vacuum aversion | Autism PDD

I just need a few sympathetic ears from the community. Are any of your children extremely afraid of the vacuum cleaner, like to the point of tantrums and you having to rework your schedule so you can come home and clean before picking the kids up from school? Our Erika is absolutely terrified of them, and while I’m trying to be patient as always, my in-laws are coming for an extended visit and the house needs a very thorough cleaning as they have allergies. I’m feeling more than a bit frazzled!

Believe it or not , it was my NT daughter that dispised the vacuum. we would have to make sure she was out of the house in order to vacuum. she would burst into tears at the thought of it being turned on. she was at a friends house and her mom vacuumed the rug, well needless to say i had to go and pick her up. we started by making a game of it, we set up rules that noone cold say the word vacuum and her dad would always slip the word in and we yell "oh no !! he said the word" we made a joke of him always messing up and saying the word ( alittle silliness goes along way in our house) eventually he'd move the vacuum to the center of the livingroom before she wake up in the morning- "oh no daddy, you can't leave the vacuum there- oops mom said the word!!" then when we'd sit down to watch amovie we'd get the popcorn ready ect and "silly" dad would start to vacuum. anywho, a month of this crazy game seemed to eliminate the trauma of the vacuum. i'm now proud to say it's one of her chores, and she loves it. it took until she was about 5 and along with her fear of vacuums also went the fear of lawnmower, leaf blowers and all of her other irrational fears of spinning motor sounds.just wanted to say, yes I empathize completely. I too have to find ways to sneak in the vacuuming when my dd is not around. I definitely have to go way out of my way to accomodate that particular fear, which is annoying because it HAS to get done so often but it's so hard to work it out every time. My dd is so afraid that she starts crying hysterically if I even open the closet that the vaccum is kept in. It is the same with hair dryers but at least I don't HAVE to dry my hair with one. I've read about gradual exposure techniques where you work slowly to get them over the fear - first having the vaccum just sitting out til they get used to it, then plug it in, then run it for a second, and build up to actually vaccuming with them around. Each step being done for as long as it takes for the child to show no fear at each step. I tried it by starting with just having the door to the closet open but I can see that it is going to be a long hard road. But if it gets to the point where she is NOT scared and I can actually vaccum at my convenience, it would be worth it. Let me know if you want more details. I read about it in a book called Overcoming Autism. Take care![QUOTE=shakes352]Believe it or not , it was my NT daughter that dispised the vacuum. we would have to make sure she was out of the house in order to vacuum. she would burst into tears at the thought of it being turned on. she was at a friends house and her mom vacuumed the rug, well needless to say i had to go and pick her up. we started by making a game of it, we set up rules that noone cold say the word vacuum and her dad would always slip the word in and we yell "oh no !! he said the word" we made a joke of him always messing up and saying the word ( alittle silliness goes along way in our house) eventually he'd move the vacuum to the center of the livingroom before she wake up in the morning- "oh no daddy, you can't leave the vacuum there- oops mom said the word!!" then when we'd sit down to watch amovie we'd get the popcorn ready ect and "silly" dad would start to vacuum. anywho, a month of this crazy game seemed to eliminate the trauma of the vacuum. i'm now proud to say it's one of her chores, and she loves it. it took until she was about 5 and along with her fear of vacuums also went the fear of lawnmower, leaf blowers and all of her other irrational fears of spinning motor sounds.[/QUOTE] I also am afraid of lawn mowers and tractors

I think it’s very common for kids to have those kinds of irrational fears. I’m sure at least one of my friends with typically-developing kids has one who is afraid of vacuums, too. You probably need to desensitize your daughter to the vacuum in very gradual steps, with reinforcement for not throwing a fit. I would start with about five to ten seconds (depending on how bad her tantrums are) of being in the same room as the vacuum when it’s running, then raising the amount of time as she gets more acclimated to it.

Another, more costly, option is you get a Roomba vacuum and program it to work when she is not around. They are expensive, but then you don’t need to push it around and your daughter won’t need to see it.

Both my kids hate the vacuum! Gavin has actually learned to deal
with it by running to his room and hiding under all of his pillows.
Abe is traumatized by it still though. My family actually bought me a
carpet sweeper for Christmas because they know I can only vacuum
when my kids are out of the house. It is the kind they use in movie
theaters in between shows and it works really well for a quick job.
Great for cracker crumbs and things like that. The brand is FULLER
WORKHORSE, my brother bought it on the internet, but you might be
able to find cheaper ones somewhere else. You should look into
that. My kids actually think the carpet sweeper is fun and will help
me push it around the house.

Oh yes, Julian hate it too. We were to the point of sweeping the carpet with a broom when he was home! So one day, I looked at Julian and I said, "Julian, I am about to vacuum. So you go in your room and close the door and please don't cry. It won't take long." So he looked at me, and ran straight to the room and when I was done, he peeked out and said, "All done vacuuming?" And I said, "Yes, I'm all done and you were such a good boy! You didn't even cry!" So now this is our routine. I hope everything works out for you.

Rachelle

My NT son hated the vacuum until he was about 4. Now, my dd never cared about the machine until just recently. She freaks! However, she freaks about any loud noise these days. It seems she went from undersensitive to very OVERsensitive to noise. Trains, sirens, lawnmowers, etc... are all triggers. When I vacuum, I tell her before I pull it out, and she immediately covers her ears and runs upstairs to her room, closing the door. Her siblings follow her and stay in her room with her until I'm done. This helps a lot. Sometimes, they start to play and stay in there for much longer than the cleaning session. I know it's frustrating, but it may not be this way forever. My husband took my other two downtown for a parade on Saturday. Callie and I stayed home because I knew she couldn't handle the noise and crowds. I feel like she misses out on a lot, but if it truly causes her stress, I would rather not subject her to it. Our entertainment really does revolve around her and her issues. Just know you are not alone.

Suzanne

DS hates the vacuum. The other day I opened the coat closet to get something else and he saw the vacuum and he ran away saying "all done, all done". So it doesn't even have to be on-LOL! He's also afraid of the coffee maker- we have a grind and brew and he becomes agitated. We just pick him up and hug him tight and that seems to comfort him. Other than that- I never vacuum

its my NT son that hates the noise of the vacuum (he will actually cover his ears and run over and turn it off) but my possible pdd-nos son will help right along and vacuum.

On the other hand both hate the hair dryer and I have not yet figured out if its the noise (I have a really old hairdryer and its loud) the air or the heat that bothers them. My oldest is getting better as he gets older with it, but the youngest still runs screaming (It didn't take me long to figure out that if I wnated privacy in the bathroom all I needed was to blow dry my hair!)

We went through this with Andy, too. Now, he wants to vacuum whenever we drag it out. DH works nights so we don't do any housework that is "noisy" during the day. Andy isn't as thourough as I would be, but it sure is nice to not have him screaming when I turn it on!

Kim

Hi,

My son hates the noise my vacuum makes. He doesn't like a lot of things that are noisy. I don't do this often but I bought a pair of ear protectors from Home Depot to use when we go the movies( surround sound is way to noisy for him). He uses the ear protectors all the time now. I can listen to my music, vacuum and when my husband is using his loud power tools not a problem anymore. Maybe these ear protectors will help you they fold up and can fit in you purse or his pocket.

Good Luck, Delores

http://www.homedepot.com

Catalog # 100011566

Price: .97/ea

Hi,

click here:

Good Luck,

Price: .97/ea

My little toddler gets so excited he runs and gets the toy hoover vacum (bought for Takoda but he hates it) and vacums right along with me. He has even been known to grab the vacum to que me.

Nelle

[QUOTE=NelleS42]
My son used to be scared of the vacum. He seems to have gotten over it. He really freaked over the scrubber and tractors. He also wouldn't take any rides on the ATV's ( their dad is very into them). He doesn't seem as sensitive to them now. He does yell at me if our radio is above a wisper or the TV is up.

Nelle

[/QUOTE]

This sounds like hypersensitive hearing to me.

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