Child triggered by autistic child’s screeching
This year my 10 year old has a boy with autism in her class. This boy often makes loud vocalizations including shouting, screeching and screaming. My child was recently diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and finds this, for a lack of better word, triggering. It stresses my child out and they are starting to become angry and resentful of this child. In the morning they don’t want to go to school because they find the unpredictable and frequent sounds overwhelming and stressful.
My child is allowed to step into the hallway to get a break, and they are allowed to use headphones/earplugs. What I’m struggling with is that sometimes my child is missing instruction when this happens. It’s frustrating that my child’s education is suffering due to another child’s constant frequent disruptions. We are working on this in therapy but I would love any insight, ideas, suggestions or perspectives from teachers.
To complicate matters I am well acquainted with this boy’s parents but they very much feel that their child’s needs and their wants/needs for their child should trump all others. Basically, if someone has an issue with their kid, it’s your problem not theirs. They want their child in the classroom as much as possible, and have been known to threaten lawyers, file complaints to the state education board, etc. This child also throws chairs, breaks classroom items, and invades the personal space of others. My child is not the only one who feels uncomfortable around this boy at times. This boy is medicated and his parents are proactive in trying to decrease some of these behaviors, but there’s only so much they can do.
I don’t want to cause waves or ruffle any feathers, but I do want to advocate for my child and their own needs. I feel like this child’s needs are superseding that of my child’s. It’s already been a rough start to the school year.
Edited to add: Thanks to everyone who has responded. Unfortunately switching classes isn’t an option as through some strange fluke, there’s one class in my child’s grade (two classes in every other).