There are numerous ways sounds exasperate everyone. Auditory Integration Training strengthens the hearing system improving your sound tolerance. When should you look for answers? Help is needed when sounds tolerated by others create feelings of discomfort or emotional distress like anxiety. Understanding 5 ways sound sensitivities are more exasperating for those with a diagnosis like autism, ADHD, and dyslexia challenges your assumptions. Hopefully, your response changes from one of exasperation or judgment to increased patience, acceptance, and advocacy.

Five Ways Sound Sensitivities Exasperate Autism, ADHD, & Dyslexia

What are your assumptions?

1. There Lacks a Medical Explanation; It Simply Is.

Do you believe sensitivity to sounds is common or simply part of a diagnosis like autism? An interesting book, It’s All in The Head, shares how cranial bone placement and your lower jaw alignment affects hearing. Compressed cranial skull bones can disrupt blood flow to your ears resulting in the development of sound sensitivities and tinnitus.

The authors, Dr Rosen and Dr. Watson, shared that the skull bones or the spinal bones in the neck can fail to move back into proper placement after birth, dental work, or trauma to the head. There are pediatric chiropractors and adult chiropractors who specialize in cranial skull bone placement and spinal alignment who can help restore blood flow to your ears.

When I was a child, I experienced sound sensitivity that I did not outgrow. Not until I read, It’s All in The Head, did I realize that more than ear infections contributed to my sound sensitivities. My jawbone failed to grow properly which most likely decreased blood flow to my ear.

However, it was not until I saw a SOTO Chiropractor after the removal of a tooth that I learned that my jawbone was out of place. When she put my jawbone back in alignment, I was thrilled to feel relief from the discomfort in my ear. Now, I rarely experience tinnitus and can hear much better.

Cheri Moore

In their book, Dr. Martin Rosen and Dr. Nancy Watson share a profound statement,

Common does not mean normal.

2. You Choose to Not Pay Attention.

Have you ever had something happen to your body that was out of your control? Imagine a life where you have no control over your brain’s response to sounds. For example, imagine never knowing if a sound was going to cause you physical discomfort. Or perhaps knowing that when more than one person talked everything would jumble together and completely overwhelm you. Sometimes, it is not a choice to pay attention.

Sensitivity to sounds is distracting! But more importantly, it negatively impacts the development of auditory processing skills. Research shows that individuals with ADHD have weak auditory processing skills not explained by permanent hearing loss.

3. You Will Outgrow Your Sound Sensitivity.

Depending on your personality, you either act out and have meltdowns, internalize your feelings; or a mixture of both. As you get older, you become more aware of socially appropriate behaviors. Thus, you instinctively figure out ways to protect yourself from harmful sounds, cope. I figured out how to copy by leaning on my elbow with my head supported by the hand covering my ear. Away from home, you control your feelings. Once home, it is healthy to let it out. There are many clues you or a loved one may be struggling with sound sensitivity. Do they need time alone or dump all their emotions? Sound sensitivity is not outgrown.

4. Sound Sensitivity Has No Effect on Memory.

You must instinctively process speech while ignoring competing background sound to remember what you heard. This should not be work on a conscious level. However, listening can require work. The sounds within a word can be heard mixed up, which a type of auditory dyslexia. Imagine the frustration with the additional stress from sound sensitivity. Listening becomes even more difficult. When your thoughts are busy trying to make sense of what you just heard, you stop listening to the next sentence. It is not your memory; it is your hearing.

Phonemic sounds are specifically associated with a frequency. Dr. Guy Berard explained in his book, Hearing Equals Behaviors, that auditory dyslexia causes specific phonemic sounds to be heard out of order.

5. Sound Sensitivity Means Your Hearing is Strong, Excellent.

Sound sensitivity rarely indicates excellent hearing. Sensitivity to sounds occurs when the middle ear muscles and auditory neural pathways are too weak to protect the cochlea from harmful sounds. When loud sounds push sound energy along weak auditory neural pathways, you feel discomfort. Sometimes, there is a brief painful sensation like needles. Or a more severe pain that feels like you were just stabbed with a knife.

Think of what you experience when you begin to run. If you run too far, your muscles feel sore. Your leg muscles were too weak to handle all the exercise. For the rest of the day, you avoid moving and most likely complain. The next day, just the right amount of exercise takes the soreness away. This is one reason an in-depth hearing evaluation is used to individualize your auditory integration training program. I need to make sure I provide just the right amount of exercise for your ear muscles.

Genetics and Sound Sensitivities

Everyone is born with a genetic makeup giving us strengths and weaknesses. What happens to us during and after our birth also influences our development and emotional health. When a child with autism, dyslexia, or ADHD is already struggling, sound sensitivity compounds their genetic weaknesses.

Countless genes play a role in how well you hear and process auditory information. Researchers have identified 69 genes associated with autism. Researchers found that 80% of Dyslexia is inherited, which explains why multiple family members have dyslexia. ADHD is also found in multiple family members.

Whatever your genetic makeup and experiences, everyone can train their brain to change their response to sounds.

Norman Doidge shares with us the wonderful news about the power of our brain’s ability to change, The Brain that Changes Itself. These changes occur through experiences, purposeful play, and therapy like Berard-Based Auditory Integration Training, and iLS Auditory Integration Training.

A Hearing Evaluation for Everyone

Each one of us either experiences a heightened, atypical, or an under-responsive reaction to sounds out in the environment. It all depends on the strength of our hearing system.

There are hearing tests that evaluate the strength of your hearing system that requires no response from you. I refer you to an audiologist making sure they have the equipment to complete these tests. Your Moore Auditory-Visual Questionnaire Report along with documents communicate your need for tests helping us investigate why sounds cause discomfort.

Learn How Sounds Impact Your Loved One

One of the benefits of each client completing a Moore Auditory-Visual Questionnaire is its impact on relationships. Each question opens the door of communication. You will learn the intensity of your loved one’s response to sounds. Each pre-questionnaire observation activity helps you look at your loved one’s behaviors with a new perspective.

When you stop to observe your loved one with intention, you gain a whole new understanding of their world. Our auditory and visual observation booklets are full of fun activities and purposeful play teaching you what to observe and how to observe.