Sensory integration - hypersensed hearing anyone?

[Epiffany]

dd has just been dx'd with hypersense hearing and sensory integartion disorder
She already has a peripatetic teacher for her yesight problems and it was she who dx'd her today at nursery
I always knew dd was sensitive, she flunches whenever you do anything like close a door, flick a switch, move the hoover, that said she is fine once the hoover is on even laughs at it chasing her. Its the thought of the noise she is afraid of
At nursery obv group sessions of music and play are a real struggle for ehr, she cries and puts her fingers in her ears - this was how she greeted me today as all the kids were running round ready for lunch.
Has anyone any knowledge of any therapies or aides for this. Longshot I know
Googling is not bring me much luck...

have you seen the books "the out of sync child" and "the out of sync child has fun" by Carol Stock Kranovitz - they are full of ideas for SID. have you seen an occupational therapist? If not can you get referred to one? They ought to be able to offer help and suggestions. There is a specific therapy called sensory integration therapy which might be helpful.

HTH

thanks saker will look up now xx
Piffle

Have a look at this Less scary/harsh than full AIT imo.

Hi Epiffany,
My ds (2.3) has just been provisionally diagnosed with hyperacusis (which i think is the same as hypersense hearing, excuse me if I am wrong). We are due to see the paedeatrician and a clinical pyschologist on monday. I am due to have my second child in 5 weeks and am quite desperate for some ways of helping my ds cope with the noise of the baby. I will let you know how we get on if you think this is the same sort of thing? He looses the plot if he hears children screaming, bird noises, electrical items (like the hoover, food mixers etc). He has been like it since birth, but it's only now that people are starting to take me seriously. Does this sound similar to your dd?

yes, dd has acclimatised to some regular household noises and when asleep, most noises will not wake her
She hated the hoover, but got over it
Her real prob at the mo is other kids screaming laughing and music at nursery she just puts fingers in ears and screams - ironically making more noise than all the kids and intruments!
Have spoken to paed and she calls it auditory defensiveness, she has arranged an assessment with an ocupational therapist for the new year
As dd has other special needs (due to noonan syndrome) we are already under lots of care and help
Jerikaka do you find it seriously affects your goign out and stuff, I worry that dd will learn to fear things where noise might happen, I so need her to be confident asmucha s poss,....

davros that was a v interesting site, have you tried anyof these products at all?

Never heard of that syndrome, what is that?
It does affect our social llife. I find it very isolating as it's just so stressful going out. The pead has told me to keep socialising to a minimum at the moment for my own sanity really. She did say if it got too much then to let him wear ear muffs, but he hates anything near his head, so haven't really gone there. The RNID has good information on their web site, I can highly recommend that. I think that they have to tailor make therapy for the noises that your child is sensitive to though. Only think that through the information i have read on the internet, I am hoping to find out more on monday.
At the moment I am trying to make socialising as positive as poss for ds. I have some very understanding friends who understand ds, and we try to make play as lighthearted as poss with lots of chasing and running around. Hasn't really changed his reaction to the noises they can make, but i hope it will make it a bit less stressful for him. Hope this helps!
How old is your dd? Have you suspected a problem for a while? It took me ages for people to take me seriosuly. They told me to distract him by taking a snack if we went out. Hmm, don't think they understood quite how severe his reaction was as if he was eating and another child made a noise he would cry so much anything he was eating would fall out of his mouth! I was told by one doctor that "he's two years old, he's bound to have behavioural problems". Nice to know I'm not making something out of nothing now.

Forgot to mention activities that ds does enjoy. Swimming he loves. Somehow the noise of other children doesn't seem to affect him so badly. We think it might be soemthing to do with the echo dulling the pitch down slightly, but coould just be the sensation of being in the water distracts him enough.
The other thing is a music group that we go to. He has been going for over a year. We turn up late and leave early, but as long as there is music going on and his attention is caught by the lady who runs it he's ok. I think it's because we've been going for a while and they tend to sing the same songs, he knows what to expect. Doesn't work every week, and sometimes we have to leave early, but he does enjoy it. Hope this gives you some ideas, I know how hard it can be. Some things you can perservere with, others you have to let go. Finding supportive people is a god send. The lady at our community centre runs a group which we were trying to go to, but it was too much for him, so she now lets us go for the hour before it starts, so that I can get out of the house and ds can play with the toys before the other children get there.

Eppifany, I have got the Listening Program and it is a lovely thing! However, I have not been very successful in implementing it but I'm hoping as the school has been making progress on DS wearing headphones. The background info and support that comes with it is very impressive. Although I don't think for a minute that its going to drastically change DS's autism, I can't see any drawbacks to it. I feel that full Auditory Integration Therapy or Sensory Integration Therapy is quite controversial and very expensive as well as being completely unrealistic for us to complete. With AIT it is not only the case that some people feel it has been beneficial and many think that it had little or no effect, but there are people who feel it has been harmful. I find the prospect of full AIT or SIT quite scary!

Interesting thread, my ds2 is like this, he can cope with normal household noises but once out in shops and crowds he starts getting fit like spasms.
We dont take him out much as we know he cant cope with crowds.
Have no advice really, sorry.

Ds1 and ds2 both have hypersensitive hearing. I haven't really tried any therapies but mostly go for covering up their ears if it's practical. Ds2's preferred method is to pull a woolly hat over his ears. Unforyunately he also has a tendency to pull it down over his eyes too to block out the light - which means that he has a tendency to walk into lamposts and walls if not careful! Ds1 is happy to wear headphones but obviously not everyone is.

I find that it's often the pitch of a sound that causes problems rather than just volume. Ds2 isn't bothered about our noisy washing machine and hoover but absolutely hates the buzzing sound that fluorescent lights make.

I should add that ds1 does a general sensory integration programme at school, which has helped a great deal, but it doesn't deal with the visual/auditory side of things.

If I could get commission I would try to persuade you all to buy The Listening Program. You use it at home, you can use it over and over and you can even try it yourself!

I have had a look at the web site. I don't really understand how it's meant to help. Can you explain. Also, how expensive is it?

I will dig out the info later but my understanding is that its based on Tomatis, which at least I've heard of. The music is "formulated" to get each ear to listen differently to specific ranges/sounds etc so the same theory, as I understand it, as SIT but less intrusive, more flexible and user-friendly. It is quite expensive but nothing compared to SIT and, as I said, can be used over and over by anyone.

My wee girl is now nearly 5, and has hypersensitive hearing too, as well as other bits and bobs. Its just to say, that things do improve with time, so keep at it, and try not to stop doing normal things. At the start she would cry with the suddeness or pitch or tone of a noise, both fingers would go into her ears. Now however, on a bad day, one finger goes into an ear, and on a good day - no fingers, as she is learning to anticipate the noises - its her way of coping. My point is, they can only learn to anticipate by being put into uncomfortable (yet controlled) positions - that sounds cruel, but it has worked for us. Good luck......