Sound in the Classroom

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My sixth grade son, Conrad, was placed in a classroom for autistic kids about a year ago. At this point, I have concerns that the noise level in the classroom prevents him from learning at his ability level.

To illustrate, he recently completed the ninth grade algebra textbook with me at home. He now learns pre-calculus from a calculus textbook because it is more concise and thus easier for me to teach him. I expect us to begin the real calculus in about two or three months. Maybe he is gifted in math. Maybe he isn’t. I mostly teach him such a high level of math because I do not want the school to think that he unteachable. Still, the boy is arguably better at the more advanced math than his teacher. Yet, he does only sixth grade math at school.

When Conrad works with me at home, he has absolute silence. There is nothing to disturb him when he focuses on math. His classroom is frequently a noisy environment. Thus, I fear that it could interfere with his learning. Could you describe how sound interfered with your learning at school? Or is my concern about sound unreasonable and unjustified.

Autistic people can be very sensitive to sounds. Also many Autistcs have a hard time multitasking. I get flustered if there are multiple conversations going on at once, or if a television is playing while I am trying to converse with someone.

For me, it's not the sound itself that bothers me. I can cope with any level of noise as long as it is "supposed" to be there and no one is trying to stop it. But I don't like it when the teacher is trying to teach and people are talking, because I like everything to move along smoothly and not be interrupted. For some reason, it also really bothers me when the teacher tells the class to be quiet. I guess it just feels like a generalization that is aimed at the whole class when not everyone is talking. So I find it difficult to relax and focus on my work when I'm afraid that the teacher is going to tell people to be quiet.

Classroom noise has always been a problem for me. That and the lighting. I'm more prone to sensory overload at school. There's a chance they will decide to have me taught at home for high school.

My Asperger's definitely had an impact on my studies. I was overwhelmed by the number of people, the loud bells, the conversations in the hallways, and the distracting noises in the classroom (gum chewing, people sniffling, coughing, etc.). It all added up over the day. The lighting was also a distraction. I also had to deal with bullies up until about 7th grade and the anxiety from that made it hard to concentrate in class. We are considering homeschooling our kids.

It sounds like you are a very understanding and concerned father. That will go a long way in helping him with any subject.

"It all added up over the day."

I get the feeling that excessive noise is a mental health issue from your answers. In particular, a bad environment makes people feel anxious and worn out by the end of the day.

Yeah, noise really bothers me, too. Fortunately, at university, people only talk a lot before the professor starts lecturing, and I just sit plugging my ears until then. But it's still stressful.

Trying to study in any kind of room that has other activities going on in it is always a distraction for me, and unless it just the noise from the HVAC system. Any other noises just grab my attention like a magnet. In other words, if I had to study by myself, doing an assignment in a classroom with other people doing other things. I could never get my work dome because all the other activities in the room would be competing for my attention. Even just someone tapping a pencil on their desk in rhythm will cause my mind to just lock into it. BTW: I too was a math and science prodigy at school as well, and was already doing 12th grade math in 7th grade. Might I also recommend getting him started in computer programming and install Visual Studio on your home computer and getting him some programming books as well.

BTW: Sensory processing disorder is a very common problem with autistic people in general.

It's a neurological issue but it definitely affects your mental health. Imagine listening to noises that hurt you all day because your brain cannot filter them properly (imagine nails down a chalkboard or a jackhammer). Think about how you might feel by day's end.

Also, imagine having to go into situations (job or school) where you know those noises are present. The anticipation is stressful as well.

On top of that, imagine that few people understand or can relate to your distress about sounds.

For me I just had a short attention span and I easily got distracted by things around me. I couldn't focus and it was hard to do my work and seeing other kids having free time because they were able to do their work fast and get it done. When no one was talking and the class was quiet but the vents blowing ad hearing some noise in other classrooms and a teacher talking in the other room, it was easier for me to do my school work. My mom would have me do my homework in the den where it was quiet and she would have my brothers go upstairs when she had to help me with my homework. I needed silence. They thought I had ADD and said it was my main issue. Then another issue I had was having a student teacher when I was in 6th grade and kids would just goof off in their seats and throw spit balls, get out of their chairs, throw things, and whenever the teacher looked, kids would stop and act like nothing happened and then when she would turn her back, kids would go back to acting up again as if they knew when she would turn and look. It was like red light, green light they were playing and I would be holding it all in from acting out and concentrating on not giving in. My therapist was stunned what she saw in the 6 hour video and she said in my school she has never seen anything like this, a teacher who can't control her class and no one there to guide her with her teaching, my aide not doing anything to stop the chaos, kids having no limits and no boundaries set, teacher not being able to keep her audience without losing them and can't keep them entertained to keep their interest. My therapist had said she bets I had learning nothing that day because I was too focused on keeping my cool and not acting out because of all the chaos around me. It's like a movie where kids are out on control and the teacher can't control them. My parents had actually paid my therapist to watch the video while my school paid for her to come to show my parents "the real me."

I also could never sit and listen to a lecture and bla bla bla. I zone out. I was also visual so it was hard for me to learn through auditory and my brain also didn't process information well so I wasn't getting all the information from the teacher when she would talk and my school thought I had attention problems. treatment I was getting for ADD wasn't working. School was always hard for me. All the sitting and having to listen to the lecturing, having to focus on school work and it wasn't any better when I had to come home and couldn't relax because I still had work to do. Then it would be bed time by the time I would get finished. I was very stressed out. I think my mom figured this out so she started to let me have breaks and I would tend to turn my work in late. Going to school was like going to work and then coming home to relax but couldn't because I still had to go to work. I thought it was like this for everyone but people just handled it better and could keep themselves focused and work faster.