Loud Noises Social Story

Name loud noise as the cause of the discomfort, rather than experiencing it as an unexplained bad feeling

Describe the physical effect in words — that loud noise makes the ears and head hurt — and the emotional one, getting angry

Recall four things to try when a place becomes too loud, from telling an adult to wearing ear defenders

State the one situation in which ear defenders should not be worn, and give the reason for it

Read the story ahead of a predictably loud event — an assembly, a fire drill, a lunch hall — rather than during one, so the strategies are already familiar when they are needed

The four strategies escalate from asking for help to acting alone, so a child can pick the one that fits rather than being expected to use all four

Reread the earphones page and the page after it together whenever ear defenders are introduced; the qualification is the only conditional rule in the story and it is easy to lose if the story is skimmed

One sentence to a page makes the story easy to split — the first six pages name the problem and the last six offer the response, which can be two separate sittings for a child who finds the topic difficult

Naming a sensory trigger — the story separates "some things make loud noises" from "sometimes people make loud noises", so the source of the difficulty is identified rather than generalised.

Putting a physical response into words — the child's line is that loud noises make my ears and my head hurt, followed by the admission that too much noise leads to anger.

Learning a menu of coping strategies — four options are given in the same "I could try" frame, covering asking an adult, changing place, using hands and using ear defenders.

Following a conditional rule — the earphones strategy is immediately qualified with when it does not apply and why, tying the rule to a consequence the child can understand.