Expert: Trey McGowan - 1/21/2008

Question
QUESTION: Hi Trey.  

I was wondering if you yourself experienced hypersensitive or hyperacute hearing, or would know about this.  I have a 5 year old son who was diagnosed when he was 3 with autism.  Right now he is considered high functioning.  However during Christmas as we were looking at old pictures we found out that he started covering his ears at the age of 2 1/2.  We remember that he did it quite often during his early years but not as often as now.  

He once cried for no reason when the dogs (3 at that time) simultaneously barked. He would freak out in parties and would want to go out of the venue when the sounds started before he'd stop crying.  He seems so distracted by lights, especially when they are just turned on, both in the house and in school. He covers his ears when the tv goes to a channel with static, and he will freak out and yell "no" when we turn on the electronic bug swatter (shape of a tennis racket used to catch insects).  This new year, when he heard the sound of firecrackers, he ran to his room, turned on the radio and alarm clock, and put his ears next to it everytime the firecrackers would go off in the background.  

I needed to ask you this because recently I have been reading through the internet stuff about Auditory Integration Training and how people in the spectrum suffer from this hypersensitivity.  It seems that my son is not alone and that hypersensitivity to hearing is not unheard of.  However since I am from the Philippines, where support and info is nowhere to be found, I cannot verify this with someone who has knowledge about this.  This is the first time I stumbled upon the allexperts page and the first time I will be able to ask someone, across thousands of miles, who may know more than anyone in the Philippines about this condition.  I hope you can help me or direct me to someone who can.

Sincerely,

Mike

PS.  He doesn't cover his ears as often as before anymore.  Could this be a sign he's outgrowing it or just coping with it?

ANSWER: Hi there, Mike!

In a short answer to your question, OH GOD YES!

... ahem.

In a longer, more professional answer, yes. I have definitely experienced the issue of hypersensitive hearing. Or perhaps the better way to put this would be selectively hypersensitive. While yes, I am very sensitive in general to sound, I am particularly driven up the wall by specific sounds. Sudden, loud sounds terrify me, and I will cringe like a gun-shy dog, and you will find that this is a *VERY* common problem with many autistics. Thunder, firecrackers, gunshots, certain television sound effects, popping balloons... all of them can be terrifying, even in a high-functioning individual. Barking dogs, particularly certain breeds, will have this effect as well.

You mention the not covering ears as much. Indeed, it's a bit of a case of both. As we get older ('we' in the general 'humanity' sense), the hearing tends to lose some of its acuity. He will probably always be hypersensitive, but as he's grown up, his ears have adapted somewhat to it. No doubt, he still doesn't like them, though. This is probably something that will stick with him his entire life, so don't be surprised if he still does cover his ears even fifty years from now.

As well, there is commonly an issue of 'filtering'. What this means is that if any sound is going on in my area at all, I can't filter out what bits are important from what isn't. The average person can pick out a conversation in a room of other noises and be able to follow it, as long as the noises aren't overwhelming the other person's voice. I, myself, and many other autistics, have difficulty with telling which sounds need to be filtered. Because of this, there is often the issue of seeming hard of hearing, even when they are very obviously more sensitive than others. Or at least to some things.

Auditory Integration Training, in most cases, can be very helpful. It does pretty much just the above: it gets people used to the sounds they will go through, and while it doesn't take away the sensitivity toward them, it will often remove the worst effects of it. Think of it sort of like 'phobia treatment' for the hearing. If your son is definitely not covering his ears as much, I would think that he is a good candidate for it, if you have one in your area.

And speaking of 'in your area', I'm not sure if you have found a local support group, but here's a couple local ones I've been able to find. They may be able to be of some more direct help with the situation and questions therein:

Autism Society Philippines
47 Kamias Road
1102 Quezon City
PHILIPPINES
tel: +63 (2) 926 6941
fax: +63 (2) 926 6941
e-mail: info@autismphils.org
url: http://home.pacific.net.ph/~autism-phils

Center for Autism and Related Disorders
A898 Palace Road. , BF Homes
Las Piñas City
PHILIPPINES
tel: (63-2)-820-8719
fax: (63-2)-825-0058

If you've got any more questions, comments, feedback, or whatever else you care to add in, feel free; my door's open and my mailbox is available!

Trey

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Trey!

Thanks for the answer.  It was very informative and straight to the point.  You have put a lot of the questions I was just meaning to ask into rest.

My follow up question is: is it possible that his selective hypersensitivity is the reason for his short span of attention?  When he's using the computer or playing with a cellphone, he keeps tinkering with all available functions until he is asked to let go. However, his attention span towards paying attention in school (i.e. sitting down on the chair, listening to the teacher, or even following instructions) is very poor.

He would often be looking around the class, yet answer any question the teacher would ask. Even at home (its rather quiet), he doesn't look at me when I ask questions.  Almost always, He would have to be prompted to look.  He would ignore me if I didn't call him loudly around 2 or 3 times.  It's almost like he didn't hear me call him. He'll look at you after a few seconds of calling  but the eye contact is  fleeting.  But like if he hears his sister crying in the next room, he hears it instantly and runs to check on the baby.   

 It seems baffling at times for me to think he tuned out the world (acting deaf)when he starts hearing something he hates, yet, as i pointed out, he can answer any question given by the teacher (whilst appearing unattentive).  It just seems to defy logic ... to tune out yet still being able to know.

 Is this how hypersensitivity works?

Thanks again for your time,

Mike




ANSWER: Hi again, Mike!

What you're describing may be attributed to the 'selective sensitivity', yes, but more likely it is attributed to what is generally considered 'selective attention span'. Autistics have a habit of getting fixations, obsessions, or whatever you want to call them. Sometimes these change, sometimes they stay through life, but the important thing is that these things are very, very important to them.

Another thing that most autistics have is very little 'theory of mind'. What this means is that they don't necessarily consider the fact that others have different thoughts than they do about things. This is often attributed to selfishness in these children, though much of the time, it's a genuine lack of recognition that what you are thinking is not what they are thinking, and vice versa.

Putting these two things together, you can see how people's calling gets ignored. It's generally for one of two reasons: the child is fixated on something to the point where he doesn't even hear or recognize it, or the child simply thinks that because he knows he heard it, you know he heard it. And because he thinks it's more important to do whatever, you will as well.

With the teacher, it's the same thing. *He* knows he knows the answer, so the teacher would as well. He may not find it easy to speak up and say something for that reason, or see a need to pay attention because it is obvious, in his mind, what is going on. I'm not sure if any of that made much sense, but unfortunately, when it's all written down on paper... er, text file... it's difficult to really describe the lack of 'theory of mind' other than by giving the rambling examples like that.

I am not saying that this isn't something that should be worked on in life, of course. After all, can you imagine people going through life without the ability to understand these things? It is a learned reaction for autistics, however, to basically sit back and think 'Now, what would this person be thinking?' rather than the simple implication that many people can dredge up. In this, it is something that many learn throughout their lives, and another reason that Intervention can be a very big help.

Hopefully that made a little more sense as to the situation in the school, and some recognition of why he's inattentive a lot of the time! If not, I'll see if I can't describe a little better with some thought (and less painkiller).

Trey

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi again!

Your point is well taken!  However, I need to ask something again from you.  You posted this as your first paragraph "What you're describing may be attributed to the 'selective sensitivity', yes, but more likely it is attributed to what is generally considered 'selective attention span'. Autistics have a habit of getting fixations, obsessions, or whatever you want to call them. Sometimes these change, sometimes they stay through life, but the important thing is that these things are very, very important to them."

Based on the premise of you saying that their fixations are very very important to them, my question is:  Should we be correcting my son whenever he is fixated on something?  For a time he was fixated with playing light switches.  We decided to discipline him while his shadow teacher thought otherwise and told us to let him keep playing on it till he gets bored.  He was also once fixated with small mirrors (he already outgrew this .. the shadow teacher just let him play with it endlessly).  So should we or should we not let him focus of his fixations at all?

Thanks again!

Mike

Answer
Hi, Mike!

While I hate to do an 'it depends', I end up doing a lot of them anyway. And here is another one: it depends. Fortunately, I can at least explain *what* it depends on, for me.

Many fixations are, indeed, outgrown. They will find something else to fixate on and they will move on from there. Sometimes, it will follow a pattern (from train tracks, to trains, to being a conductor, for example), while other times it will simply be something that catches their attention and will later fade. Because of this, a lot of the time, they *will* be outgrown once he grows bored. Of course, 'a lot of the time' is not 'all of the time', so if what he is doing is causing issues, you will *need* to step in whether you were planning to or not.  

If the fixation is something that can be done in a safe place, and the child is at least recognizing that there *are* other things outside the fixation, I'm all for letting them have it. It is a comfortable thing for children to have their 'calming' moments. However, try using it as a reward: if he is able to get a little of this or a little of that *outside* his fixation done, then he can have some time with his fixation.

If, however, they are utterly focused on the fixation, and you can't seem to even draw their attention away for a moment, or if it is something that could be dangerous to the child, I suggest trying to pry them away from it (particularly if it's dangerous, obviously!). Discipline is usually a good way to do it: be on the look out for when they're using the fixation and try steering them toward something you're more comfortable with.

In the case of the light switches, I suggest one of two things: either curbing him completely, or teaching him that there is only one place (or two, or three, but a small number) where he is allowed to do it. The reason I say this is that you don't want him to be coming through a store with you, see the switches on the wall, and start playing with them. Generally store managers aren't too happy with this sort of thing!

Longer than a simple 'Yes you should' or 'no you shouldn't', I know, but hopefully helpful nonetheless! Good luck with your boy; he sounds like a wonderful character!

Trey