Hearing sensitivity for kids with autism spectrum disorder is quite common. Helping a child on the spectrum understand his senses can be hard, since he is often more sensitive in one area and less in another. For instance, Curtis has a hard time likening smells to each other, be they good smells or bad. He has always been very sensitive to sound and that's an issue every day of his life, especially at school. Curtis had a fire drill at school this week and Caron makes sure to get advanced notice when these will occur. About 10 minutes before the fire drill goes off, she leads him just off campus by an Oak tree he likes and waits the process out. A fire drill, which can be a negative potentially throwing his whole school day off course, is instead turned into a positive. A small break where he can anticipate the fire drill from afar and not be disturbed by the blaring alarm.
A busy cafeteria is a source of volume that Curtis generally can't handle without some help. He is usually only capable of locking into one sound and a cafeteria offers too many "crazy" options as many of the kids have "high energy". Curtis spent most of his lunches outside the cafeteria during his kindergarten year, in a quiet area with Caron or in a small group lunch. Starting in first grade, Laura began packing an mp3 player and headphones in his backpack and Caron would help him get them on at lunch time. When Curtis feels comfortable, he can remove them and talk to friends. When the volume is too much, he can get lost in some Taylor Swift and drown out all other noises. It's been working great for him.
Protecting Curtis from loud noises is an instinct for those who know him best. A few days ago when we were playing and a fire truck drove by, I reached my arms out and covered his ears without even thinking about it. Curtis prefers not to enter bathrooms with automatic hand dryers if the bathroom has occupants. Horns, sirens, construction, yelling, any number of loud noises can cause a massive turn of direction in Curtis' mood. While loud noises can't always be anticipated, reacting to the situation for his benefit is what's most important.
There are various sound therapies and tools available though we haven't directly explored them. Sometimes headphones work and often times he just needs to be removed from a situation until his senses are calm and he feels relaxed again. He let's us know when it's all too much and we adjust his environment accordingly. Ultimately, we do want him to be able to take on the world as it is and he understands it can be a noisy place. Slowly acclimating Curtis to these situations and respecting this character proves the best way to tolerate these sounds over time.


Greg, Dad