It's OK, It's Just What He Does

Due to his sound sensitivity Daniel will cover his ears much of the time he is out in public. He prefers self-filtering rather than using headphones most likely because of his touch sensitivity. Consequently I get a lot of looks on the freeway from people thinking I have my car stereo on too loud when actually I do not have it on at all. So Daniel wanted to visit the Science Center a few weeks back where it was abuzz with tourists and locals checking out the many museum exhibits and such. All the way there Daniel firmly placed the tips of his pointer fingers to his ears while trying to block any offensive traffic noises. At each outing I try to park a distance away so the walk will provide an opportunity to work off any anxiety from the car ride over. On this day, as we approached the museum we could hear the unmistakable sounds of a bagpipe in the distance. As we ventured closer we could see the bagpiper performing while a small crowd of people stood and enjoyed the music. Danny was not pleased although he was intrigued by what created such sounds so he walked directly up to the musician with his ears covered. I promptly pulled him away from the area and redirected his attention to the door of our original destination. If you know autism and/or sensory issues you knew what was up but if you didn't you might have thought this was an insulting gesture towards the musician. So just in case you should happen to see us out and about in San Diego I want everyone to know, he doesn't mean anything by it, it's just what he does and he's doing the best he can.