Oliver's audiology appointments

Early days 2017…

Oliver has had many appointments with audiology over the years. His first appointment was in 2017 (when he was 3) after his nursery teacher had concerns about his hearing.

I went along with Oliver's mum to this very first appointment, which was at the children’s hospital. There, he was diagnosed as having hearing loss in both ears. It was a shock to the family. We didn't realise that when Oliver had mumps 3 months earlier (he contracted mumps between his first and second MMR vaccination), he had lost his hearing and had been lip-reading since!

Oliver spent well over an hour doing the hearing tests to ascertain his level of hearing loss. Once the audiology team identified he had moderate hearing loss, they immediately went about fitting moulds and explained Oliver would need to go back weeks later to get his hearing aid fitted. They gave his mom and I a briefing on how to clean them, when to change the batteries and how to fit them. They told us to start with a couple of hours each day, working up to Oliver wearing them all day.

They assigned Oliver with a Teacher of the Deaf who contacted us the following day. She also attended when Oliver had his hearing aids fitted.

The audiology team also arranged for Oliver to have tests to try and identify the cause of his hearing loss, as at that point they didn’t know why he had suddenly lost his hearing.

Ongoing…

As Oliver has grown, so have his ears! So about every 6 months, Oliver has to go back for fittings of new moulds. The procedure is painless and only takes 20 to 30 minutes. His ears are filled with a moulding plasticine to get a mould of his ears. While he is waiting for this to set, he is given a piece of the mould to play with and make into shapes. Over the years, Oliver has made a ball, a pizza, a frisbee, and a sausage. This is great for Oliver, who is also autistic, because it gives him something to focus on and something to ‘fidget’ with. (You can, of course, take along a fidget toy.)

Once the mould is made, Oliver is allowed to choose a picture and colour for his moulds. Over the years, he has chosen train themes including Thomas the Tank Engine, Edward, Toby and James (James the red engine was his favourite). He then went onto Star Wars figures and now football teams. There are always plenty of colours and pictures to choose from, and as Oliver said, if he changes his mind, he only needs to wait 6 months!

Every 12 months, Oliver goes back for his hearing test to see if they need to refine his hearing aids. Over the last 8 years, Oliver's hearing loss has progressed and he now has severe hearing loss. His hearing aids can't be turned up any more, so if his hearing deteriorates further, the next stage would be cochlear implants if Oliver wanted them, but that is for another time.

The staff at the children’s hearing centre are always helpful, and if they are running late, which sometimes does happen, they will come out and let you know. The waiting room has books, colouring and writing paper for the children to amuse themselves. They provide fresh water just in case they need a drink, although there is a café downstairs, so as a treat Oliver is allowed to choose a snack and a drink.

As with any hospital appointment, parking is a nightmare, so we normally have a designated driver who drops us off and picks us up. Even though Oliver has a blue badge, those spaces are normally full up as well.

Now

Now that Oliver is 10, audiology appointments are a lot easier. He knows what is going to happen, who he is going to see and how long we may need to wait. He takes his phone along with him to watch videos, which you can’t hear as they go straight into his hearing aids. This is great for him as there's no background noise, plus I don’t have to listen!

Sometimes his appointments are during the school day, so he does miss a bit of schooling. However, his mum and dad try and schedule his appointments during school holidays, which is where I came into it, helping with the grandchildren.

It's great for the whole family to be involved where possible. If your deaf child can be taken by a grandparent, or even if the grandparent can come along to the appointments, they can see what goes on, have that connection with their grandchild, and be there for extra support to say, ‘It's going to be OK.’