Autism The Inclusive Classroom Article

Auditory Stimulation in Autistic Children

Many sounds surround us each day. Many of us actually grow immune to most of the sounds that surround us. However, for the family that has an autistic child, paying special attention to the sounds that surround the child. Children who are autistic experience sensory issues on a daily basis. Families who have autistic children must pay special attention to the auditory stimulation in the environment. There are many different sounds that can actually be beneficial for the autistic child. There are also numerous auditory stimulations that can be quite damaging to a child that experiences sensory sensitivity as a result of autism.

Many everyday sounds that we are used to may actually frighten a child that has been diagnosed with autism. These sounds are often loud sounds, such as a garbage disposal unit or a vacuum cleaner. If an autistic child is frightened by a sound, they will close up and it will make the learning environment unconstructive. There are many sounds that can be frightening to an autistic child that may result in their learning process being haltered. For example, if an autistic child is in the process of learning to use a toilet independently, they may find the sound of a toilet flushing to be extremely frightening and this may result in the child not learning well. If you run into learning issues with your autistic child, you should evaluate the possibility of any sounds that may result from the task at hand that could lead to the fact that the child is frightened. If you find that there are sounds that could lead to this, try alternative methods of teaching where the sound is not present. Many parents of autistic children have even found that providing a set of earplugs may prove to be beneficial.

Many parents have found that an autistic child can become obsessed when it comes to particular sounds. For example, if a child becomes fixed on a particular sound, like the sound of a vacuum cleaner, you should try to use this as a tool to educate them. Like, you could teach coordination skills by allowing them to help you vacuum. You could write educational stories that include important lessons in them in which you use the sound of the vacuum throughout the story. There are many ways that you can use a sound that an autistic child is obsessed with in order to educate them.

Auditory stimulation has many advantages and disadvantages. Certain sounds can actually hinder the learning environment of the autistic child. Other sounds can be used to benefit the autistic child’s learning environment. Auditory stimulation may either be a positive or negative experience for the autistic child. You must experiment with various sounds and your autistic child to find which hinder the emotional and intellectual growth of the autistic child, and which ones assist in the emotional and intellectual growth of the autistic child.