Two SLPs walk into a PD session…
No, this isn’t a terrible joke, it’s a comparison. Two SLPs walk into a PD session. SLP #1 spots a seat, sits there, pulls out her adorable notepad and begins doodling her To-Do list, and waits for the presentation to start. SLP #2 spots a seat, but it’s next to a woman who is enjoying a fresh stick of juicy fruit. SLP #2 spots another seat, next to a man who can’t decide if the writing instrument he’s holdings was a drumstick in a former life. SLP #2 spots yet another seat, (in the back of the room, in the corner, with no possibility of anybody sitting behind her or to her right side) sits there, pulls out her adorable notepad and begins doodling her To-Do list, and waits for the presentation to start.
If you are SLP #1 in this story, you’re wondering what is wrong with SLP #2. If you are SLP #2, you’re jealous of SLP #1. If you’re SLP #2, you may suffer from Misophonia, sometimes referred to as selective sound sensitivity syndrome. Misophonia, which means ‘hatred of sound’, is a hypersensitivity to background sounds or visual stimuli that are generally ignored by other people. A person who has these sensitivities is unable to block out the sound and experiences an extreme negative emotional response due to the trigger sound/stimuli. I am SLP #2 – as hesitant as I am to admit it to you all.
Misophonia in the News
A 2011 New York Times Article brought Misophonia further into the public light. Since then, more research has begun to find more about what causes it and possible treatments. Here is a good explanation of Misophonia and how it can effect a person:
Why does this matter?
As SLPs and educators, we work with children each day. We see these children in varying environments from classrooms to lunch to recess. The onset of Misophonia is typically around age 8-14 which means that it begins at the elementary and secondary levels and continues through adulthood.
Symptoms of Misophonia:
- Fight or flight response: including sweating, muscle tension, and quickened heartbeat.
- Anxiety about certain environments/situations.
- Avoidance or escaping these environments/situations.
- Mimicking what is seen/heard, which is oftentimes socially inappropriate.
- Irritation, rage, panic or even physical violence (or the idea of exercising violence) in response to the trigger/stimuli.
How this can effect children in school:
- They may avoid people or situations where the trigger noise are/could be.
- They may scream/make loud noises to cover the trigger noises.
- Triggers may distract them from lessons, work, directions, etc.
- A social impact may occur due to the child disliking how another child chews, etc. or from their reactions to these triggers (screaming/loud noises, avoidance, abrupt exits, etc.)
- Physical violence.
- Difficulty eating in lunchroom.
- Crying if trigger noise is continuous and they cannot leave.
- Plugging ears.
Most individuals with Misophonia are made to feel crazy by peers and family or like they are creating these sensitivities voluntarily. It is important to realize that these individuals cannot control their response to these noises any more than you can control rush hour traffic. The best that these individuals can do is attempt to maintain a calm and relaxed state when around triggers, refrain from verbal or physical outbursts, and remove themselves from the triggers as soon as possible.
As a person who deals with this disorder, I can tell you that I always thought that I was insane and mean. How could I hate eating with my family, being near friends at school chewing gum, going to a movie theater (hello popcorn crunches), watching food commercials, listening to feet shuffling, hearing my neighbor’s bass/TV, and more to the point of a strong fight/flight response? Why did these noises that didn’t seam to bother anybody around me give me such a strong anger and desire to leave or harm the person causing the noise? Why did nobody seem to truly understand?
This disorder can greatly effect a child’s ability to participate within the school environment. As an SLP or educator, it is our job to help make sure that all children can function within the school environment. Here are a few ways to help children with Misophonia:
- Consider a 504 with any of the following or other accommodations. Some doctors will provide a diagnosis or referral to a psych or audiologist who will.
- Listen – Allow them a safe place to talk about their trigger noises and feelings about these noises.
- Allowing the use of headphones or earplugs during lessons (yes, they can still hear you) and individual work.
- Allow the student to sit elsewhere in the classroom or even another room if they ask.
- Do not chew or allow gum chewing in class, and perhaps no snacks of any kind unless providing the child with headphones or earplugs.
- Allow the child to step into the hallway with supervision if he needs to have time away from the trigger.
- Discuss this disorder with parents.
- Learn more about Misophonia.
Currently no cure is known and very little is known about treatment options. It is important that as SLPs and educators we are knowledgeable about our students. Misophonia is very difficult to live with but with accommodations and support, children with the disorder can be successful within the classroom and school environment. Support groups have formed and can be beneficial for older teens and adults with Misophonia.
What do you think? Tell me below in the comments, I would love to hear your thoughts and questions.
Thank you for posting this! I am an SLPA who suffers from this disorder as well. It is one of the hardest things to deal with because people don’t understand it. Even today with more light being shed on Misophonia people still think it’s a made up disorder. Here’s to hoping they find some treatment options soon!!
Kerry, thanks so much for sharing. I agree that it is difficult and that others do not understand it. I suggest finding an online support group or person with the disorder to vent to… preferably one who can chew quietly ;).
I agree with you, no one understands it, even when it’s brought into light,
thank you so much for starting this discussion. i had never heard of it, but am sensitive to some noises (nothing like your agonies however). people dont get me sometimes when i am sitting in my quiet office with the nasty fluorescent lights turned off. thnak you for sharing an intimate issue. grace and blessings.
I think you raise an excellent point that we all have sensitivities and as people we should be as understanding as possible of these.
Excellent post!! Thank you!!!
Thank you so much for brining attention to a very real problem for many people. I have a very dear family member who suffers greatly from Misophonia. Your blog post was very thorough, accurate and helpful. As SLP’s we may be the team member that a parent or teacher comes to first for help so having such good information is invaluable.
Thank you Ann, I agree that we may be the first person for the family or staff. As with any student who may require accommodations, we need to be as knowledgeable as possible! Thanks for your comment!
I am a special education teacher. I have several students who require these adaptions.its good to know I am doing the correct things to help them cope. It doesn’t hurt that my daughter is an slp.
This must be difficult to diagnose. The symptoms are very similar to auditory Processing Disorder (APD)…is it another indication of APD?
“Dear Sublime Speech”,
Thank you so much for posting this. Everything you had to say was exactly on target and will be of much help.
Let me begin with apologizing for the length of this message! If anyone wants to know more about misophonia from one who has this disorder, this read will be well-worth your time.
In writing this, my great hope is educators (and parents, doctors, others) will take to heart my experiences. It doesn’t matter the age of the misophonic victim–we all suffer tremendously. The sad thing is misophonia doesn’t get better…it gets worse with age, one picks up new “triggers” over time, and there presently is no cure, no medication or “tried and true”, lasting treatment. (My personal triggers are listed below.)
I am a retired elementary school teacher of 28 years. Currently I privately tutor children who struggle and need extra help. I have suffered, not using that term lightly, with misophonia for 56 years. To the best of my memory I developed miso at age 10…tomorrow I will be 66 years old. Miso has adversely affected every area of my life in one way or another.
Looking back on my teaching career, I have to ask myself how not knowing about misophonia influenced my career as well as my students. I feel guilt, regret, sadness, and a host of other feelings because I didn’t know about this disorder. I did the best I could, with what I knew at the time.
I think back to the many in-services in which I couldn’t concentrate because someone was chewing and popping gum, clicking his/her pen, or attendees were having side-conversations during the presentations. Such are impossible for misophonics to tune out or as we are sometimes told, “just get over it”. We would IF we could. (Unless we are masochists … of whom I know none). Believe me…every misophonic would be ecstatic if a miracle cure would relieve us of this burden.
Faculty meetings, holiday parties, and other school events produced so much anxiety and dread for me. Isolating myself from the possibility of triggers at events was often my way of escape! Staying home was so much easier.
I am Person -#2, as described at the beginning of this blog/article. Where I sit and by whom are very critical to me. No matter where….in-service, meetings, school, church, movies, restaurants, airplanes… I am extremely anxious/fearful about where I will sit because of possible triggers. Especially to be confined with no way out. I’m going to a movie with friends on Tuesday, and I’m already experiencing anxiety! Today is only Saturday. My plan is to get there much earlier than the others, get the back row, and take ear plugs to block out surrounding noises but not the movie. Of course, I also now worry about what the others will think about the ear plugs because I’ve shared this with only 2 of the 8 of us.
As a teacher, I had great relationships with of my students as well as their parents. But I wonder how many of my students struggled with misophonia, but I just didn’t know it……didn’t understand the real reason for some student behavior and actions ….didn’t understand the hell they experienced every day at school fighting triggers. (Remember, the reactions to triggers are very negative, can produce fight or flight, anger) Was miso the reason some kids hated school and cried every morning? It hurts me to think of specific kids, wondering if they had miso and what I may have unknowingly done to hurt them further, or if I could have helped them. This is something hard to think about.
I recently learned that one of my former students is now diagnosed with misophonia. She has multiple learning disabilities so her problems were considered connected to those. Of course, miso was barely, if at all, recognized at that time….4 years ago. Oh, how I wish I had known…the suggestions in this post would have made her life so much easier. Another “If only….”!
We who have miso are reluctant to tell others because it is not a “seen” disorder and appears to others as “off the wall”, that we are seeking attention, or attempting to “make up medical disorders for every little ailment”. Parents may be hesitant to explain the disorder to teachers for those reasons. Or parents may be aware that teachers think of them as helicopter parents who coddle their children, rather than being advocates for their children. Sometimes parents have reasons to be helicopter parents, especially if their concerns seem irrelevant to the school staff. I’ve discovered this to be true since I’ve been working as a private tutor with children who struggle, seeing and hearing the frustration of parents who can’t get appropriate help from the school system. It is important as educators to be aware of the symptoms of misophonia because it may be their task to approach parents if they suspect that misophonia may be a problem for the student. We can’t diagnose, but we can tell our concerns to parents and urge them to seek out help….which they may find, at this point, only in a support group.
My final words to teachers and other professionals in the education system: Test scores, IQ tests, portfolios, classwork, ADHD checklists, and other evaluations DO NOT reveal misophonia. Knowledge of what misophonia is and how it shows itself is the only evaluation we have at this point.
PLEASE study this disorder, become well-informed. This post by “Sublime Speech” (Danielle?) is a great starting point. Miso children deserve more than I was able to provide. YOU have the opportunity to reach out and help your students and even their parents. You will have the knowledge to share with other educators. Most doctors and audiologists are not aware misophonia exists. Don’t be surprised if you find them skeptical. They, too, need to become informed. There is little research at this time.
It is up to us, the informed, to teach others about misophonia, and as teachers, provide a safe place for miso students to learn and grow. Thanks to you educators who stuck with my story and opinions until “almost the end” of this “epistle”.
One more important point:
As a life-long misophonic, I thought I was the only one with “something wrong” (crazy). When I learned that misophonia was a real disorder with an actual name, and that I wasn’t alone or crazy, I felt a sense of relief I can’t begin to explain. I I’m slowly beginning to experience a type of peace about my disorder and no longer feel “lost”. I literally cried for days upon my discovery, and still occasionally do. “Something” had consumed my life, and at last I knew what “it” was.
I , again, apologize that this is so lengthy, but it is important to me (when I find a safe place to post) to let the public know how consuming, dangerous, and debilitating misophonia is….especially for children.
Resources:
http://www.misophonia.com — Excellent primary source for an enormous amount of information as well as a public forum with many categories of discussions. You will also find these resources.
• Misophonia Self-Test
• Misophonia Shop
• Letters to Family and Friends Explaining Misophonia — these are awesome and SO helpful!
• Media (audio and video files)
• Links Concerning Misophonia
• Awareness Logos for Misophonia Projects (free) — Also information on Symptoms and Triggers, Research, and Treatment (see menu at the top of the page)
Facebook Support Groups: Most are closed groups for people with misophonia. Posts circulate among only members of the group… Posts will not be posted on individual’s timelines that others would read.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/misophoniasupport/
“Misophonia Support Group” is an awesome group of misophonics who share their struggles. There I discovered that my battle is almost insignificant compared to others….Misophonia can be so severe that people have commented that they wish they were deaf…others have considered ending their lives because of the agony. Some have reacted physically in anger. My heart breaks for them! Members do everything we can to support all members regardless of the severity. Our group grows every day…. and with very few exceptions, most newbies start their first post with something like, “I’m so glad to find out I am not alone, that this has an actual name, and I am not crazy”! My exact thoughts!
Facebook Group
Parents of Children with Misophonia — excellent; a very active group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/620276931320095/
Facebook Group
Christians with Misophonia — Very good group but needs more participating members to contribute daily
https://www.facebook.com/groups/566213616743035/#
PINTEREST has tons of boards about Misophonia—just put “misophonia” in the search box and many options will pop up.
My Triggers – As promised above
A few of my triggers: By no means all of them! Many of these sounds annoy “normal” people. For misophonics, the sounds produce STRONG negative responses, far beyond that of “normal” people—who don’t understand the difference or the disorder. Pin clicking may annoy someone, but they are able to tune it out. We can’t tune it out and are overcome with intense negative feelings.
CHEWING GUM (physical action and sound), pin clicking, drumming fingers and fingernails, crinkling sounds (as chip bags and water bottles), clanking spoons in drinking glasses, slurping the last drops of drink through a straw, humming and whistling, vibrating bass sounds, keys on some computer keyboards, music leaking out of someone’s earphones, chewing with open mouth and smacking, loud crunching sound, EATING/CRUNCHING ICE, side conversations at meeting, whispering, even slurpy kissing scenes on TV or in public.
My first trigger was the chewing gum….which is a common trigger for most of us. The large number of triggers I have (and more) were developed over time.
Note: My personal consideration:
The purpose of support groups is to air concerns, experiences, and vent. With this comes inappropriate language in posts at times, which I’m also bothered by!! BUT the support and information I get from the group outweighs my distaste for profanity, although the f-word almost puts me over the top. But I make every effort to concentrate on the best of each post. Just wanted to tell you in case this would be a problem. (Occurs in some posts…not the majority) Thanks for hanging in there with me!
Debi Fiegener
Texas Gulf Coast