Need suggestion for autistic sensitive hearing ?

Question

My 5 year-old son is midly autistic, though he is very high function, but his hearing is very sensitive. He enjoys going to movie theater with us, but the loud sound in theater makes him so miserable. I always had to cover his ears. We did not go often, only 1 or 2 so far. I would like to know if any parents outthere have this experience, and have found any thing to help, so we/our son can enjoy the theater more often.

Thanks

Answer 1

I work with an Autistic student who has been very successful using headphones to drown out loud environments. She listens to classical music.  Maybe if you use headphones with out the music in the movie theater...you son will be better able to tolerate the loud sounds.

Answer 2

You should also have his ears checked frequently for ear infections. I can tell you from experience that certain noises hurt more than normal when my ears are infected. If he does infections and/or fluid build up a lot, he may be more sensitive after it's healed. The fluid actually muffles some things a little.

Why does he have to go to the movie theater? I would suggest waiting until movies come out on DVD, buy it and make a family movie night at home.

Answer 3

Does your son have any other sensitivity to sounds?  Work small and over time.   You are doing very well with covering his ears that is how you start.  Next step is to cover his ears but in little intervals to begin letting little sound in then cover them back up.  Each time try to leave you hands off a little longer.  This will take a LOT of time and many many trips to the movies.  It will be worth it over time, just stay calm and relaxed.  I wish you the best of luck.

Answer 4

Call the theater.

Answer 5

shooters muffs. They have small sizes that fit even young children. They can still hear the movie, but it is greatly muffled (and that depends on how high of a decibal block you pay for.

We use one for our daughter and it has really allowed us to join more things in society.

Personally I'm thinking about a pair for myself as well. Movie theaters are REALLY much louder than they used to be.

Answer 6

My son has autism,and we found the supplement DMG very helpful with sound sensitivity.For him,it wasn't always loud noises that bothered him,more of a certain pitch.When the tenants that lived upstairs turned on their water faucet,there was a whistle sound, that we weren't even aware of,  until he would throw himself on the floor holding his ears,that we realized what it was.A truck backing up ,beep beeping, even blocks away would also cause him to cover his ears as if in pain.All of this went away since giving him DMG.You can read about this and other supplements on www.autism.com