QUESTION: Is there a way to help children who are very distressed by loud sounds?

ANSWER:  Children who are sensitive to sounds are distressed by loud sounds, sudden sounds and especially loud and sudden sounds they don’t expect.

Also distressing are loud and sudden sounds they do expect, but cannot control; an example are balloons, because the anxious child doesn’t know when the balloons are going to pop.  A possible coping strategy is to help a child pop balloons himself, poking a small balloon with a pen and producing a soft sound, then working up to bigger and bigger balloons and louder and louder pops.  If a child can initiate the sound, he may be more likely to be able to tolerate it.

Children who are frightened by loud sounds may increase their tolerance level if they know the sound is coming. Many parents have experienced their young children being terrified at their first exposure to fireworks.

Fireworks set off, seemingly at random, are just too overwhelming. However, most children grow to enjoy fireworks set off at a city park as part of a holiday tradition. Children who cannot be consoled during the Fourth of July fireworks when they are 3 and who want to stay in the car wrapped in a blanket when they are 4, will say when they are 5 years old, “I’m not going to be scared this year” and happily join in the noisy, colorful celebration.

The child who has non-typical brain development, like autism, however, is going to be coping with tougher challenges in life.  The same balloon that delights and excites other kids, for instance, the balloon that other children want to toss to one another or flick with their fingers until it scrapes the ceiling, looms like a cloud of potential pain for the autistic child.

The autistic child is receiving the same sensory information, but his brain is interpreting it differently.  Those of us with typically developing brains become more compassionate when we understand that someone with non-typical brain development may be experiencing the world very differently from most everyone else, and perhaps it is a painful experience.

 If you would like to talk about the challenges in raising children, call the toll-free Parent WarmLine at 1-888-584-2204.  Check out free resources on helping children with learning challenges at the PRC Specialty Library (105 First Street SE, Austin)