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Sensory Overload

Dominic has "outgrown," some of his sensory issues, but not all. At church, he is usually okay with a man singing, but if a woman with a high-pitched voice is singing, he will plug his ears. I often wonder what that must feel like to him. I wish he was able to tell me. This past Saturday, since Dominic was in dire need of some nice dress shorts, we headed to Sears, because their clothes seem to fit him well. As we stepped into the boy's dressing room, there was a "ding-dong," chime that caught both Dominic and I off-guard. It was really loud, even to me.  Every time we went in and out of the dressing room, this is what he would do:


The picture is kind of blurry, because he was practically sprinting out of the dressing room. He would continue to plug his ears until I reassured him it was fine.


By about the third time we headed back to the dressing room, he was done, he kept saying, "time to go home, time to go home." I had to promise him McDonald's french fries when we were done, to get him to cooperate with me. Believe me, I have tried multiple times to buy clothes for him in the hopes of them fitting and I almost always end up returning them because they don't fit.  Dominic is not a big fan of trying on clothes in a dressing room to begin with, but you throw in the loud "ding-dong," chime it certainly adds a whole layer of extra stress that we certainly don't need. Using a public restroom with Dominic can be an adventure in itself. The self-flushing toilets and the automatic hand dryers are the WORST. Sensory "overload," at its finest. You can't really not use a public restroom if you are out and about. Dominic calls any kind of bug a "bee." If he sees a fly or gnat in our house, he will go running upstairs into our bedroom and slam the door until we reassure him we have taken care of the matter. I'm thinking the sound of a bug must sound a like a chainsaw in his "world." We can't keep Dominic in a protective "bubble." He has to be able to explore everything this "world," has to offer him.
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  1. UnknownJuly 20, 2016 at 9:40 PM

    Has Dominic been diagnosed with anything other than sensory disorder? The reason I ask my nine year old granddaughter does the same thing with load noise. And forget fireworks that's the worst. It took my daughter a long time to get Addison to go to a movie due to the loud noise in the advertising of other movies coming out soon. She did finally go but has to take headphones to mask some of the noise. She runs at theme parks. Addi did have tubes in her ears at around three years old. I wonder if that's why she is so sensitive to loud noise. It is so sad watching her go thru this. I have cried many years watching her have these episodes so often. Thank God she has a Mommy that studies ways to help her. My daughter is truly a great mother and never gets upset with Addi at these episodes she just ask her to try try to get thru it but if she can't Mommy takes her home or to do something essential noisy. I hope things get better for Dominic he will be in my thoughts and prayers. Hang in there Mommy

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownSeptember 18, 2016 at 3:58 PM

    I don't blame him. I'm a piccolo player. Sometimes, I give myself headaches with my own instrument.

    ReplyDelete

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