TAKING TIME TO LISTEN

The IECMH consultant met with the director and the child's teacher to listen and learn more about the challenges they were facing with this child in the classroom. The teacher explained that the child's flight from large group activities typically occurred when there was movement in the close carpet space and when the voices of all the other children were loud. The consultant then asked to meet separately with the child's mother.

The consultant invited the mother to tell her about the child, guided by the questions in the template. The mother shared that her son has always been sensitive to loud noises, especially loud voices. He had many ear infections and ended up getting tubes put in his ears. Early in the child's life, and actually even before he was born,

the mother was in a combative relationship with her son's father. Arguments were loud and frightening. The mother was aware that at home, her son did not like the loud sounds of appliances or loud music. She learned that in order to make her son more comfortable, it helped to cover his ears and to keep their home environment extremely quiet. She also shared that he liked long periods of uninterrupted time to create structures and artwork.

With the mother's permission, the consultant helped her to share her child's medical history, as well as the family story with the director and teacher. This led to intense moments of awareness as well as empathy. The consultant, mother, director, and teacher worked together to continue to write a profile from the child's perspective.

HELLO MY NAME IS R : A UNIQUE PROFILE FROM THE CHILD'S PERSPECTIVE

An excerpt from the Jointly Written Hello My Name Is Profile

Hello, my name is R.

I am 4 and a-half-years-old. I am described as energized, alert and aware of my environment, as well as excited. Adults say that they can observe my body becoming tense when I am frustrated or angry I become overwhelmed and upset when there are loud noises, conversations, or voices are raised, as well as when the tone of someone's voice changes. I am very aware of things that happen around me and notice sounds as well as conversations. III hear the tone of someone's voice change in a conversation, I say, "Why are you mad", "Stop yelling", or "Don't argue." When I was younger my ears hurt a lot. I would avoid public bathrooms because the automatic flush or dryers would upset me. My mother and I discovered that if I put my hands over my ears, then I could go into the public bathrooms. Doctors helped my ears feel better by putting tubes in my ears. 

I prefer to play alone, at least in the classroom. I choose to design things with blocks, large and small. I can create things on my own for long periods of time, and It is hard to end and clean up because I am so focused. I like to keep and show what I make to my teachers and mother. I get very frustrated if my peers take the blocks or touch my designs. Mike it when the teachers sit with me and watch me make things. I move away from areas if there are too many people, or the noise volume increases. When I get frustrated, I might yell, "Get away from me" and If I am really upset, I lose my words and just grunt or roar.