We have now entered a new level of sensory awareness. Both of us.
In the past month or so, Jasan has been having a really hard time with sounds. (Hence the noise reducing headphones.) It doesn’t even matter if they are loud…or if he has heard them before and knows what to expect.
At first I was confused. Why, all of the sudden, was he having a hard time flushing the toilet in our house? He has heard that sound a million times. At my friend’s home where the beloved washer & dryer Whirlpool Duet lives (see this past post) the sounds are now a startling issue. He has literally spent hours in that room watching the cycles and has every sound perfectly memorized and can mimic the machine flawlessly. What’s going on with my little man?
Well, he’s growing up. His awareness of the world is heightening. And so is mine. This is something that all parents of children with special needs can relate to. I need to overthink life when we are together. While he is at this young age, I am his protector. I am his hand to hold when things get too loud or surprisingly startling or too bright or too dark or too wet or too smelly…should I keep going?
Things that neurotypical kids regulate without even knowing, our “sensory sensitive” kids don’t. There is a lot going on that I don’t understand, but you know what? I KNOW MY SON. I can learn his patterns and his fears, I can look ahead to foresee possible issues and help avoid or lessen them. This is part of my passion as his mom. His life can be just as comfortable as mine, it will just look a bit different.
Through this journey with Jasan I have become more patient. More kind. More understanding. More compassionate.
You never know what another person’s reality is.
I don’t know what it’s like for your son, but I know for me I go through times when the world seems silent. Like a mute button has been turned on. Then there’s times when the world seems like it has the volume all the way up and I can’t turn it down. I’m not sure what triggers these different ways of hearing the world, but I thought about them when I read your post.