Michael's sensitivity to sound depends on a lot of things. Sometimes when I think he will react to a sound, he doesn't. Sometimes he reacts to sound that I didn't think would bother him. Overtime we are learning what might and might not set him off. It also depends on if he is tired or sick.
The first sound that is too much for him is the fire alarm at school. He has his dead phones that he wears when that alarm goes off. He also has difficulty in the gym with large assemblies. He will bring his dead phones and will put them on through various parts of the assembly.
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| Michael with deadphone and having difficulty with noise |
Church is another area that he has a lot of difficulty. When we moved to Jaffrey, NH about a year and a half ago, I was trying out various churches to see what would be a good fit for our family. As I began the church shopping, I went with the twins to some Christian churches that had Christian rock bands. The noise from these bands was too much for Michael. He would stand next to me, covering his ears. He even got to the point of literally hitting me. He needed to get out of there and I had to make my excuses. "Sorry, he is autistic and the music is too much for him."
The old fashioned churches seem a lot better. Piano music doesn't set him off, but when a church would play the big organ that was enough to make him want to escape right away. When we lived in Hinsdale, NH and we were going to the United Church of Winchester he knew what to expect. He would stand in church with me and sing out of the hymn book. He seemed more comfortable there, and we need to find a church around here that is similar in nature.
When he goes to karate that takes place in that same school gym, he has a hard time with listening. He has gotten a lot better, and he is getting used to the acoustics.
One day I got the brilliant idea that the twins were going to help with "other" chores. Michael was standing there and I said, "Here Michael why don't you vacuum for mommy! Just vacuum the rug in the dining room." I went off to do other chores and get Mikayla started on something. All of a sudden the vacuum goes on and I hear screaming. Chris comes out of his office and quickly shuts off the vacuum. He gave me a look that said, "WHAT were you thinking???!!!" That's just it, I wasn't thinking. The vacuum was obviously too much sensory input for Michael. Duh!
Michael will sometimes get frustrated too if there is "too much talking". If an adult or anyone else is explaining things and going "on and on", Michael will tell them to stop talking. When he was younger he would stick out his hand to indicate, "stop". Too much "talking at him" will get him confused, frustrated and could possibly lead to a melt down.
Another area that is less of a problem is touch. He often likes deep pressure such as hugs or holding. He has never had to be "brushed", but does enjoy the deep pressure of the roller at his old school in Hinsdale. Michael likes to touch knitted things. He has collected all knitted blankets that were made for the twins when they were born, and has claimed them all as his own. His blankets or "woobies" come in all colors, blue, white, seafoam green, yellow, purple and he has even taken over his sister's pink woobie. When he holds his woobie, he often sucks his thumb for comfort. He says he LOVES his woobie and will often ask to take it out of the house on a car ride. We have to be careful and make sure he keeps it in the house for night time because we don't want him to go sucking his thumb in public. I'm glad we don't have a lot of problems with socks or tags sticking out of the back, but we usually get shirts that don't have the tag.
When Dale (Michael's half brother who is now 22 years old) lived with us back in Maryland, we had a lot of taste/texture sensory issues with him. He never wanted to put any kind of sauce on anything. One day I was making Dale a hamburger and asked him if he wanted cheese on it. I thought he had said, "Yes", but was sorely mistaken when I delivered the cheeseburger to the table. "What is THIS?" Dale started having a melt down. I quickly took it away and peeled the slice of cheese off the burger. I gave the hamburger to Dale but didn't see a miniscule piece of cheese on the very corner. He refused to eat the hamburger and that whole incident opened my mind to what the world of autism was really like.
I think, too, there's a line we need to be aware of as the adults around these kids. When Dale was given a choice but got something else, it was appropriate for him to voice displeasure at getting something else. After all, he'd been offered a choice. When there was no choice involved, though, he did learn to take a "no thank you" helping and then go make himself something else after. That opened up his mind to a few new tastes. I've heard he actually likes cheese burgers now! :)
ReplyDeleteMike is much the same way. Sometimes he's fine. He has, on two occasions, done vacuuming for me with no problem. On other occasions it's been too much. I try to be aware of his limitations so that we're pushing gently but not blowing past them.