Sweet merciful Mary are my kids loud. We have had their hearing tested and that’s not the problem. I guess it’s like a regulatory thing.
I’m constantly saying, “inside voices please”. It doesn’t seem to make any lasting impression.
Right now, Emmett is probably the loudest, followed by Elliott in second and Gavin a close third. Emmett will stand right in front of you and screaming what he’s trying to say. I’ll literally be 2 or 3 feet away when he does this.
It’s not like we don’t respond to them when they talk. Sometimes why they need to speak in such a loud manner is a bit of a mystery. Having said that, it’s a mystery that I need to solve because all the noise is driving me a bit crazy.
Is this maybe a sensory processing issue? Maybe they don’t realize just how loud they are being. I can definitely see them not being aware of the volume of their voice.
Either way, it’s a problem that we need to find a solution to. I’m thinking of putting up some visual reminders of how loud they are supposed to be while in the house.
Visual reminders work well with my kids, most of the time. I just need to make it as simple as possible, so that all three of the boys will understand what the signs mean.
Anyone else have a similar issue with noise? To me, I would think they would be driving themselves crazy with all the noise.
Thoughts?
**Thanks for reading**
-Lost and Tired
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Posted from WordPress for Android so please forgive the typos. Auto-correct and I don’t get along very well.
Gillian beat me to it, but I was also going to mention the traffic light visual. Making visible the noise level may help. There are lots of ideas on how to set it up via teacher blogs and things, but there is also an electronic version that lights up the different lights in response to the noise. Teachers use it in classrooms to help kids self-manage noise levels. I'm not sure it would work, but it might be worth trying the paper version to bring some quiet to the house!
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When I was teaching full-time, I had a big print-out of a traffic light at the front of the room. I would move a little magnet to show the students what volume I expected. You could adapt this for your boys: Red = whispers, orange = regular voice, green = yelling, or whatever "levels" you are happy with. When students would almost yell at me even though I was right in front of them, I would sometimes answer in barely a whisper. The kids knew I was talking to them, but could barely hear me. It worked to get them to use a much quieter voice, and as a subtle reminder that they were being too loud. I understand that subtlety isn't something your kids would get, but maybe you could turn it in to a game?
I work with kids on the spectrum, providing in-home therapy here in Wisconsin. This is a big problem for some of my kiddos, so this is what we do. We start out by explaining a number system to them (1 being no sound at all, 2 being a whisper, 3 being inside voice, 4 being outside voice and 5 only for emergencies) and then we practice, first by doing examples of each out loud together, then eventually move on to asking them to show examples on their own of each, then asking them which number voice we are doing, then generalize it to everyday activities. We don't answer them when they are asking us a question, except to hold up 3 fingers or to say "three voice please". It works as a great reminder for them! I don't know if that'll work in this instance, that's a lot of practice for you to have to do on your own, but I just thought i'd throw it out there! Good luck, I can't imagine it x3 kids!
My boys are the same way. I always joke that for boys with sound sensitivities, they are the loudest children on the planet! I think it is a regulatory issue (engine's too fast), can't control the volume of their voice in regards to their excitement level, and also, my younger son's OT pointed out that kids with sound sensitivities are very loud because if they create a ton of noise in the room, then they can drown out any unpleasant noise and they are less likely to be startled by something. I know there are these stop light like things that some schools use that when the noise level is appropriate it is green, if it is getting to loud it is yellow, or if it is way to loud it is read. I don't know if it truly measures sound or if it is triggered by the adult in charge as a visual reminder, but maybe it is something we should look into.