Published on 12, July, 2020
My teenage daughter is awaiting diagnosis of ASD due to a number of different issues.
But one of the problems she has is that she can hear any tiny noise, even noises other people cannot hear, and hates bright light.
The noise issue is the hardest one to help her with as it is small noises that she can hear, so I try to be as quiet as I can and not rattle things or make unneccessary noises, but sometimes small sounds just can't be avoided, like my joints cracking or the sound of a page turning, or a pen on paper. It's impossible to be totally silent.
She does play music or watch tv quite loudly and even likes subtitles on so as not to miss a thing.
She goes to senior school and has to deal with the noises there which she does find overwhelming and so comes home tired and irritable.
I do understand that hearing these noises causes her distress and I wondered how other people who have such sensitive hearing are dealing with this?
hi Stonechat
Thank you for your reply.
The sounds that bother her most are the sounds she describes as 'sharp' sounds and says they are painful to her ears, so I do my best not to make that sort of noise but sometimes it can't be avoided as it can happen accidentally. Noises like my joints cracking, kettle boiling in the kitchen, rustling sounds, and she can hear very high pitched sounds that can't usually be heard too, which are possibly from something electrical in the house that I can't hear.
I suppose the situation at home makes it difficult for her to wear earplugs as they are randomly occuring noises. She has tried ear plugs at times but said she could still hear the high pitched noises, but it might have been the type she tried.
When she does suddenly get annoyed by a noise she can react quite angrily.
When we have to go on the bus, she now plays music from her phone which helps so she doesn't get bothered by bus noises as much.
I have read too that wearing ear plugs all the time would make things worse as a person then feels more sensitive when they don't.
I heard the same with the light sensitivity too, and I have read that it is suggested to wear sunglasses only when neccessary otherwise the person becomes more sensitive to light at the times when they don't wear them. In fact she is trying to just wear a hat to shade her eyes now. In the house she likes the curtains shut.
Thank you.