Auditory sensitivity

I have a child who is easily distracted, while we are in the classroom, by the semis on the highway or the trash truck in the street or airplanes way over head or the vacuum being ran in the other room. He covers his ears when he hears thunder. But the soft voices and sounds he ignores. Is this normal for a three year old?



Comments for Auditory sensitivity

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May 15, 2013
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by: Anonymous

Our son had several ear infections as a toddler. Antiobiotics were as common as cereal in our house. Ear infections progressively got worse. His behavior was very erratic, hyperactice, beligerent, offensive, combative, and getting him to go tobed was a nightmare. When he was five, my pediatrician told me to go home, that "some people are born to be miserable. Your son is one of them". Went directly to a Family Practice MD and sat there until he was able to see me. Looked at my son, put a flashlight in my son's mouth, turned off the lights. VOila - impacted sinuses. Took six months to clear. THEN we had auditory issues. He could hear the grass grow. Went to speech therapy for one year, twice a week. Learned to screen out the background noise. He grew into a happy child, happy teenager, happy productive adult - he is an OB/GYN. DO NOT let people try to convince you that a child with this behavior is ADHD (as we were told). THey just want to medicate them into compliance so that THEIR life is easier. It is not easy, but it is worth it. Good luck to all.
Jul 03, 2011
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by: Anonymous

My son did that in pre-k as well. He was in special ed speech therapy. the concern was he would withdraw with too much noise and distracted easily with anything from a door creaking to an air conditioning. everything as far as auditory seems to bother him. When he was younger at birthday parties he would even cover his ears when everyone sang. He get unnerved by vacuums as well. Anyways we had him diagnosed and he did indeed have sensory processing disorder, although they called it something else. I also have a good friend who has her Masters in Speech and has explained his sensory issues since he was one. As baby he was easily overstimulated and still is at 5 years old. He also had other diagnoses. We just enrolled him in an awesome school which focuses a lot on sensory processing. Oh and he was tested for ADD/ADHD but he doesn't have the impulsive traits. Just major distracted by noise or visual. It would be awesome if you could find a OT or some other specialist who could help. This will be his first year at this school and I know he will thrive unlike pre-K because of teachers lack of understand even though I repeated his problem numerous times. With this problem the kiddos really need individualized teaching or small groups with the least amount of distraction, plus therapy to cope with sensory issues. Best of luck!

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