Cian waiting 15 months for hearing test

CIAN MCINTOSH confounded the specialists when, despite a readout from a hearing test that showed no eardrum activity whatsoever, he had somehow mastered perfect speech.

His mother Pauline attributes this to the fact that his hearing difficulty seems to be intermittent, but her six-year-old son requires further tests.

She determined early on “selective” hearing was not the issue, that offers of ice cream or a trip to the beach were as unlikely to go unheard as the less appealing instruction that it was time to go to bed.

“I knew myself it wasn’t put on, but I suppose the fact that his speech was perfect and his schoolwork didn’t appear to be suffering left us confused. I’d be talking to him and it became apparent that at times he needed to be able to see my lips move in order to understand,” says Pauline.

She brought her son to the family doctor on three or four occasions, but despite checking his ears, nothing was found. The GP recommended Cian go privately to an ear, nose and throat specialist. He went last July.

“The specialist said from his examination, it appeared Cian had profound hearing difficulties. He showed me a graph of a readout from a hearing test and it showed no eardrum activity in either ear. But because of Cian’s speech and his good reactions, he said he couldn’t make a diagnosis.”

Cian, from Lavally Upper, Mallow, Co Cork, was referred to a Health Service Executive (HSE) hearing assessment clinic and Pauline was told the waiting time would be about four months.

“I thought fine, we’ll wait, I can put up with four months.”

Seven months later, she rang the clinic in January because over the Christmas period, Cian went days when he wasn’t able to hear.

“They told me the waiting time had gone up to 15 months. I asked if they had any cancellations, if they could fit him in sooner than that, because if his hearing continued to deteriorate, then he would fall behind in school,” says Pauline. Cian could not be accommodated.

A statement from the HSE South said it has just 1.5 whole time equivalent audiological scientists, one of whom spends much of his time doing theatre work. An additional post has been funded and a candidate selected, but sanction is awaited to proceed to appointment.