My nephew’s deaf

OMG my sister just got back from the specialist and found out her 6 yo has auditory neuropathy a hearing disorder in which sound enters the inner ear normally but the transmission of signals from the inner ear to the brain is impaired.

They've been to several doctors and specialists in the past 3 years because they thought he had hearing problems but this is the first time anyone has listened to them and actually done the tests and diagnosed him.

He's lucky he's so bright (that's not me just being a proud aunty, really he is) because part of the issues people with this disorder have is focussing on sounds and making out words from them when there are other noises around them - like in a class room.

He's always had difficulty with his speech - now we understand why - and if he was watching tv for instance we'd have to put it on mute before talking to him otherwise it's like we're not even there (and here I thought he just had selective hearing).

I can't believe it took this long and so many different doctors and specialists to pick up on something he's had since birth

Now my sister needs to figure out what to do about his schooling etc to ensure he gets the best education.

Anyone else know any children or adults with auditory neuropathy?

I'm not too clued up on the terminology either. But DH's brother is deaf, as is his wife to be. They are very big into the deaf community and the Deaf association. From what I know it's a very supportive environment.

I don't know much about auditory neuropathy but my stepdaughter has a "moderate to severe" level of hearing loss. She had grommets which fell out leaving her ear drums perforated and kept getting infections, she's had three operations to patch the holes but they've been unsuccessful so now they are just focussing on preserving what hearing she does have left. She can't use hearing aids as there is to much fluid in her ears so they wouldn't help.

We have found that Special Education Services (SES) have been great, they have access to all sorts of resources and support, the school referred us to them and they even provided Mona with a teacher aid to help with her learning as she had gotten behind coz of her hearing.

Best of luck to your nephew!