27/06/2023
We’ll worth reading, miss 11 is currently being assessed for dyslexia …
…. what her brain & body needs and how the the nervous system processes has been a critical part of how we have been supporting her and her learning 💫
Understanding our Nervous System...��A few years ago I thought I better get my hearing checked. As a teenager and in my 20’s my parents always said that I talked really loudly so I thought I better get it checked. So off I went to an audiologist not really having much idea what I was getting tested.
�The lovely lady tested my hearing and also several different aspects of my auditory processing…background noise, competing noises, tone, speed, working memory and a few others. Half way through one of the tests I basically had a mild panic attack. I had a huge flush of heat rush over my whole body, my heart raced, chest tightened and I totally lost all ability to know what I was meant to be doing during the test. I actually stopped and said sorry I don’t know what I am suppose to do. She gently paused and said that’s ok, most of those were wrong anyway….��Turns out I really struggle to process the incoming information when there is lots of background noise, competing noises and struggle to differentiate between tones. I can determine speed easily though which makes sense as to why I love listening to audio books on double speed. ��This new understanding didn’t changed a huge amount for me but it has provided me with information and understanding about my needs now and also growing up. As a kid it was tightly held as anxiety and no one really noticed. For my poor University friends who I was always looking over to their notes saying ‘What did he just say?’ (a time well before online lecture notes!) I just thought I was ‘slow’ at writing notes. And as an adult realising just how much I lip read when out or read the captions on TV shows.
Only in recent years have I really worked out how much energy I use in social functions and what it feels like in my body when I am reaching sensory overload.
Why am I sharing this now?
It was a very big weekend for me. A night out with friends, music, conversations and loud background noise. And then a quiz night for my husbands basketball. It was at the stadium, 10 tables of people, the sound system was a long way away and hard to hear for everyone, my son was running around and sounded like an elephant in his sneakers and then I had to focus on the questions. Honestly, it sounded like the quiz master was underwater. I tried to listen for the first few rounds. Every time asking others on the table ‘What did he say again?’ But by about half way through I was done. I had switched off and could feel myself wanting to retreat, I even sat with my hands over my ears for some of the time. The agitation in my nervous system reaching a point where I just needed to get home. Now two days later I can still feel the hangover effect of the sensory overwhelm. Yesterday I was tired, grumpy and easily agitated. Any ‘extra’ noise from children I just could not tolerate and I felt exhausted. It came out in hard parenting moments. �
I wanted to share as understanding the nervous system and sensory systems has been a huge part of meeting my own needs and also understanding my children’s needs.
�Over the next month I will be sharing more about the nervous system and things I use for myself and as a therapist in hope that it is helpful for you and your family. ��What questions do you have for me? 💛💛
