Tabitha's Hearing

A short recap for those who didn't know... Tabitha failed a hearing test quite miserably this past Friday at the local ENT office.  This was the same doctor that put her ear tubes in last June.  Our pediatrician sent us back over there because of concerns over her lack of speech development.  They immediately referred us to a higher level ENT and audiology department down at UVA.  We were told that she would need to undergo a sedated hearing test down there to find out how severe her hearing loss is and what could be done about it.  The sedation was due to her age and inability to sit completely still for the 1 hour that the test would require.  That referral appointment was yesterday.  So, this is an update on that appointment.

well, that was one loooonnnnnggggg day!

And we got good news.  The ENT at UVA had another hearing test done with two audiologists and Tabitha did a little bit better with this one.  But, since it's still a "behavioral" test and she isn't yet 20 months these can fluctuate... we're still watching her closely.  But, it was very encouraging!

This ENT does not want to do the sedated hearing tests at this time.  He wants to give her a little more time to work with us at home and overcome this on her own.  He feels that the hearing loss is related to damage from all of the ear infections that will just take a little longer to heal.  He told me that we "could" do speech therapy with her, but that working on sing language would be just as good.  And, perhaps even better because it's our whole family working with her on an individual basis.  She does have some hearing, it's just barely at the low end of normal in most cases... as of this last test.

We really weren't looking forward to putting Tabi through the sedated test and would only do it if it was truly necessary.  So, the plan is to have her hearing re-tested again in 3-6 months and then every 6 months after that until we are convinced that she's having no further difficulty or we need to intervene further after all.  And, we are working on getting the Signing Times set and doing it with all of the children.

Because she wasn't vocalizing at all until a little over a month ago, but has been vocalizing more over the last month (babbling and the like), we are willing to give this a little longer.  But, we're still keeping a very close eye on her.  And, we are excited to work on sign language to give her another method of communication.

And, I think it helps that Pastor Dave prayed for her hearing to be restored and healed on Sunday.  I'm choosing to believe that God is answering that prayer.