3 1/2 yo. always says "What?" -- hearing problem??

[candiland]

My 3 1/2 yo. is always saying "what?" like he doesn't hear us when we talk to him. Sometimes we have to repeat ourselves several times.

Is this indicative of a hearing problem? I remember when I was little always saying "what?" because it bought me more time to do/think whatever I was doing/thinking at the time... then I'd finally pay attention when I felt like it.

What are obvious signs of hearing loss? When he was 2 and 3, he'd hold my MIL's music boxes RIGHT UP to his ear drum, and they're very loud. We'd have to take them from him for fear of damaging his hearing.

Has anyone else experienced this?

[nonconformnmom]

My daughter is 3 years and 3 months old and she has been doing this "what?" thing for a few weeks now. It would be comical if it weren't so frustrating! We repeat ourselves several times, like you said, and she just keeps saying "what?" Judging by her body language and the times in which it happens, my impression is that she is simply not paying attention and truly has no intention to pay attention. she keeps saying "what" just to keep us talking and to keep us engaged with her, but she is really interested in something else at the moment. After repeating myself a few times I usually just change the subject and say something while physically moving somewhere else just to get the needle off her broken record, so to speak.

[MSings]

My son is almost 5 and he still does this. I have found that "what" can mean several different things: I did not understand one word in the sentence or I heard the words but did not understand exactly the meaning you were trying to convey or what you said did not make any sense etc. In frustration I started to ask him to repeat what I had just said and in most instances he could say my words back but still did not understand. I usually repeat myself once or twice more slowly but also try rephrasing or asking him to specifically explain what he doesn't understand.

If you are worried about your son's hearing in general your pediatrician should be able to do a hearing screening test- ours did one at 4 year check up.

[mamadodson]

my 3 1/2 yr old does this too, and he actually has speech delay as well, so the first thing we did was to get a hearing test done.. and he is just fine no probs at all, and actually my 6 yr old still does it to, but I keep telling myself they have selective hearing like their daddy....LOL they hear what they want to hear...lol

[Clarinet]

I have a three and a half year old daughter and she says, "huh?" which is so irritating! I repeat myself once and then I tell her, "I think you might have heard what I said." She'll usually repeat what I said verbatim, so I know she hears me. I don't know why she does it but I'm hoping she grows out of it.

As far as real hearing loss, I don't know other than to recommend going to the doctor. I think if he's not asking to turn the television or radio up loudly and turns when you speak to him, he's probably fine.

[shelbean91]

Try to get his attention by saying his name before asking your question. Then, wait several seconds for him to answer. It will give him time to stop what he's doing, focus on you, hear your question, then process it, then give you your answer.

It's possible he's got a hearing problem, but also possible he's just not processing what you say as quickly as you are expecting.

[meowmix]

Originally Posted by shelbean91

Try to get his attention by saying his name before asking your question. Then, wait several seconds for him to answer. It will give him time to stop what he's doing, focus on you, hear your question, then process it, then give you your answer.

It's possible he's got a hearing problem, but also possible he's just not processing what you say as quickly as you are expecting.

I agree with that. My 4 yr old son does the same thing. I think most of the time I have not given him a chance to "tune into me" to actually listen to what I am saying. I end up just blurting something out to him before he is ready to process what I have said. Sometimes he says "what?" but then realizes what I have said a couple seconds after he has responded so when I start to repeat myself he say "Oh, I heard you mommy."

[owensmom]

Oh man, I repeat myself 400 million times a day.... I was wondering if I should get Owen's hearing tested too! He is 3.5 as well.

He also drifts into another mindset when I am reading to him, so I'll say really outrageous stuff until he comes back to my world. Drives me freakin' batty!

[4evermom]

My mom was telling me something that she read about brain development. The nerve endings aren't completely mature til around age 6. This makes it really difficult for young children to filter out which sounds come from what sources. So if there is background noise, your child might not hear you right away. If they are watching a video, don't expect them to unless you put the tape on pause. I think this is more pronounced with boys. So expect your children to start "hearing" better in a few more years. Another study said something about how it takes children about 3 minutes to process a question and be ready to answer it. I think that study was about how teachers don't allow children enough time to process their questions. This is also why really slow paced videos, like Blue's Clues, are better than Sesame St.

[Oh the Irony]

this is a great book:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/074...lance&n=283155

might be a good read for you to see if any other behaviors fit with an auditory processing problem. it has testing protocols for all the processing.

whoops gotta go.

[hottmama]

My almost 3 yr. old son always asks "What'd you say?" and if I say "I'm not repeating myself," he'll usually respond to what I originally said. I think it's just a way to buy himself time to answer. When he says "I don't know." it typically means he didn't understand, not that he didn't hear, because repeating myself doesn't help- he keeps asking "What'd you say?"

[CorasMama]

To the OP and owensmom,

You both might want to look into Auditory Processing Disorder. I have recently been diagnosed, but I suspect I had it to some degree as a child. I wish that I had known then that I wasn't losing my mind when I would hear someone say something, in english, at a reasonable volume, and still I'd have no clue what was really said. And be aware that it can behave a lot like selective hearing, because the effects can fluxuate, and its not as bad when you can lipread (which I've been doing for years without realizing it!)

[CaliMommie]

Originally Posted by meowmix

I agree with that. My 4 yr old son does the same thing. I think most of the time I have not given him a chance to "tune into me" to actually listen to what I am saying. I end up just blurting something out to him before he is ready to process what I have said. Sometimes he says "what?" but then realizes what I have said a couple seconds after he has responded so when I start to repeat myself he say "Oh, I heard you mommy."

I do the same thing to my H all the time! I ask him to repeat himself & then when he does I realize what he said & say nevermind. It drives him crazy! But I actually do have scarring on my eardrums from recurrent childhood ear infections.

ETA: DS1 does this to me & it can get frustrating, I am going to have his hearing checked b/c when he was an infant it took 3 times for him to finally pass the hearing test & they never did a follow-up.

[AAK]

You may be able to get a hearing screening done at your local schools. Kayla had one before she was evaluated for speech. Unfortunately, she was very uncooperative and I had to bring her in for a real hearing eval and misunderstood our insurance and now need to cough up $200 just cause she wasn't in the mood the day of the screening. UGH! The school screenings are free.

Amy