Behavioral problems

How do you treat/discipline a 5 yr. old with auditory dysfunction who acts out toward the "loud" person?



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Jul 07, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		Chin up!
by: Anonymous

have you read, Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight? it's a great resource. i have a son who has mild spd. but one of his big triggers, is sounds, loud ones especially. it's something we have worked on with an occupational therapist on/off for a couple years along with working on several other sensory issues. but i can tell you that from my experience, you have to go light or not at all on the discipline end if the behavior is in fact a response to sounds that set them off.

disciplining them in this way for this type of behavior sends the wrong message and can becomes especially frustrating because it's a reaction they have to learn to control. if they are just disciplined, they never learn the 'tools' they need to self regulate in these types of situations.

in our experience there is a lot of talking about emotions and behaviors, what emotions look like and feel like. what behaviors are okay and which ones are not. and it's over and over because for these kids sometimes it just takes longer because they are wired differently neurologically.

find strategies and tools to implement and help him be effective in learning to control self. ear plugs, learning to walk away if possible. my son has learned if a noise is bothering him, he can block it out by humming to himself or going to his room and putting on his headphones for a bit.

we've also worked on the very recognition that the sound is bothersome and then having him verbalize to that person that what they are doing is too loud and to please if possible use a lesser sound. we've identified sounds on a number scale (1 to 5) so that he can tell me how badly the sound is bothering him. and we have also put numbers to the level of sound that is appropriate for even him in certain places (1 to 3). (for ex- in the house and indoors and in cars, etc. we use a number one voice, normal talking level. outside we can use number 2 voice, louder voice. and number 3 is if you have an emergency etc.) anyway, so many ideas out there. might really be beneficial to seek out an ot who is knowledgeable about spd. they can be a wealth of ideas as well as a sounding board for your concerns.

so many of these kiddos exhibit behaviors that really are in fact reactions to the hyper and hype sensitives that their little bodies have. when we can help them learn to acknowledge reactions and learn effective ways of dealing with those sensitivities they become happier and healthier and we recognize they were really behavioral issues to begin with. :)

good luck!

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