Ear Infections

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Did you get a lot of ear infections as a child? I was wondering, because I've read that ear infections seem to be more common in children with ASD. I had them constantly starting when I was an infant. It seems like I usually got at least 2 or 3 infections every winter. They finally decided to put tubes in my ears when I was 8. They had been just waiting and seeing if I might outgrow the chronic ear infections, but I clearly wasn't at that point. After that, I definitely got less infections. I only got a couple more when I was in about 5th - 6th grade (by then, the tubes had likely fallen out). I don't think I ever got one again after 6th grade, although just last week, I got one for the first time in years, and it was the first infection I've had as an adult. It sucked, but I got antibiotics and it's starting to go away.

No, I wasn't prone to ear infections as a child. I did have a really bad one as an adult due to "swimmer's ear." That was really painful.

Yes, regularly up to my thirties. It was the reason the doctors gave my mom for my late speech. Multiple tube placements and ruptured eardrums later I now have permanent holes in my eardrums. With a little diligence to keep water out it has been a few years since the last one.

Yes, especially in my left ear. I also just got my first ear infection as an adult. Left ear again.

At first I thought it was just earwax and tried to flush the ear out. The doctor was horrified because on the other side of your eardrum is your brain and you can flush that infection right in there through a perforation, causing deadly bacterial meningitis. So don't EVER do that. Neglecting an ear infection for too long, as I also did, can lead to meningitis as well.

2 weeks of industrial strength antibiotics later I was fixed, though I had partial hearing loss for a while and the antibiotics caused problems of their own. Taking them was unavoidable though.

Ear infections are common in young children. But maybe children with ASD can be more prone to ear infections because of hypersensitive hearing and putting their fingers in their ears a lot. I don't see why else ear infections would be more common in ASDs.

Never. And I'm one of those 'sensitive' ones.
More so, as a young child, practically an audiophile.


And I'm someone with chronic rhinitis who deals with sinusitis for too long, which is an even higher odds with ear infection.
Yet, like having to never developed asthma or lung problems, never developed ear infections despite that -- not then and not even now.

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I do remember some ear infections, but never needed plugs or anything.

Does anyone else get cold symptoms due to high stress (including, but not necessarily, too much light)? A couple years ago I thought I developed an adult allergy, but it was actually just a runny nose and watery eye from stress--too much social interaction, light, etc.

Nope. I had very few as a child, and haven't had one in over a decade that I can remember.

Interestingly, Susan Barton lists chronic ear infections as a sign of dyslexia. When I asked her about it, apparently one of the genes behind dyslexia is located right next to one related to immune function, possibly explaining the link.

Yes, I have had very sensitive ears since childhood. I got ear infections as a child, often have severe pain because my ears have difficulty unpopping after high-altitude airplane flights, they hurt when I swim too low underwater, and they are very sensitive to cold air.

I am very sensitive to certain noises which is probably due to sensory processing disorder, but I really don't know if any of the other listed ear issues could be related to autism or not??