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My son is 25 months old. He is very active, and he plays with his brother. If he feels hungry or thirsty he just points and sometimes he brings... He still doesn't recognize his name and he never responds to my commands, like "come", "sit", "take", etc.).

He likes to watch TV. When I turn off the TV and iPad he cries and he likes some music. Sometimes, he reacts to music and sometimes he doesn't respond. He likes to play games.

I'm worried about him. That's why I went to a child psychologist, but she said he is not autistic. Now, my pediatrician said maybe he has hearing a problem, or his mental growth is slow.

How is it possible that he might have a hearing problem or mental development problem?

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  • I edited a bit for clarity and made the title more descriptive - I hope you don't mind.
    – Ida
    Jul 23 '14 at 18:31
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    Did the pediatrician recommend a hearing test if he said that it might be a hearing issue?
    – Ida
    Jul 23 '14 at 18:33
  • How does he responds to noises? for example, when you clap your hands behind him, or at his side, does he turn his head? Is there some level (when you make more or less noise) that will catch his attention? How does he changes his behavior if you turn off/turn down/turn up the TV and toys volumes ? Of course, take him to the hearing test, but his responses to this points can indicate some preliminary idea about his reaction to sounds.
    – woliveirajr
    Jul 23 '14 at 20:32
  • Woliveirajr when I turn off TV and iPad he cry and he likes some musics some time he react on music and some time he doesn't response
    – Neeta
    Jul 24 '14 at 2:07
  • @Neeta, when you turn off the TV you are removing the visual stimulation for him too, so of course he cries. How about if you MUTE the TV without turning it off? Does he mind?
    – andi
    Jul 24 '14 at 19:29
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First of all, don't panic. A lot of hearing issues are correctable, and you've caught it relatively early. Even if it turns out to be a non-correctable hearing issue or a learning disability, it's not the end of the world. As you've already noticed, his condition, whatever it is, doesn't prevent him from communicating his needs, and doesn't prevent him from enjoying TV or games. It might require an adjustment, but you'll be fine.

Get his hearing checked as a next step, and look into your area's early intervention program. Most states in the United States have programs that help you see therapists to treat his symptoms, often even before you have a diagnosis. They test for developmental delays to determine eligibility. I don't know where you're located, but other countries likely have something similar.

Also, many children with speech delays benefit from learning sign language. Look into resources like signing time and start teaching him some simple signs. A lot of parents find signing beneficial even for their kids without speech delays, and it's not just for hearing problems. My nephew with down syndrome learned several dozen signs years before he started speaking.

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Don't delay.
Test his hearing & vision yourself, if it's that bad it should be easy to spot. And start teaching him toddler sign language immediately, it's useful whether he has a hearing problem or not.

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    Do NOT attempt to test a child's hearing or vision yourself. This really needs to be done by a specialist, and a pediatric specialist if at all possible. My daughter has severe hearing loss in one ear, but I found I could whisper something into her "bad" ear and she could still understand it with the other ear. Conversely, her pediatrician was worried about her needing glasses from the normal office screen, but her pediatric opthamologist determined that her vision is not as bad as we thought, and she still doesn't need glasses two years later.
    – Aravis
    May 8 '15 at 16:39

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