Dr. Elina Birmingham

Challenge Many children living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are hypersensitive to certain sounds. When exposed to these sounds, they may feel very distressed, which can cause them to react with behaviours such as covering their ears, yelling, screaming or running out of the room to avoid the sound. Schools’ approaches for accommodating sound [...]

Challenge Many children living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are hypersensitive to certain sounds. When children are exposed to these sounds, they may be very distressed. This distress causes them to react with behaviours such as covering their ears, yelling or screaming or running out of the room to avoid the sound. Schools’ approaches for [...]

Challenge Children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) often experience atypical auditory processing — specifically hypersensitivity to sound. This sensitivity can be so severe that it prevents people with NDD from fully participating in social settings. While there are existing solutions, they often involve entirely removing a child from a noisy environment or using noise reduction devices [...]