Can anyone invent volume control for our kids?

[Joygirl]

Had two days of being yelled at and just been told that my daughter still loves me "even though I shout at her".... Had to yell back to be heard. Any wonder we buy painkillers in bulk.......

[madauntiealis]

Does she seem to want other things "high" level - like food tastes, and tight clothes etc? Our grandson has always had volume control issues and likes to have his ipad, computer etc at uncomfortable levels for us, (aged 5, not 15! - think that's a different issue!) He also seeks out loudspeakers and wants to be right next to them and BOY can he screech loudly when he gets into one of his hyper states.

We try and keep our volume control (speechwise) down as far as possible (counsel of perfection: doesn't always work) but sometimes I need to match his loud noises in a sort of "contest" with a lot of eye contact and humour and as I bring my response down, his get lower and less shrill too, and he starts to laugh.

You could try finding something she really likes (like chocolate or a trip to the swimming pool in our case) and when she's being really loud and not listening, go and mouth it to her, and then do it "in her face" without her if she didn't respond. Then you can explain that you need to be able to talk to her so she knows that there is something to be gained from listening.

Or you could always put on ear defenders and an air of innocence and not respond to ANYTHING that is said for a little while... sometimes we need to get our children slightly off balance, to get them to take in an idea that they are resistant to! You may of course get the ear defenders taken off you, but if you act as if they're still there, you can still do that one..... with fingers crossed that it doesn't make her even crosser. But as soon as she responds in a normal voice - wow - respond immediately and as positively as you can!

You could also try a "thermometer" of 1 -10 (look at anger thermometers on the internet and adapt) , with an acceptable level being about 5 and talk about the levels ( even stand there and try them out together!) because she may not be aware of how loud she is. Something visual at least lets her know how overloud she's being- if she doesn't want to respond to that, that's another issue!!

I've also use makaton sign for wait, to get through the noise and my gs then has a mantra "Wait.... calm down..." which he responds with in situations where he can control himself (like being on a horse... they don't usually appreciate his slightly manic laughter and waving)

I suppose it depends whether she's yelling at you, or just yelling .... but maybe there's a couple of ideas to try there. Good luck. Let us know how you get on....!

[Skatesey71]

And I thought that was just our daughter! she also doesn't know about volume control and is always extremely loud.... yet she's sensitive to noise and very often hold her hands over her ears...... (it took me a while that it was actually an issue and not her being defiant/stroppy!)