Gretchen had a head cold for a week or so. She was constantly ignoring us or asking us “What?” Ashlee attributed it to the head cold. I was on-board with that concept, but it kept up… to the point where I was getting concerned. Either my daughter was in a phase where she was, for no real reason, ignoring us on purpose (which is highly likely with a 4-year-old) or she was having real hearing problems and I was ready to get her hearing tested.
This concern only became exacerbated when I went on-line and did some “research” – you know, the kind the Internet is so great for… where you learn that the Incredible Hulk, Lou Ferrigno, lost nearly 70% of his hearing when he was four due to {GASP!} a head cold!
A quick Google search let me find a site that had an on-line hearing test. It played sound waves running from 500Hz to 8KHz, the normal frequency range of human conversation. So, sitting at the kitchen counter with the laptop in front of me, I had Gretchen get on my lap and ran the test for her. She sat there, watching and let me know she could hear all of the sound files with no problems.
Whew!
BUT… what if, since the test had a visual indicator that directly corresponded to the different portions of the test, she was merely watching the screen change and then just saying she could hear the sounds?
“Hey,” I told her, “I want you to look over here to the right (facing our microwave) and tell me when it changes, okay?”
“Okay, Dad,” she replied.
I started the test again when I was sure she wasn’t watching the computer screen. The 500Hz sound played. Gretchen stared at the microwave.
Nothing.
Then the 1KHz note sounded. Still staring and still nothing.
All the way through the different notes and my daughter didn’t make any indicator that she’d heard anything! She just sat there blankly staring at the microwave. My Concerned-Father-Sense started tingling.
“Gretchen – why didn’t you say anything?” I asked her, glancing over at the microwave that my daughter was still intently watching.
At that moment, the clock on the microwave changed from 8:10 to 8:11.
“THERE! It just changed, Daddy!” she cried happily.
