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Please I need help, I have been in Lagos for almost two months and I enrolled my 18 month old in Play Group because I was told it will help her start speaking. She hasn't said any words except dada and she babbles a lot. I visited a Pediatrician who tried getting her attention by clapping and shaking a bunch of keys next to my baby's ears and she didn't notice the sounds. She responds to certain programs on TV whenever I play them, but other than that, she barely turns when you call her name or slam a door.
The pediatrician said there is a hearing loss and referred me to LUTH. The Dr. I met in LUTH made some loud sounds as well and when she didn't respond to the sounds, she referred me to BSA Speech & Hearing Medical Centre in Ikeja.
Bikonu, the price for the tests listed is N50,000 and there's none of the treatment that appears to be less than that.
Please is there a more affordable center and ENT Specialist anyone that has undergone this trauma can refer me to? And then am I over-worrying? As some friends have tried to reassure me that she will be all right in time by citing different cases and instances of family and friends?
Please help me....

Certain perinatal conditions can lead to speech delay. Did your baby suffer any? Eg: jaundice, fetal distres, C/S, prematurerity, low birth weight, prolonged labour, low apga score, etc. Any of these can diminish blood flow to the brain and cause developmental delay.

We treated a similar case in our facility. The baby started responding to sounds after a series of hyperbaric oxygen treatment (hbot). The initial diagnosis was cerebral palsy.

She did not actually. She was a healthy 3.8kg, cried immediately, Carried he 39 weeks 3 days, vaginal birth, no jaundice, never been admitted since birth - we've only taken antibiotics, while pregnant I had malaria and took Coartem DS, I was grilled on all this yesterday.

Do you guys carry out audio tests in your facility and how affordable is it?

oxypress:
Certain perinatal conditions can lead to speech delay. Did your baby suffer any? Eg: jaundice, fetal distres, C/S, prematurerity, low birth weight, prolonged labour, low apga score, etc. Any of these can diminish blood flow to the brain and cause developmental delay.

We treated a similar case in our facility. The baby started responding to sounds after a series of hyperbaric oxygen treatment (hbot). The initial diagnosis was cerebral palsy.

We don't do audiology tests. The lowest prices will be in govt facilities.

Okay, thanks.

oxypress:
We don't do audiology tests. The lowest prices will be in govt facilities.

Naturalle:
Please I need help, I have been in Lagos for almost two months and I enrolled my 18 month old in Play Group because I was told it will help her start speaking. She hasn't said any words except dada and she babbles a lot. I visited a Pediatrician who tried getting her attention by clapping and shaking a bunch of keys next to my baby's ears and she didn't notice the sounds. She responds to certain programs on TV whenever I play them, but other than that, she barely turns when you call her name or slam a door.
The pediatrician said there is a hearing loss and referred me to LUTH. The Dr. I met in LUTH made some loud sounds as well and when she didn't respond to the sounds, she referred me to BSA Speech & Hearing Medical Centre in Ikeja.
Bikonu, the price for the tests listed is N50,000 and there's none of the treatment that appears to be less than that.
Please is there a more affordable center and ENT Specialist anyone that has undergone this trauma can refer me to? And then am I over-worrying? As some friends have tried to reassure me that she will be all right in time by citing different cases and instances of family and friends?
Please help me....

My son's case is very similar to your daughter's case. He doesn't respond to his name and does not respond to commands. He can sing rhymes he hears on TV but does not communicate or show any intention to communicate. We visited a paediatrician and he said is not really hearing well, he now referred us to an ENT doctor, who now referred us to BSA to do a full auditory test for my son, who is 2 years and 8 months old. We are planning to go for the test next week. I was just checking online to check the address and possibly the price for the check when I stumbled on this thread.
Is the test worth it? How is your daughter now? I just need your advice and some guidance. Your response will really mean a lot.
Regards

The test is necessary to eliminate a hearing problem. But the fact that he can sing Rhymes he hears on the TV indicates that he can hear. You need the test to be done so you can be referred to other specialists where necessary.

It turned out that my daughter is autistic. Autism is a journey. We are still at it. She clocks 6 years this year.

It's not been easy, but we are making progress. I started blogging about my experience. You should check it out at autismmomnaija dot substack dot com. There are tips and tricks from myself and other autism parents to guide you.

Stay strong Sis.

Jboos:
My son's case is very similar to your daughter's case. He doesn't respond to his name and does not respond to commands. He can sing rhymes he hears on TV but does not communicate or show any intention to communicate. We visited a paediatrician and he said is not really hearing well, he now referred us to an ENT doctor, who now referred us to BSA to do a full auditory test for my son, who is 2 years and 8 months old. We are planning to go for the test next week. I was just checking online to check the address and possibly the price for the check when I stumbled on this thread.
Is the test worth it? How is your daughter now? I just need your advice and some guidance. Your response will really mean a lot.
Regards

@Jboos how did it go?
Any advice
I have a set of triplets. Born via CS, 34 wks gestation birth weight 1.85, 1.9 and the girl was 2kg.
They are 2 years and 4 months.

The girl is over active. Speaking sentences writing numbers, tries to tell you all that happened in school. You can pick about 50-60% of what she's saying.

My twin sons are facing a similar situation as yours. They are not responding to their name, but rarely say Mama and one says water (once in a long while). Rather than talk, they will pull you by hand to what they want and point at it. That's their preferred style of communication. They started walking at 18 months. They girl started at 8months.

The boys eat well, sleep well, have normal head circumference, no visible pallete issues. They love shinny objects like keys, dangling earrings etc (goes straight into their mouth), they love to run around, love going out, and scream with laughter when excited. They love being backed and riding like you're a horse. One of them is a toe walker (but my wife's family has history of toe walking).

Whenever you play nursery rhymes the boys are so excited, they respond to what they see and you can almost here them sing some part of the sounds. For instance when the rhyme "if you're happy and you know it say hurray" plays, one of them screams "urayyyy" with so much excitement. They roll hands at wheels on the bus, but my concern is that they just don't respond to their name when called. They play well with kids and also get excited watching other kids have fun.

We visited a professor of pediatric neurology (they were 2 years and a month at the time) and he observed them for about 30mins. The boys played, cried when something was taken from them and stopped when they were given back, one even smiled at the time. They were running around the office and just having pure fun. The Prof said they're not autistic we may need to give time and see. But engage them more in talking

It's been 3 months since, not much improvement, except that they like to draw and replicate what they were taught in school.

Someone said we should go run a full audiology evaluation to be really sure. LASUTH said it would cost 100k per child. In my search for a cheaper option I came across your post. Kindly share the outcome of your visit to BSA and the progress on your child.

Thanks