Sounds Like a Plan
Leon’s been up until 11 p.m. the last few nights because he was terrified of the wind outside. I started writing a blog article yesterday about how Leon is afraid of everything, moreso than what I feel is typical of toddlers, and in writing the post I listed all the things he’s scared of.
- Fire alarms
- The refrigerator when it makes ice
- Motorcycles, car engines revving, traffic
- Wind
- The vacuum
- The sound of the daycare kids in the gym next door
- Fireworks
- Thunder
It didn’t take long before I realized that all of the unusual/unrealistic things that he’s scared of are noises. So I started doing some research and came across an article about Auditory Sensitivity and Auditory Processing Disorder, and in the list of signs and symptoms, Leon literally identified with all of them:
- The child dislikes loud or unexpected sounds, e.g., fire alarms, sirens, school bells, fireworks.
- They may startle easily to unexpected sound, e.g., sirens, motorcycle going past.
- The child may dislike higher-pitched sounds such as vacuum cleaners or hand dryers.
- They could have difficulty with low hum pitched sounds such as a refrigerator or lorry engine.
- The child may be easily distracted by background noises such as traffic outside, background music, an air conditioner, a refrigerator or buzz from fluorescent lights.
- They may notice sounds that others don’t notice.
- The child may cover their ears to sounds.
- They could dislike of cinema or concerts due to the noise level.
Obviously that doesn’t necessarily mean he has anything, but I felt like looking down that road might bring us some answers. So he has an appointment with his pediatrician on Monday to get a referral to a pediatric occupational therapist or audiologist.