Sensory or noise issues at school

Our 13 year old high functioning 7th grade ASD son has been having really bad issues at school lately with people making noises . He thinks they are doing it to bother him specifically. Sometimes, he almost seems to seek out the trouble with certain kids, but he says kids will make noises with their mouth etc, that make him crazy. We talk to him about strategies he can use to overcome the noise problems. He has his ipod with him at school and puts his ear buds in sometimes. Can anyone help us with strategies to use for the problem. If a kid makes noises, he will yell out STOP! during the class, and then this causes disruptions in the classroom, not to mention alienating him from his classmates. HELP!!!!

Hi Magoosan, and welcome to IAN.

Challenges like this are always difficult because there are so many different potential issues going on. How much is it truly a sensory issue, such that your son can NOT bear these sounds? How much is social - and due to mistaken interpretations on his part regarding the motivations of others? (In other words, his belief that other kids are doing something in order to attack or bother him) What to do about a problem like this depends in part on the mixture of issues behind it.

One possibility is calling a team meeting at school so that the various players (teacher, occupational therapist, guidance counselor, social worker, school psychologist, or whoever.) can brainstorm. How can they address the sensory issue? How can they address the social issue? What strategies can they arm your son with so he can do something else --and not yell STOP-- when he is feeling bothered? Could he have a so-many-times-a-day pass to go work in a quiet area in guidance or somewhere when he's overwhelmed, for example?

I hope parents, educators, and therapists will share their thoughts here.

You might be interestd in our article on social skills interventions, as they often center around issues of social understanding that may come up: http://www.iancommunity.org/cs/what_do_we_know/social_skills_interventions