So, now I’ll continue the story. We get to the doctors appt and we go inside to explain to Dr. Levitt everything that’s going on. In addition to his hearing loss I was concerned about Justin snoring while awake. So, Dr. Levitt checks Justin and says his Adenoids and Tonsils are extremely large which is causing fluid to build up in his ears. I didn’t realize that our Ears, Nose, and Throat was that much connected. He said before he can make a decision on the type of treatment needed he wanted to check Justin’s hearing first. I’m thinking I had to scheduled another appointment to get his hearing check. Nope, everything was set up right in his office.
Justin is looking at me nervously. He’s asking me what do I think is going to happen. I explain to him like before. The most serious thing that can happen is that he has to have surgery. He didn’t like the sound of that. I mean who does. I reminded him to remain calm and trust that the doctor will make sure he’s taken care of. So we go inside a small room to have his hearing check. As soon as the lady hook Justin up to the machine to do a fluid check she said ” Oh wow he has a lot of fluid build up in his ears”. She then takes in the hearing booth and checks his hearing. She’s asking me questions while doing the hearing test such as “is the TV louder than normal, does he talks lower, does he turns to one side so that he can hear you, and is he having a hard time hearing the teacher in school”. I answered yes to all of her questions. She then says “he’s going to need an IEP or a 504 plan because he’s lost a significant amount of hearing in his ears and his teachers need to make the appropriate accommodations so that it won’t impact his school work.” I took a deep breath and said well he has an IEP but I’ll see if we can get a 504 plan implemented. She also informed me to make sure he remains healthy as possible because any sign of a cold or sickness can reduce his hearing further to the point he becomes deaf. I took about ten deep breaths after hearing that.
For the first marking period Justin received 4 A’s, 3 B’s, and 1 C. I think he did a really great job for someone who loss their hearing. He didn’t like having the C but I reminded him he did his best no matter what. So, we’re now back with Dr. Levitt and he reads over the hearing test. He said “well I have good news and bad news”. We can fix the problem but he has to have surgery”. So I’m thinking okay he just needs tubes in his ears. Dr. Levitt said “I can place just the tubes in his ears but because his adenoids and tonsils are so large we need to remove them so there is no more fluid build up”. Once again I said okay. I asked if we can just do the tubes to see how that works. He explained to me “we can but because of the size of his adenoids he’s for certain that once the tubes fall out his adenoids will continue to cover the hole that drains the fluid out of your ears”. As a result we will be back to where we are today. So he says “instead of doing two separate surgeries let’s just do one.”
That’s Part 1! I’ll continue the rest tomorrow. I have to get Justin up and ready for school. See you tomorrow. Have a good day everyone!!!
Autism Psychology Spirituality 