Nick and I were discussing Little Bug's auditory defensiveness- not sure if that is the correct name, but that's what we call it. Basically, Little Bug can't handle any sudden loud noises- no movies, no sports, no Pike Place Market, only certain restaurants, etc. We were talking about it because we went to Pike Place Market yesterday. We figured Little bug would love the famed fish throwers.
Not so much. I have the scratches on my belly from his spider monkey climbing to prove it. They would yell the order and he lost it. He covered his ears with his hands and used his feet to climb my body while screaming no over and over again.
So, I did the only thing I could- wrapped my arms around him and carried him football style through the crowd. If you have ever been to Pike Place, you know that the top floor is street level. To Little Bug, that was not okay- too many uncontrollable sounds- cars, buses, street musicians, crowds, and fish throwing screaming men!
Needless to say, we didn't stay long. While discussing it, I observed that it might be an adults only activity. Nick thought that maybe when he gets older we could try again. Then we looked at each other and realized that age doesn't change things. Time and exposure do.
Nick and I had tossed around the idea of therapeutic listening previously and now are more interested in doing this. We want Little Bug to be able to handle everyday uncontrollable sounds- garbage trucks, fire engines, train whistles, store announcements, fire alarms, crowds, etc. without it sending him into the fetal position while covering his ears and screaming.
If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, let us know.
1 comment:
We've done therapeutic listening in the past and one of J-Man's classmates is doing it now. I think there's a lot to be said for it. Our former OT (before we graduated to the public schools) who is also trained in TL said that it seems about 50/50 whether it helps. But its effects can be startling (in a good way) if it does work.
You'd need to work with an OT who's taken the training. Technically only they can order the special CDs, though there's an underground market of them on eBay. The OT would at least need to tell you how to get started and monitor him for a couple of sessions or more to see how he reacts.
One thing you could try out in public are those ear protection headphones like people wear in factories. They're the over-the-ear kind, and you can get them at Lowe's or Home Depot or someplace like that.
If you want to see something really wild, there are these things called Walker's Game Ears. Most of the outlaw side of my family hunts, and these are ear protection for hunters. The non-digital headphones are about $30, are frankly not that comfortable, but their sound dampening capabilities are really cool. I could hear everyone talk just fine, just with about 25 decibels shaved off. Like I said, not really comfy, but highly effective. Of course, I have an enormous head, so nothing is comfy on me. It may be fine on normal people heads.
I think there's some more info about TL on our site, too. You can always ask me as well.
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