ask him to put his toys away or get ready for bed, and yet he hears the start of his favorite song. Psychologists call this "selective listening" because in many instance, as child is making a subconscious choice not to respond; he inadvertently chooses to react to some things that he hears and to ignore others."
Tommy is going through a typical stage of a child development, so as parents we have to be patient and reinforce his listening skills toward what we ask for. A few thing we will be doing to guide his attention to what we tell him:
- To turn the TV or the radio off before requesting something to Tommy.
- To make eye contact when we are talking to him to reduce distractions.
- To say his name clearly and loudly when we will ask him to do something.
- To stop what we are doing and go close to Tommy and then talk face-to-face.
We all love Elmo!
Elmo saved us time, money and worries
by helping Tommy to past the hearing test.
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