Pediatrician Questions Pediatrician

Child Head Injury?

My son is now 10 years old and when he was 6 months old he fell from a high height on the stairs and broke his skull. When he was two to three years old he lost his sense of hearing due to swollen tonsils and nasal sinuses so he did not receive the opportunity to learn to speak the correct way and now he suffers from lack of understanding and trouble speaking. So my question is it his head injury what makes him act strange and speak nonsense. What do I do to help him? Thanks.

Male | 10 years old

4 Answers

Having him see a neurologist and speech therapist might help.
The head injury is unlikely to have caused the symptoms he has now. the hearing loss seems to be the culprit, since being able to hear well is what helps with language development. Take him to an ear, nose, throat specialist to see if he needs medical management or a hearing aid. Also enroll him in speech therapy.
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Sorry to know that he is 10 years old and has hearing loss and speech problem. Has he been evaluated and examined by your Child's Pediatrician or Family Doctor? He needs a thorough examination including Hearing test and find the reason for his speech problem. May also need neurological evaluation. Get him checked and seek help from the professionals. If you live in the USA, he should have been evaluated by the School System as they can do the educational evaluation and help him educate appropriately.
This is a very good question. A significant head injury can cause personality changes. However, one would expect changes at the time of injury which can persist as one ages. But to be fair, one would need much more information from you to make that determination. If he has not been seen by a pediatric neurologist, I would recommend that you do so.

Vernita D. Hairston, MD