Published on 12, July, 2020
I’m a father of a 16 year old high functioning autistic girl. I’m seeking advice on how to handle a particular sensory issue that is getting out of control.
Four years ago, she developed a sensory issue towards her brother. She cannot bear hearing his voice (covers her ears with her hands) and seems to be in pain just hearing his voice. She told me he sounded like a boy in her class that she couldn’t stand his voice. ABA therapy didn’t help and now she does not talk to him for 4 years.
Two years ago, same thing happened with her teacher, then last year with her piano teacher and he had to quit. After that, it happens with me but only on certain things I ask of her, variable things and completely unpredictable. For example, I would ask her give me your phone and she just covers her ears and seemingly in pain and would react in a verbal or physical aggression if I try to talk to her at that moment.
Her neurologist does not know what this is except to say she has sensory issues among other things.
Anyone heard of similar behavior or could guide me to the right place? I live in California.
Thank you,
Hello NAS66507, you may like to have a look at the 'sensory differences' page on the NAS website: https://www.autism.org.uk/about/behaviour/sensory-world.aspx Hopefully it will help you! All the best, Karin Mod.
Sadly use of ABA therapy and other enforced masking often results in lasting trauma. My first thought is something is triggering traumas, and lowering tolerance to particular sounds/inputs. Also possible she is confused by her own emotional response, which could itself cause a form of 'sensory overload' as processing internal reactions can be as overwhelming as external inputs
Hi Rach,
Thanks for the feedback. Unfortunately, it seems to be unrelated to the pace and length of speech or conversation. I always use soft tone with her, just like her piano teacher, and other people use a harder one and it seems to make no difference as far as her reaction is concerned, which is the biggest mistery to me.
Hi, I'm not sure if this is helpful but I'm wondering if you know if it is the sound of the voices themselves or maybe if it could be the pace of speech? I have difficulty when someone speaks at a pace faster than I can understand, which is not just an inability to follow but also a physical discomfort. It's much better when people speak to me slowly, as it takes the strain off my language processing. It can be very uncomfortable to try to keep up with a faster pace and can lead to me wanting to shy away from the sound. Now that I've started asking people to speak to me slowly, it's significantly improved my relationships. Also, I wear ear plugs every day called Docs Pro Plugs and they help a lot with taking some of the strain off my sound processing too. Wishing you all the best