Passed her OAE, failed her ABR

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Miked2525

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My daughter has just been diagnosed with profound hearing loss in both ears, which obviously came as a shock to my wife and me. She passed her newborn screening and her one year screening, but we have always known something was wrong. She never responded to her name or reacted to loud noises, but when we told our pediatrician this he kept saying that some children just choose not to respond and that if she passed her screenings, there probably wasn't any issues with her hearing. But finally at 16 months we pushed the matter and got him to refer us to an audiologist, and the ABR showed profound hearing loss. She hasn't had any major illnesses and the pregancy and labor went fine. We're baffled as to how is happened and cannot find any examples of this. Any thoughts?
 
Miked2525 said:
My daughter has just been diagnosed with profound hearing loss in both ears, which obviously came as a shock to my wife and me. She passed her newborn screening and her one year screening, but we have always known something was wrong. She never responded to her name or reacted to loud noises, but when we told our pediatrician this he kept saying that some children just choose not to respond and that if she passed her screenings, there probably wasn't any issues with her hearing. But finally at 16 months we pushed the matter and got him to refer us to an audiologist, and the ABR showed profound hearing loss. She hasn't had any major illnesses and the pregancy and labor went fine. We're baffled as to how is happened and cannot find any examples of this. Any thoughts?
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This happens all the time.

OAEs test how the cochlear performs but not the hearing nerve. ABRs can test if the hearing nerve is working as its brain evoked. There are many people who have a bad ABR but pass the OAE and from what the audiologist who told me, its means there is a problem with the hearing nerve of some sort, im not expert tho, that just what I have been told.
 
But finally at 16 months we pushed the matter and got him to refer us to an audiologist, and the ABR showed profound hearing loss. She hasn't had any major illnesses and the pregancy and labor went fine. We're baffled as to how is happened and cannot find any examples of this. Any thoughts?
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I think it's still pretty common to have "unknown" as an etiology.
The cause really doesn't matter all that much. Now is the time for looking for resources and things.......
First of all, contact your state's School for the Deaf. They have AWESOME resources.
Second of all, maybe go and see a psychcologist and talk about the surprise turn your life has taken. I know it must have been a surprise to find out that your daughter is dhh.....but your daughter can do any and everything except hear.
Get her into ASL intervention as well as speech therapy......My best advice...Go with a FULL toolbox..........even if it turns out she's functionally HOH, she'll still benefit from ASL
Contact American Society for Deaf Children: .American Society for Deaf Children - Home
 
And it takes time to come to terms with something like this coming up.....but in a few years you might even think "OMG this was the best thing ever! My family is fluent in ASL and has exposure to this amazing wonderful community!
 
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