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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.

Parents

  • 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.

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  • 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.

Children
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