Noise Cancelling Headphones and Earplugs for Children with Autism

Parents are always looking for ways to make their children’s lives better. For kids with autism, this can present parents with unique challenges. Children with autism are typically hyper-sensitive to auditory stimuli. This is the most common sensory hypersensitivity in individuals with high functioning autism or Asperger’s. Finding ways to help children avoid or manage these moments of over stimulation can make their life, and the life of the parents easier. Tito Martin-Nemtin is one individual who has Asperger’s. He has explained that in his experience, he feels as though he is allergic to the outside world. No one wants their children to feel this way.

We all view the world from the context of our own experiences, and therefore it can be difficult for people without autism to imagine how this auditory hypersensitivity affects the daily life of people with autism. This hypersensitivity can make events that seem simple to many of us (such as going to the grocery store or a birthday party) extremely traumatic and even impossible. Some people with autism have likened this sensitivity to someone picking up a microphone and magnifying every sound in the environment to the point where it is painful. Children have very limited ability to cope with situations such as this. For parents, this means trying to help them with something that can be challenging for the parents to understand in the first place. Ultimately, most parents’ goals are to help their child function in society and not be stressed out and overly disturbed by noise. Two items that are becoming popular among parents are noise-canceling headphones and earplugs. However, since there are so many brands, where do you start?

One woman, Ida Konjicida has taken the time to review some of these noise cancelling headphones and earplugs that may be helpful for children with autism. These are not the only options, however. Gently introducing children to sounds that are disturbing to them can help them become adjusted to the noise. Additionally, distraction can work. This is, after all, a method that parents have been leveraging for centuries when caring for their children. Earplugs are another cheap option, but they do need to be adjusted to fit the ears of the child to prevent potential damage or infections. That being said, they are relatively discreet and can easily be worn at social events. If you are looking for headphones and/or earplugs, quality and price can vary. In order to create this list of the best noise cancelling headphones and earplugs, the author looked at a few different sources that included both national resources as well as blogs. She was then able to single out the leading candidates.

Read on to learn more about these noise-canceling products.