CHAPTER 8

Sound

 

Sound can make us tear up with its beauty and alarm us with its might. As with the other senses, children can crave it, avoid it or be oblivious to its presence in the environment. This chapter contains strategies and activities to help desensitize a child to sound as well as fun activities to immerse a child in it.

Sound Desensitization

Sound sensitivity is a hearing system dysfunction in which normal sounds and sound volumes are magnified and can cause discomfort. A child with sound sensitivity may develop an aversion to certain sounds, noises and voice registrations of normal volume, as well as to loud sounds. The observable symptoms of sound sensitivity vary. Some children wince with discomfort, others block their ears and still others act out with negative behaviors. Some can associate noises with discomfort and automate a negative response, through various learned behaviors.

Sound sensitivity is not currently repairable, and we do not currently have hearing products to decrease sensitive hearing other than blocking the ears with ear plugs or ear muffs. However, hearing aid technology has made great gains and perhaps in the near future there will be hearing devices that reduce the sounds that enter the ear.

Other problems such as temporary ear infections and tinnitus can also cause pain and an adverse reaction to certain sounds. Ear infections can be medically treated. However, there is little treatment for tinnitus other than to teach the child to relax and not focus on the offending sounds.

Before presenting the sound desensitization activities, we revisit some sound desensitization strategies from my previous book, Self-Regulation Interventions and Strategies:

• Decrease the noise in the child’s environments so that her auditory processing, fear centers and emotional systems are not working so hard. Place rugs and mats on the floor and pictures and wall coverings on the walls to dampen sound. In a classroom setting, consider installing sound reduction tiles on classroom walls to help dampen sound. A preliminary study showed some effect (Kinnealy, 2012).

• Let the child use ear plugs and ear muffs in noisy environments like the school cafeteria.

• Give the child an alternate setting for situations that are too difficult (the cafeteria, music or gym class, and so on).

• Solve specific sound problems. For example, try to block noise outside the environment with calm music, or use a white noise machine to cover the sounds.

• Train the ear to accept particularly difficult sounds by recording the sounds and playing them back at a reduced volume throughout the day – with the child in control of the volume. (This technique comes from Temple Grandin.)

Sound Activity 1

De-Coupling Sound Sensitivity and Learned Behaviors

There are times when a child with sound sensitivities gets “stuck” on certain sounds or noises (his sister chewing with her mouth open, his neighbor’s dog barking, or a classmate giggling). The sound has bothered him in the past and he has developed a hair-trigger response when he hears it. When he hears those sounds, he might react with anger and tell the perpetrator to “shut up.” Another child would tune out those sounds, but this child’s brain is on the alert for them and ready with an inappropriate response.

An adult with these issues could break through them by practicing a combination of mindfulness and loving kindness, a technique that teaches empathy and compassion. Here is a scaled down version of those practices to help children with sensitivities combat both the feeling of irritation and the learned reaction of rage. Our example works with the sound of a child’s sister chewing with her mouth open.

Materials: Sound recorder such as the voice memo function of a cell phone or tablet; paper; colored pens or pencils.

Instructions: This activity is performed over several sessions. Try to do it daily for a week, and then continue as needed thereafter. You can elect to work with one issue (e.g. the sound of chewing) or with multiple sounds and situations within a single setting.

1. Record the child’s sister chewing with her mouth open. Set it aside.

2. Sessions 1-3:

a. In a quiet room, have the child sit with his eyes looking downward (lightly closed) and feel the sensation of his breath as it moves in and out. Do this for seven minutes, occasionally reminding him to pay attention to his breath.

b. Put out the paper and pens and ask the child to list three good things about his sister. Next, list three things that she struggles with such as breathing with her mouth closed, learning her spelling words, or making friends. Finally, list three nice things she has done for him.

c. Draw a picture of his sister looking happy, doing something nice for him or doing something she enjoys.

d. Write a sentence wishing for something good to happen to her, such as, “I hope you always have a lot of friends.”

3. Session 4:

a. Perform a shortened version of step two: watch the breathing for five minutes, list three good things about his sister, and then imagine her looking happy.

b. Tell him that he will be attending to his breath again, but this time, you will occasionally play a recording of his sister’s chewing with the volume turned low.

c. Have him sit mindfully again for five minutes.

i. After 30 seconds of his quiet breathing, tell him to wish for something nice for his sister and then to return to quiet breathing.

ii. Play the recording for 10 seconds, first telling him that if he feels anger, just replace it with a kind wish for his sister.

iii. Repeat this 10-second exercise two or three more times.

4. During subsequent sessions, increase the duration and the volume of the sound until it reaches its original volume.

Sound Activity 2

Listening Therapy with Bone Conduction

Listening therapy is a long-term program in which children (and adults) listen to specially enhanced music. The goal is to help reduce behaviors due to sound sensitivity. While there are no large studies that show the effectiveness of these products, there are thousands of individual case studies written by therapists showing that they help reduce unwanted behaviors. It appears that the technology works for some children and not others. Unfortunately, we do not yet know how to screen for children who would benefit from this type of program. A good strategy is to do a trial program for a few weeks prior to the family investing in the cost of the equipment.

Listening programs come both with and without a feature called bone conduction. Bone conduction, which provides sounds through vibration (on the skull) as well as sounds through headphones is thought to be a stronger treatment. There are several products on the market: Therapeutic Listening, The Listening Program; iLs (Integrated Listening Systems); and Samonas. Additional programs such as Berard Auditory Integration Training are offered by developmental audiologists. Most programs require 30-60 minutes per day of passive listening to classical music for a period of two or more months.

Sound Immersion

The activities presented in this section on sound immersion cover two distinct sets of needs. First are activities for children who get pleasure from music, sound rhythms and singing. This might be a child with sound sensitivities, or a child who craves sound.

Second are activities for children who struggle to make sense of what they hear. This may be a child with autism, or a child with poor sound sensitivity, or a child who has difficulty processing sounds. For the most part, the activities described here are useful for both sets of situations.

We can immerse children with autism in words, rhymes, picture books and non-verbal gestures as a way of introducing vocabulary, usage and sentence structure. The non-verbal child will make use of the activities below to gain reading and writing skills and, perhaps one day, speaking skills. He can utilize simple words and gestures to express his needs, wants and desires and to be heard. These activities give him a sense of control, without which he might become powerless or take control through act-out behaviors.

Sound Activity 3

Reading Aloud

Children develop vocabulary and learn about the world through reading books and being read to by caregivers. Reading aloud is one of the most important activities parents and educators can do with a young child. A list of books for children with delayed speech and autism is in the Appendix.

Develop vocabulary

Some books are better than others for developing vocabulary—both nouns, verbs, phrasing, as well as for the acquisition of facts. Picture books of objects such as animals and fruit can help to build the initial vocabulary a child with autism needs.

Developing thinking skills

Stories that ask questions on one page (“Is that a walrus?”) and give the answer on the next (“No, it’s an elephant!”) provide an opportunity for the child to think and reply.

Teaching verbs

Verbs are harder to learn than nouns. They are less concrete and there are tenses to learn—past, present and future, as well as conjugations. Learning verbs and how to use them correctly is cumbersome for any child—and much more so for children with special needs. Here are two activities to help the struggling child:

Using gestures: We can teach children simple verbs with the aid of gestures. Here are straightforward examples.

• Walk – two fingers “walking” on a table.

• Run – fingers “walk” faster.

• Eat – bring an imaginary fork to mouth.

Reading books: Reading books can, with time, imprint verb endings into the child’s mind. Two books that help with early verbs are Richard Lederer’s, “I Can Play That” and Joy Cowley’s, “Meanies.” Reading lots of books out loud to the child and asking simple (or complicated) questions are the best ways to develop phrases with verbs.

Develop verbal rhythm

Phrases that repeat within the story help the child practice word groups. Word rhythm and rhyme help with vocabulary and phrase memorization, and can add to humor. Two popular examples of books with rhyming, repetitive phrases are Audrey Wood’s, The Napping Book and Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss.

Here is a familiar example of rhyming, repetitive phrases from the 1700s.

As I was walking to St. Ives
I met a man with seven wives.
Each wife had seven sacks.
Each sack had seven cats.
Each cat had seven kits.
Kits, cats, sacks, wives, how many were going to St. Ives?

(You will remember that the answer is one. Just “I” am going to St. Ives; the man and his wives were not going anywhere.)

Sound Activity 4

Gestures

Learning gestures and signs can be an important step in developing verbal language skills in children with autism and other special needs. Studies show that communication skills are significantly improved when parents incorporate gestures into their verbal communication. Both formal signing such as ASL (American Sign Language) and informal made-up gestures work.

Using gestures

Make every sentence an opportunity to combine speech and gestures when talking to a non-verbal child.

What was said: “C’mon, Rajiv! Let’s walk to the playground.”

Gestures for each verb:

1. The beckoning arm swing for “come;”

2. Walking fingers for walk;

3. Arms moving as if to climb a ladder, or a hand that imitates sliding by first moving up and then “whooshing” down, accompanied by a verbal “whoosh.”

Sound Activity 5

Record Sound Effects

Recording sounds using an electronic device is a fun way for a child to spend hours of time. Use this activity with a child who craves noise and sound, as well as with a child who doesn’t attend to sound.

Materials: A phone, tablet or music device with a voice recording app. You want one that can save the sounds by whatever name you provide.

Instructions:

1. Record a sound and save it.

2. Play it back and check that it is good.

3. Name the sound on your device so that you can find it again.
Below are some fun sounds to record. Also record fake sound effects with your mouth (screeching tires, whistling wind, a baby crying, and so on). You can use the sounds later as the sound effects for stories (see the activity below).

a. Closing a door

b. Opening the fridge

c. Running water

d. Saying your name

e. Walking noisily

f. Snapping fingers

g. “Hi {your name}”

h. Chewing crunchy food (apple, celery, carrot, chips) with mouth open

i. Chewing crunchy food with mouth closed (place microphone near mouth)

j. TV in the background

k. Music in the background

l. Doorbell

m. Knocking on the door

n. Clapping hands (like applause)

o. Buzzing like a bee

p. Mouth noises

q. Sounds at the dinner table

r. Traffic in the background

s. Pouring milk, water, or soda into a glass

t. Yelling: “Get up, (your name)!”

u. “Oh-h, no-o”

Use the Voice Memo or Audio Notes app on a cellphone to record sound effects. Name them so that you quickly find them to use in a story.

Sound Activity 6

Make a Story with Sound Effects

Use the sound effects from the previous activity as part of a story. Here is a sample story to get you started. Materials: Recorded sound effects from previous activity.

Instructions:

1. Write a story that includes sound effects. (Start with the one below.)

2. Read the story and play back the recorded sounds to make the sound effects.

My Morning

I was sound asleep [snore] when my brother walked into the room [walking] and yelled, “Get up, [your name].”

I woke up [yawning] and got out of bed [creaking].

I took a shower [water], brushed my teeth and used mouth wash [gurgle].

Mom had cereal on the table. I poured milk in the bowl [splash], then ate crunchy cereal [CHOMP-CHOMP].

“Hey don’t chew so loud!” my brother said. “Okay,” I replied. I closed my mouth and chewed. [chomp-chomp].

I rinsed my bowl [splashing] and set it down [clink].

Julian came over. [“Hey, Joe!”]

We went outside [creaking, slamming] and played our favorite game: who can make the silliest rhyme (“slime!!!”).

Julian said, “Ogre, booger.”

“That doesn’t rhyme,” I said. “Let me try. Rest, pest.”

“Rest, pest!” Julian said. “That’s lame. Here’s one, ‘wiper’ ‘diaper’.”

“You win!”

Sound Activity 7

The Silliest Rhyme

Here’s a fun game for children who love to talk. This can be played with two or more children.

Materials: Optional: a children’s dictionary as an aid in thinking of words.

Instructions:

1. Each child is asked to think up a silly rhyme. You can preselect the words or have the children think them up. Vote on which is silliest. Here is a starter set: Crow, tree, dog, tub, fun, brick, and page.

2. Have the children make sentences or two-sentence poems with their silly words.

Sound Activity 8

Make Silly Songs

Add rhythms to rhymes in this fun game.

1. Think of rhyming words: pie, sky, spy, cry, eye, why, sigh.

2. Create some silly sentences: The pie fell from the sky.

It hit the spy in the eye.

3. Put rhythm to the rhyming words and keep going until you have a silly poem.

 

The apple pie fell out of the sky,
It hit the spy right in the eye.
Said the spy, “Please tell me why
An apple pie could land in my eye.”
I heard him sigh, I heard him cry,
But no one ever told him why.
Why not lemon, why not rye?
Why a falling apple pie?
You think I joke, you think I lie.
But don’t look up! Don’t even try!
I tell you, don’t look in the sky!
A falling pie might land in your eye.

4. Sing it to a simple tune.

Music

Nothing can compete with music as an immersion activity. Immerse a child in the types of music he likes, and teach him, through exposure, to like new types of music. Immerse him in singing, dancing and listening. And consider teaching him an instrument.

Sound Activity 9

Make or Obtain Simple Instruments

Make or find simple instruments to play while singing or listening to favorite tunes.

1. Homemade drums and sticks

2. Kazoo, comb and waxed paper, spoons

3. Chimes, gongs, bells

Also, clap and stamp to the beat of music.

To make a program:

1. Set up a daily or weekly schedule

2. Plan activities

3. Plan how you will increase the challenge

4. Stick to the plan