Noises

We noticed in our very first week with LB that he seemed to have very good hearing. He didn't miss a beat and was very aware of his surroundings for someone his age. We went to our first appointment at the adoption clinic after we had been home for a week and one of the things they wanted to do was check his hearing. The audiologist came into the room and I remember telling D that this was a test I wasn't nervous about at all and knew he would pass with flying colors. After the test was over, she told us LB's hearing was great and she had no concerns. Yep, that was a no-brainer. My mom refers to LB's hearing as "super-sonic." It is a pretty accurate description. However, this also means that he is very sensitive to noise and is easily bothered by it. What's ironic is that he is quite noisy himself. I do think LB has made major improvements in dealing with his noise sensitivities so I thought I would share some of what has worked for us in case there are others out there working through similar issues. I am also open to suggestions others might have!

We have noticed that when LB is familiar with a noise then he is less bothered by it. He likes to see where the noise is coming from and know what it is. The coffee bean grinder is something that used to make LB cry. I would take him upstairs or outside when D ground coffee. Eventually we started showing him the grinder and I would make a funny noise that was similar to the grinding sound. These days he isn't afraid of it and doesn't cry but still likes to watch D as he is using it. LB will also make the funny noise when he sees the grinder. D will smile or make silly faces while the machine is on and that helps too. We do the same thing with the blender and the disposal for the sink. Those are all noises that used to upset him and now that he is familiar and has his funny noise to make for them he is okay with it.

Sirens have always been scary for LB as well. Part of me wonders if he sensed the distress in the noise sirens make. There were a few times when it was just the two of us driving somewhere and an ambulance would go by and LB would just sob in the back seat. I felt terribly because there was little I could do from the front seat besides try to talk in a calming voice and reach one hand to the backseat to try and touch him. We have some books with pictures of fire trucks and ambulances so every time we read those books I point to the picture and make the siren noise. I would also tell him "that's a fire truck" or "that's an ambulance" so he would learn the word so I could use it when it actually happened. We heard one in the car about a month ago and I told him what it was and reached my hand towards his car seat. He just grabbed my hand and held it tight but didn't cry. I took that as a sign of progress. We did make the big mistake of taking him to a Memorial Day parade and he did well at first and loved the marching bands. But towards the end there were police cars with sirens and other cars with loud horns and D had to walk him away and calm him down. Please do not ask why we chose to take our noise sensitive child to a parade. I am not sure what we were thinking or if we were even thinking at all.

A book that has been great to help explain noises in a funny way is the Dr Seuss book, "Mr. Brown Can Moo." In the book Mr. Brown makes all sorts of popping, knocking and booming noises. We have used that book to describe rain and thunder and LB doesn't seem bothered by either. I had planned to use that book around the 4th of July in case he woke up and was scared by fireworks but thankfully he slept through all of it!

We are still working on the sounds that other kids make. He is especially bothered when younger kids scream or cry. He loves older kids and isn't afraid of their shrieking noises but baby cries and screams always make LB scream. I will admit that I had some days when I thought we were never going to be able to take him anywhere and that this sensitivity was going to be very debilitating. Clearly, I was letting my imagination get the best of me and was jumping to a worst case scenario. Why I always do this is a mystery. Maybe someday I will learn this lesson. Probably not, though. This past weekend we took LB to a family reunion for D's side of the family and there was loud music and lots of people and it was definitely noisy. But LB did great and seemingly enjoyed himself. He didn't meltdown that night from all the stimulation either. I have taken him to the library recently when the room was super crowded and I thought for sure LB would hate it. But he didn't. So he is making improvements and I am hopeful that as his language skills improve we can continue to explain noises and make them less scary.