I like listening to music, especially Yellow Submarine, Dancing Queen and Letter from America.I like listening to Mummy singing, and my Spot DVD and The Cat in the Hat (especially Green Eggs and Ham!).
I like the sound of the waves crashing at the beach, and the squeaky noise when I rub my squashy books and the SPLAT when I throw my food on the floor!
BUT there are lots and lots of sounds that I do NOT like, and some of them hurt my ears so much that I cry and cry. When the noises hurt me, I put my fingers in my ears to keep them out. This makes me feel safer.
When the noises are really loud, my fingers in my ears don't work and the sounds still come in, so I talk or sing as loud as I can to block those noises out!
These are some of the sounds that hurt my ears:
- Children talking, singing, playing, shouting
- The hoover
- Clapping
- The shower
- Lily-Rose crying (it hurts my ears, but it makes me laugh too!)
- Cross voices
- The washing machine when it spins really fast
- Hand-dryers
- Outside noises, like traffic, or people (when I don't know what is going to happen next, I put my fingers in my ears... just in case)
Sometimes, even when it is quiet, and even when I am not scared, I put my fingers in my ears anyway and feel happy and safe inside my head, listening to the sounds of my body.
But there is something I LOVE even more than fingers in my ears, and that is... my BLUE HEADPHONES! Mummy puts them on me and I sit and smile and listen to Green Eggs and Ham!
Poor Zac - he really does suffer with his hearing, and often becomes very distressed and frightened by the noises around him.
When he was a tiny baby (long before he was diagnosed with Autism and Sensory Processing Disorder), I used to be so concerned that noises like the hoover seemed to cause him real physical pain (despite all the baby books and friends and relatives telling me that all babies "loved" those kind of white noises and it should help them to fall asleep!). I have since learned to trust my own instincts with regard to Zac, and to ignore those baby books... more on that in a future post, I think!
When Zac discovered that he could put his fingers in his ears and block out the distressing noises, it was a big help to him. Any way for him to control his environment is wonderful, as he has so little understanding or control of what goes on around him. And the headphones are great because they serve the double purpose of blocking out unwanted noise as well as providing the stimulus and entertainment that he loves. (If only we could teach him to operate the iPod himself, now that really would be fantastic!) But for now, it's "Green Eggs and Ham" on the menu several times a day, courtesy of Dr Seuss!
Key:
WHITE text is me, "speaking" as Zac
GREEN text is direct quotes from Zac
GREY text is background commentary or explanation
Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteLou Lou has only just started to put her hands over her ears somtimes. She doesnt like too many different noises going on at once, but sound wasnt the first thing that made me think 'hmmm'...It was sensitivity to lights (kitchen lights)and taste - she would put her fingers in ears when she put somthing cold in her mouth, which was strange. She still doesnt like certain lights and if her brothers argue she hates the noise. Althought she does love the hoover going! Smell is her fav and she smells EVERYTHING!!!
It's funny how they're all affected differently isn't it? Zac is really sensitive to lights too - more on that in my "Sight" post coming up. But i dont' think he has a sense of smell at all, and I don't either... x
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Zac might like ear-muffs for times when he wants to be quiet? Might be confusing to him though that no sounds comes out of them, when they look so much like headphones....
ReplyDeleteGreat post xxxx
Yes we have thought about ear-muffs but I never thought he would keep them on. But now he keeps the headphones on, we could try him... xxx
ReplyDeleteMy son has some pretty severe SPD's with his Autism. We found some relief with the noise cancelling headphones you get for the gun range. If he's keeping on the headphones, the noise cancelling ones may be worth a try! :)
ReplyDeleteYes we have looked into ear-defenders and will definitely give them a try - thanks!
ReplyDeleteWe have been using them on our autistic daughter for when we were trying to get her to flush the toliet. Then this year at school has been so bad with noise that she is going to start wearing them there. She says she has no problem wearing them and the teacher is fine with it. The noise just kills her. She is 8 and I hope the kids don't pick on her for it, but the school does have a strict no bullying policy. Thanks for sharing your story! Your son is absolutely adorable....Cheryl in Oregon
ReplyDeleteIt was very nice blog and got lots of information .Thanks
ReplyDelete