substituting or is this what he hears?

[dhn121]

Hi,
I wonder if anyone wearing this has the same issue as my 3 year old son. He's currently wearing the Phonak Naida V SP BTE if that makes a difference.

When I say "buh" he would say "duh".
When I say "duh" he would say "guh".
When I say "guh" he would say "guh".
I guess my question is this, can anyone guess as to why this is happening. His speech therapist doesn't have a clue and neither does his AuD. They're both saying maybe the other can help with that question. I wonder if this could be just be "substituting" or he's actually hearing what he's saying. Has anyone experienced this?

A little background...He passed his newborn hearing test. We just found out he has hearing loss at the age of 2 1/2. My son started wearing his hearing aids at the age of 3 (which is about 6 months ago). He was fitted with the Phonak Naida V SP BTE. He has bilateral hearing loss. Unaided it is a ski slope hearing loss from 60db at 2000hz to 90db at 4000hz (almost the same in both ears). Aided they think he hears either 25db to 30db across all frequencies.

Thanks
Susan

 

[marcyp06]

How long has he been talking? If his speech is new I wouldnt worry too much yet. Children babble and copy before they form words correctly on their own. If this has been going on for a significant time im curious why neither the SP or the Audi have any ideas. Im sure others will have more input here for you!

 

[dhn121]

Thanks marcyp06.



He never really talked (his brother with no hearing loss didn't talk until he was 3) or babble much. He did say "mama" around 12 months and maybe "go" around 16 months. Didn't notice he stopped saying stuff. Until he was around 2, got worried around 2 1/2 set up for an ABR. Right after the ABR he got his hearing aids. So he's only had his hearing aids for about 6 months. Before hearing aids he said maybe 2 to 4 words? He's been in the 1/2 day school program (also started at the age of 3), speech therapy and me working with him at home he now has maybe 40 words. Some words are very clear but most words are only understood by me.

 

[Hohtopics]

When I say "buh" he would say "duh".
When I say "duh" he would say "guh".
When I say "guh" he would say "guh".

The "b" and "d" and "g" may at times sound alike to a person with an hearing loss. Especially if they're just said in an one word format as described in your post.

 

[planetdoodle]

Yeah it all sounds the same to me,till this day i cant pronouce (sss)

 

[AlleyCat]

Seems to me that he is hearing the phonemes. He's getting the "uh" part right. The other letters he's having difficulty with are because of his deafness.give it time if he's only been wearing aids 6 months. Your son sounds as if he is progressing along at the same rate I was when I was his age. I was not speaking everything clearly either for a while there at that age. Smile and have some fun playing with words !

 

[CSign]

If he's only recently had some access to speech sounds, it makes sense to me. Maybe that could be turned into a goal for him...

Giving him a visual clue as to the sound you are articulating would help him. The SLP should work on this with him as well... Teach him proper mouth and tongue placement to articulate the sounds he may or may not be hearing.

I wouldn't be too concerned... Give him time, and continue giving him access to language.

 

[faire_jour]

Wirelessly posted

could be a speech issue, or it could be a hearing issue. It takes time to develop proper speech, but you have to be able to hear the sound to reproduce it.

my daughter has a very similar story, passed her newborn screen and then developed a rapidly progressing loss. We found her loss at 18 months, but by age 5 she had a similar loss to your son. At that point we sought a cochlear implant for her. It has been life changing for her. She can now hear and discriminate all the sounds in spoken language and has gained 5 years worth of language in 2 years. If spoken language is something you are interested in, you may want to look into implants.

 

[cdmeggers]

I used to get the D and G sounds mixed up all the time when I was a kid. Called my dad ... something like 'gag' or 'gad' or 'dag'. I can't remember exactly but it was something like that, haha.

 

[Sarfarigirl2011]

I did have the same issue back when I was a kid
I had trouble with the B, M, and Ps as I wore my BTEs

right now, I'm reciving benefit from my Oticon Safaris 600s and they're great espically with the streamer

I was about to go for the Phonak Nadias and decided they would be a nightmare as what Jenny said, so I went ahead with the Safaris

 

[deafdyke]

Again I wouldn't worry about his speech. (sounds/articulation) There's plenty of time for him to improve his articulation. Many of us had articulation and mechanics (ie pitch, volume, that sort of stuff) in elementary school. Unforunatly hearing aids and CIs, while they give an OK approxmentation of speech, its still not hearing person speech. The thing to be concerned about, when they are young is spoken language.

 

[deafdyke]

He's been in the 1/2 day school program (also started at the age of 3), speech therapy and me working with him at home he now has maybe 40 words.

Is he in a regular preschool or a dhh program preschool? You might want to look into Dhh programming or even general special needs preschool. (althought dhh preschool would be best)

 

[AlleyCat]

I wonder, is he learning any sign? It would benefit him if he has a hearing loss.

 

[dhn121]

Thank you everyone for responding.

I was not speaking everything clearly either for a while there at that age.

Thanks AlleyCat. When did you start to speak clearly, may I ask?

If he's only recently had some access to speech sounds, it makes sense to me. Maybe that could be turned into a goal for him...

Giving him a visual clue as to the sound you are articulating would help him. The SLP should work on this with him as well... Teach him proper mouth and tongue placement to articulate the sounds he may or may not be hearing.

I wouldn't be too concerned... Give him time, and continue giving him access to language.

We do sign (I’m learning and sign as many as I know which is only a little more than 100 words) and use visual cues with him. His teacher suggested giving him visual cues. He seems to really enjoy visual cues along with speech. I’m not sure how to teach him proper mouth and tongue placement to help him articulate the sounds. His current SLP tells me she’s just “baffled” that he can make the “duh” sound which is harder because of tongue placement vs the “buh” sound. Plus the “buh” can be seen on the mouth making it an easier sound to make and 1 of the first few sounds children make. So she’s clueless as to why he’s doing this. Told me she’ll look more into this and get back with me. Asked her last weekend and she tells me she has not found anything.

Wirelessly postedmy daughter has a very similar story, passed her newborn screen and then developed a rapidly progressing loss. If spoken language is something you are interested in, you may want to look into implants.

MY son has what they call LVAS. Basically what I was told is, it’s progressive and every time he has “head trauma” he looses a little more hearing. I was told his hearing loss isn’t great enough for CI. We need to see if hearing aids are going to help him at all first. He’s only had his hearing aids for 6 months. I was told he needs to have them at least 1 year before he’s even considered for CI with his loss.

I used to get the D and G sounds mixed up all the time when I was a kid. Called my dad ... something like 'gag' or 'gad' or 'dag'. I can't remember exactly but it was something like that, haha.

This is exactly what he’s doing. He’s saying “gaggy” for “daddy”.

I'm reciving benefit from my Oticon Safaris 600s and they're great espically with the streamer

He’s 3. His AuD recommended the Naida for him. Have you had both the Naida and Oticon and found Oticon safaris to give you better sound?

The thing to be concerned about, when they are young is spoken language.

I’m not sure I understand what you mean by this? Do you mean that they understand spoken language and not the articulation itself?

Is he in a regular preschool or a dhh program preschool? You might want to look into Dhh programming or even general special needs preschool. (althought dhh preschool would be best)

He’s in the ½ day Auditory Impaired program (1/2 day because he’s only 3 years old). Currently he’s going to a SLP but I’m going to see a AVT next week and see if he can get therapy there instead of his current SLP.

I wonder, is he learning any sign? It would benefit him if he has a hearing loss.

I am signing with him. I’ve only started taking signing class for about 6 weeks. I have learned about 100+ signs so far. I sign as much as I know at home. But since he has LVAS we’re trying to give him as much speech as possible.

 

[shel90]

I wonder, is he learning any sign? It would benefit him if he has a hearing loss.

Totally agree...

 

[posts from hell]

Do sign language. Best thing you will ever be able to give your kid.

 

[AlleyCat]

Thank you everyone for responding.



Thanks AlleyCat. When did you start to speak clearly, may I ask?

I'm actually not sure. I was diagnosed with my deafness at 1 1/2 years old (so about 6 months before your son.) I was placed into a preschool that was divided 3 ways -- to learn sign (ASL), to learn to speak (with a speech therapist), and to learn English. Because at that point, I knew nothing (compared to my older sister --2 years older --and already way ahead of me) I learned all 3 at the same time so I could get caught up with communicating with everyone else. I did work with a speech therapist all the way up until high school, so I'm not sure exactly when it was that I spoke clearly.

 

[Hohtopics]

This is exactly what he’s doing. He’s saying “gaggy” for “daddy”.

Your child will probably also be able to better differentiate between the "b's" "g's" and "d's" as his vocabulary expands and when these words are used in a sentence. In another word, it's easier to differentiate between "bad" and "dad" when used in a sentence as opposed to just saying them one word at a time.

 

[timeflies]

Hello, I'm a new member of the forums (gasp!) and as an SLP student I just wanted to throw in my two cents.

The first thing I thought of is that your son might be "backing," or making sounds that are usually more forward in the mouth (like "b" and "d") further back in the mouth (like "g" or "k") - for example, he may say "kak" for "cat." What I find interesting is that he doesn't pick up on being able to see your lips come together for the "b" sound - which is maybe why your SLP is stuck, since that's a good visual cue by itself. It is a common process for all children who are developing spoken language, so don't feel that it is some weird new pattern that no one's seen before.

Second, he is still fairly young. Check out this googlebook, Shipley & McAfee's "Assessment in Speech-Language Pathology." It's a great resource for if you're noticing odd patterns and want to sort things out. Page 228 has a description of backing, but there are a lot of other neat things to check out in there, too.

Assessment in speech-language ... - Google Books

Also, this page reports that backing is still within normal limits for hearing children up to three years old:
Phonological Processes

I would say to make sure he can tell the difference between all the sounds (to do a discrimination task) when they're presented to him. Has your SLP tried any discrimination tasks with your son to make sure he actually hears the difference between "b" and "d" and "g"? And keep up with the visual cues! Multilingualism is a precious gift in today's increasingly integrated society, and learning sign and English is a wonderful start.

 

[Sarfarigirl2011]

Thank you everyone for responding.



Thanks AlleyCat. When did you start to speak clearly, may I ask?



We do sign (I’m learning and sign as many as I know which is only a little more than 100 words) and use visual cues with him. His teacher suggested giving him visual cues. He seems to really enjoy visual cues along with speech. I’m not sure how to teach him proper mouth and tongue placement to help him articulate the sounds. His current SLP tells me she’s just “baffled” that he can make the “duh” sound which is harder because of tongue placement vs the “buh” sound. Plus the “buh” can be seen on the mouth making it an easier sound to make and 1 of the first few sounds children make. So she’s clueless as to why he’s doing this. Told me she’ll look more into this and get back with me. Asked her last weekend and she tells me she has not found anything.



MY son has what they call LVAS. Basically what I was told is, it’s progressive and every time he has “head trauma” he looses a little more hearing. I was told his hearing loss isn’t great enough for CI. We need to see if hearing aids are going to help him at all first. He’s only had his hearing aids for 6 months. I was told he needs to have them at least 1 year before he’s even considered for CI with his loss.



This is exactly what he’s doing. He’s saying “gaggy” for “daddy”.



He’s 3. His AuD recommended the Naida for him. Have you had both the Naida and Oticon and found Oticon safaris to give you better sound?



I’m not sure I understand what you mean by this? Do you mean that they understand spoken language and not the articulation itself?



He’s in the ½ day Auditory Impaired program (1/2 day because he’s only 3 years old). Currently he’s going to a SLP but I’m going to see a AVT next week and see if he can get therapy there instead of his current SLP.



I am signing with him. I’ve only started taking signing class for about 6 weeks. I have learned about 100+ signs so far. I sign as much as I know at home. But since he has LVAS we’re trying to give him as much speech as possible.

I was gonna go for the Naidas then I found the Safaris really good since it has bluetooth so I went with it