v-shaped hearing loss

[Guest guest]

Hi, I've been lurking for some time while I figure out what I want to

ask advice on. I have two daughters with hearing loss (out of three) --

is 7 and has high end loss in both ears, unaided. She does very well

in school, although she misses an occasional word on a spelling test

(when she's clearly written the wrong word, not misspelled the correct one).

There's never been any talk about getting her hearing aids. We ask

for preferential seating, but we've never gone beyond that (though she

told us recently that she doesn't always hear the teacher, and just

watches other kids to see what they're doing).

My youngest daughter, Leila, is almost 3. She was thought to have

moderately-severe unilateral hearing (detected at newborn screening)

which we were just monitoring until a few months ago when her good ear

appears to have suffered loss. Now the claim is that she has mild loss in

one ear and moderate loss in the other. The audiologist is recommending

hearing aids, though we haven't met with the ENT yet. I'm trying to figure

out what kinds of questions to ask the ENT. She does not act like she has

hearing loss -- she is very verbal, she has no speech or language delays, and

although some of her words are unclear, she does correct words after hearing

us repeat them. I think the reason her speech is so good is because (1) she

probably had the benefit of that good hear for the first 2.5 years of her life

and (2) her audiogram is V-shaped. At high frequencies, both ears come back

up to normal level. How accurate are her behavioral hearing tests at

this age? She had an ABR at 2.5, but it was immediately following ear

tube surgery (on her bad ear), so she was under general anesthesia

in the OR which are both not conducive to good test results.

Does anyone else have children with V-shaped loss? How severe? Have

hearing aids worked well for you? One or two? Should we be thinking

about an FM system for Leila when she gets to school (she's in day care

now with no difficulties)? For ? We're trying to draft an

IEP for Leila before she turns 3, but it's difficult to predict what

she'll need from the school system at this age. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

-Carolyn

mom to (7), bilateral high end loss, unaided

Maya (4.5), hearing but not obeying

Leila (2.9), bilateral " v " -shaped loss, unaided so far