[senco-forum] glue ear, listening skills and behaviour

Can we start a thread on glue ear, listening and behaviour?

I think listening skills – poor listening skills probably due to glue ear –
underlies a lot of "behaviour" that teachers wish to modify.  The GP, in the
UK, who came out one weekend night to our screaming 2 year old prescribed
antibiotics as he said his ear drum was really inflamed.  He also said that
in the past they did not have antibiotics and the ear drum would just have
burst, the pus would have drained and the ear drum likely have healed again
all on its own.  But he could not deny a child medication in the face of
such pain and distress.  He said that as a result of antibiotics, glue ear
was now prevalent and this was a medical dilemma.  Our son did get repeated
ear infections and glue ear.   The same GP was worried.  He gave him a basic
hearing test and did two things. He prescribed a very strong decongestant to
give to the boy each time he started  a cold – this was to  keep his
Eustachian tubes clear of goo and prevent the build up that gives bugs a
fertile medium in which to thrive.  He advised getting his ears tested at 4
years of age in a soundproof booth with headphones by an audiologist.
Otherwise, he advised we were heading for grommets and he really did not
want to go down that route.  We followed his advice and it was really
helpful.  Damage to listening and hearing was avoided.
Untreated glue ear is silent and does lots of damage, not only to hearing
but also to listening.  Dilys Treharne has observed that sound therapy - The
Listening Programme and then Earobics, can make a difference to some
children.  Keith Holland uses the Johansen Sound Therapy, which Dilys has
observed can also get good results (I say "can" as Dilys finds that children
respond in varying degrees from a lot to none at all.)  Sound therapy and
assessment of auditory processing is currently being researched.  If anyone
is interested in receiving Dilys' article from Skeptic to Convert, I can
send as an attachment.

Martin M, can you add anything to this thread please?  Keith?

Philippa