• Replies 5 replies
  • Subscribers 69 subscribers
  • Views 1150 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

Can my child be exempt from music lessons?

NAS91683

My daughter is autistic and has significant hyposensitivity to noise. She is now in year 7 and find music lessons very hard. She is an expert masker but comes home following music and dance

highly dysregulated. Yesterday, she came home and punched a single pane glass window in our house because she just didn't know how to channel her frsutration. She won't wear ear defenders/earbuds as she feels self conscious. I have requested that she can go to the school library at this time as an alternative but school are saying that she needs to access all curriculum subjects and that they do not have the capacity to supervise her for alternative arrangements. I am in the process of applying for her EHCP with support of my friend who is a qualified SENDCo. Her needs are complex and at her primary school she had 1:1 support for 70% of the timetable. I am at a loss as to what to do to help her. Has anyone had any similar experiences and can offer guidance? 

Many thanks 

  • Poor thing. This seems unacceptable. I recall doing theatre in high school (in tech as well before lighting was LED) and specifically thinking I never wanted to work in sound. Long story short: I now work in sound.

    Before I go further, I'd suggest to book a hearing test with your GP, so you have physical proof of how acute her hearing is. This is something sound technicians do for insurance and legal reasons. 

    I discovered that most schools won't have properly treated and acoustically-tuned rooms, and often badly designed speakers, systems, harsh frequencies bouncing in painful ways due to construction materials even. This combination can properly damage hearing at a young age. Especially, as Autistics and ADHD kids do not dull our senses like our peers. 

    While learning to play music on an acoustic instrument is incredibly good for intellect and can be far more soothing in the right environment, sound is weaponised, and been used in warfare and - though this won't be happening at school - is well known to kill humans at particularly low frequencies. Sometimes, you can reason with what would be kind to a dog, since this child's hearing is closer to that of a collie. 

    Immanuel Kant wrote in one of his critiques on Sensory experience and aesthetic, ranking sound as the lowest aesthetic simply on the basis that one cannot just escape it if need be. Sound carries and penetrates through forests and walls. It is invasive. Not everyone pauses to think of the "darker side" of music.

    Short of hiring an independent music teacher to take her elsewhere to learn an instrument during these classes, it may be worth-while to exhaust the internet looking for ear defenders or plugs she will wear.  If she can learn to put cheap foamy ones in even, they can be helpful. Another idea is to speak with the music instructor. If they understand a little bit about acoustics, perhaps there's a spot in the room which is easier to sit and observe from. This would be a matter of walking around the room and finding a safe spot to sit.

    Even though I have amazing hearing, I also have tinnitus; permanent ringing for life. 

    As for frustration, can she go for a run? jumprope? Or something else to redirect the built up frustration? It's not immediate but it's good to start learning that we are impacted intensely due to less internal filtering as signals to our sense perception are always incoming. Far more intensely than those who are not Autistic or ADHD. As I got older I've learned a low dose of anti-anxiety medication in a pinch (never daily) is a valuable resource and appears to match the medical reports for its specific use (lower GABA). 

  • Well if she needs to access music there is plenty of music theory stuff she can do in her own room that's not in a really noisy room. I understand that that may not be what they're going for, but it's also a completely reasonable way of accessing music. It wouldn't even be that much work as there are many music theory workbooks out there that someone can just work through independently.  

    I understand that the library may not be possible, but a lot of schools have a SEN room which is usually staffed for students that need to leave class suddenly. Or she could sit at the back of another classroom. Or if your school does isolation it can sometimes also be a good place if it's kept well under control. There are lots of supervised rooms in the school, she doesn't necessarily need to be in the one on her timetable. 

    I'd say that this is a very reasonable request. And that the school has an interest in accommodating, because however good a masker she is, she's going to boil over in music eventually if it's this high stress.

  • Speak to your local council sendlo if you’re having issues, once she has official ehcp the school will receive the funding for 70% of her tt which you said was advised meaning she will just be with employed 1 2 1 ta for that lesson

  • Yes she can, speak to sen dept, she would probably have to attend in school alternative room and complete other work in there during lesson