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Coping with noise levels at school

Taliesin

I am new to the forum and hoped that others could give me advice. My child struggles in school because she finds it difficult to concentrate if there is noise - she gets very stressed and, being a passive autistic type, releases the stress when she gets home! School have given her a card to allow her to leave lessons when she is getting overwhelmed, but she is not using it. Are there any other strategies people have found useful to help with coping with noise in school/helping teachers to understand that child is getting stressed and needs help? She is not very good at talking to teachers as she is very anxious about getting into trouble (even though she never does). She says it's easier to say everything is fine even though it isn't.

I am really struggling to get school to understand the difficulties she is having because she is doing well academically and doesn't disrupt at school. She does have an organised time slot each week to talk to a support worker but keeps missing it because it falls half-way through a lesson so she forgets to go. They don't remind her or send for her if she misses it so the stress levels have been increasing.

Can anyone give me advice on strategies they have found helpful?

Many thanks.

  • I think you might need to push them to make them realise how important it is that your daughter has her time with her support person and can leave the classroom whenever she needs too.  I was trying to fight for similar things for my daughter but the school didn't listen.  She hasn't been now since November and its all a bit of a shambles.  Keep on at them, ask if the support can be at the begining of a lesson so she doesn't have to leave and maybe have some time out of the classroom once or twice during the day?

  • Thank you all for your comments. My child is 12 years old and, yes, her noise issues accumulate across all environments in school so by the time she gets home she has a very bad headache and just has to be left alone for at least an hour - and then the poor soul has to do her homework.

    I'm pleased to say the other children are pretty good with her and she has a few good friends that accept her for who she is and don't get upset when she walks away to join a different group or to be on her own. She has had issues in the past with other children, but not now I'm glad to say. Long may it continue!

    Thanks you for your comments - I shall see if I can get a copy of the book and it is very nice to know that others are having similar experiences - I shall certainly chat to school again when the new term starts. They are trying to a degree, I think, but I think their attention is directed more to the disruptive children who are causing problems. I consider it an improvement that they accept her diagnosis - hasn't always been the case in her school career.

  • It must be very difficult to use the card in front of peers - it draws attention to the disability, and may give rise to teasing and bullying out of sight of teachers.

    Do other children take advantage of her noise sensitivity by making sudden noises near her to get a reaction?

    Also how does your child cope with the noise levels when the teacher is not in the room? That could considerably contribute to the stress.

    What about noise in corridors, cloakrooms, gym changing rooms, canteen, playground etc. Is there a cumulative factor influencing what happens in class?

    Ordinary level classroom noise may not be the only element she is struggling with, but you may not necessarily find out about this.

    The only book I'm aware of that touches on this is Clare Sainsbury's "Martian in the Playground" (Lucky Duck Publishing 2000 ISBN 1 873 942 08 7). This has chapters on the classroom, playground and lunch queue environments. It is still a very valuable insight into life in the school jungle for kids on the spectrum, and ought to be compulsory reading for SEN teachers.

  • It seems very unsuportive of the school to not be helping her make the appointments with the support worker. Why doesn't the support worker go and meet her at the lesson she's in? They don't sound like they are being genuinely understanding of her needs.

    BTW - How old is she? My neice started secondary school last year and it's a similar story re: school think everything is fine because academically she's doing well and isn't disruptive but my sister is having a nightmare trying to look after her after school when she meltsdown! I feel really bad for my neice - I see myself in her but  think she has it much worse than me.

  • My son also struggled with the card system when he was stressed and struggled to engage the tutors attention.  In the end we scraped it all and just told the tutors not to intervene if he got up suddenly and walked out.  Basically the tutors were told to leave him alone.  This works relatively well as everyone has got used to it, and now he knows he can leave a lesson without question, his stress levels have reduced.

    're her weekly meetings.  Can you ask school if she can have a phone set to vibrate and you input the appointments for her.  

    I have found that you have to be very proactive in helping your child at school.  The consensus seems to be to give the child responsibility for their appointments, ext,  However due to poor executive function, asc children struggle with this.

    Hope this helps.

  • The school should have provided her with ear defenders at the very least.  They should also be proactive in asking her whether she needs a break.  She is autistic, they can't expect her to always speak up.  Girls on the spectrum are often passive and many autistic people have trouble speaking up or asking for help.