How many audiologists does it take to get an accurate sound-field test on a nearly 4-year old autistic child? Sounds like an awful joke, but it was more audiologists than they had on staff yesterday.
Now, Jack's no stranger to audiologists. Ever since he started speech when he was 2, he has gone to an audiologist yearly to continue to confirm that he can hear all frequencies. The first time he had a hearing screening he was non-verbal, so we didn't have concerns over Jack not hearing specific sounds. Last year, he was tested by the school system (a mistake, in retrospect, by having him NOT see his normal audiologist). This year, we took him again, and while he does have a speech sound disorder and cannot produce certain age-appropriate sounds (he can't make a hard /K/ or /G/, and he's developing a lisp, according to the school speech therapist), we really aren't concerned over his ability to hear those sounds.
Still, we take him anyway. It's always good to get confirmation, particularly when we just don't know because his functional language is lacking. Besides, there is definitely something to be said about routine in our kids' days/months/years.
As we entered the audiologist's office, Jack immediately locked in on the bead maze. I breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed like a good start.
I was wrong.
I have a question...why do all pediatric offices feel the need to have a TV on blasting some animated movie in the background? I mean, seriously. Okay, so maybe you want the TV on, but why does it always need to be so loud?
My boy couldn't handle Madagascar this morning. Not at all. He wasn't full-on melting down, but he definitely wasn't happy about it. The fretting began.
To the audiologist's credit, she was super nice. She came out, was very calming and smiling, and asked Jack if he wanted to play. It wasn't her fault that he wanted nothing to do with the whole idea of that office this morning.
The last time we did hearing testing at this office, it didn't go fantastic, but it wasn't awful, either. He did beautifully with sound-field testing, but hated the OAE testing (if your kids haven't had it done, it involves putting an earplug-like probe in their ears...but given that he hates anyone touching his ears, it wasn't a winner). When he went through hearing clearance with the school system, they decided to only do sound-field testing, and he tolerated it like a champ.
This year was destined to be different.
He was still fretting when we got back to the sound booth, so the audiologist called in some reinforcements. A second audiologist came in so that one could come into the sound booth with Jack and me and the other could operate the equipment. The second that we headed into the booth, Jack lost it. The screaming and flailing began in earnest. The audiologists did their best. Jack responded to a couple of sounds, but was then unresponsive to the others. Honestly, I don't think that's a factor of him not hearing the sounds, but it was a result of him shutting down. He was screaming, slapping his head with his hands, and squeezing his eyes shut as tightly as possible.
The audiologist asked me to let her know when Jack was done. It didn't take long to reach that point. He was DONE.
We came out of the sound booth and one of the ENTs was waiting for us. He suggested that he could bring a few toys in. The audiologist made it clear that he shouldn't bring toys that made noise or moved. He brought a couple of toys that made noise and moved (idiot...I guess an MD doesn't make you smart). We decided at that point to reschedule the testing for another morning.
This time, however, I'll bring reinforcements.
So, what did I learn from this year's initial failed visit with the audiologist?
Ask them to turn the damned TV down when we get there (or OFF...off is better!).
Say the word "autism" in the first sentence I speak to the audiologist (no, I didn't think about the fact that he wasn't yet diagnosed at his last visit more than 2 years ago, so it wasn't in his record).
Do NOT allow the old man ENT to bring Jack toys.
Bring reinforcements (I called Brian on the way to take Jack to school and told him that I'll require his presence at our next attempt).
From here forward, it is noted in Jack's medical file there that he is in fact autistic and that 2 audiologists will be required for each of his visits. Super fun. If you're going to do a hearing test, might as well tap all of their resources and go all out, right?
Our next visit is in 2 weeks, so we'll try this again. For all of you super parents out there, how do you manage successful visits with the audiologist? Please share with our fellow special needs parents what you do to help your child feel at ease?