by Heather Moores

Created on: January 09, 2009

It is very important to get your infant a hearing evaluation as early as possible. This may seem unnecessary but there are reasons other than making sure your baby is developing normally.

Hearing loss may be interpreted as Autism Spectrum disorder. A child with hearing loss exhibits the same symptoms concerning Autism. Language delays, lack of social development and general unresponsiveness are just a few of these symptoms. My husband and I learned this the hard way with our two-year-old son, Marcus.

Marcus was born two months premature and he was always "catching up". He was not reaching developmental milestones until months later. He never said "Mama" or "Dada" and could not imitate sounds. Even more alarming, we would call his name repeatedly but he would never even look at us. It seemed as if he was in his own little world where we could not reach him. We thought that he might have trouble hearing since he was born premature. We taled it over with his pediatrician.

His pediatrician thought that his hearing seemed just fine. She would bang on the office door or open a drawer and slam it shut. He would immediately turn his head in the direction the noise was coming from. She was convinced that he was just slow to develop and that he would be fine. We were not convinced. We knew that something was going on with him.

After several months passed and there was virtually no change in Marcus's behavior, even the pediatrician was concerned. She recommended that we try our state's Early Intervention Service. We gave them a call and submitted the necessary forms stating our general concerns. After a few weeks, two service coordinators arrived to evaluate Marcus. That was a deeply unsettling experience for us. We were told that Marcus's behavior and lack of social and cognitive development were raising some major red flags toward Autism. He also had serious delays in the areas of fine and gross motor skills. Our toddler was basically still operating at the level of a tiny infant.

We were told that he needed a hearing evaluation immediately because he could have major hearing loss and that would explain his behavior. We were given two options: hearing problems or Autism. That was utterly horrifying to hear. I can still remember sitting in the Audiologist's waiting room, praying that my little boy was deaf. That was just unbelievable to me. Imagine praying for your child to have a disability.

After Marcus had his hearing test, I had the longest twenty-minute wait of my life for the results. My heart dropped into my shoes as I was quite cheerfully informed that Marcus's hearing was clear as a bell. Absolutely perfect. That is when I knew that he definitely had Autism and I was right. He was formally diagnosed with the disorder less than a month later.

If you feel that anything is amiss with your infant's hearing, get it checked out. Hearing loss can be detected very early and it may be able to be treated. If there were complications during your pregnancy or your child was premature, you will want to get an evaluation right away.

There are a few things you can do at home to determine whether or not there is a problem. Stand behind your child and clap your hands loudly. If your baby does not respond, there could be a problem. Babies are extremely attached to their mothers. Normally an infant will turn in every direction to spot his or her mother once her voice is heard. When this does not happen, it is time to get a hearing test. If there is a problem, you want to get to the root of it immediately.

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