Struggling with noises

[TwoLeftSocks]

DS1 (almost 9) has an ADHD diagnosis and is on meds during the school day.

Both at home and school he gets terribly distracted by noise and can find it too much at times, turning tricky situations (such as a boy teasing him at school) into overloads, unable to settle his head to deal with situations.

Given a few minutes of quiet, he can settle his head / smooth out everything and have a reasonable conversation.

Repetitive spoken or hummed noises are a particular problem though he'll really struggle when people (well meaning or not) continue to talk to him once he's starting to find it too much.

He seems to be more irritated by noises when he's on his meds, still as conscious of them when he's off, just more bothered on.

I'm not quite sure what to do next. Is this just a typical thing with ADHD? Might it be an auditory processing thing, or a sensory thing, or something else? His main diagnosis is ADHD though the Dr did mention some autistic traits when he got his dx, though not enough to pursue I their own right.

Any suggestions for who I need to talk to - either school or CAHMS - would very welcome.

[shazzarooney99]

Perhaps ask for an appointment with an audiologist,we have it to the point that my on will not use an outside toilet, or wil have a meltdown in supermarkets, last week in Sainsburys we got threatened with the police because he was having a full on meltdown.

[Schrodingersmum]

I agree with Shazza, our DD has severe Misophonia so you have my sympathy. We found the only helpful person to be our fantastic audiologist who has literally been a lifesaver. Many run clinics for Hyperacusis and are well versed on their links to spectrum disorders. DD has two little hearing aids that feed white noise into her ears that she was given, also ear defenders help and serve to warn others thatt the child has a problem so they and you get less judgement by people who dont understand and react as they did the other day

[TwoLeftSocks]

Thanks, I hadn't even heard of those conditions so will look them up.

Having looked up ADHD and noise sensitivity it can include that, hard to know if it's just the ADHD or something else. Will have a chat with the Dr I think.

[shazzarooney99]

I got told by my audiologist not to go looking for a label or what do you want a label for or something like that, its not that i want a label, i just want my son to receive the help he so badly needs.

[Ineedmorepatience]

shazza Ignore people who tell you not to look for "labels" in fact you could tell them labels are for parcels but your child may need a diagnosis!!

Children who are undiagnosed and not recieving support often end up "labelled" as naughty, spoilt, defiant, rude etc!!

A diagnosis is a signpost to understanding, acceptance and support!

Good luck

[shazzarooney99]

Thanks xx

[TwoLeftSocks]

I've always liked that saying, Ineedmorepatience. I'd like a diagnosis, I'd like to know exactly what the cause of any problem might be so that we can deal with it and have strategies that help alleviate it.

[shazzarooney99]

Its so true isnt it? im going to try and remeber that line,we have cahms next week and emergency refferal thats taken around 6 weeks lol