My daughter has HFA. She started covering her ears at a very young age. I took her to the doctor to have her ears tested. The results of the test answered all questions. The doctor said surprisingly enough, her hearing is almost identical to a dogs. He went on to explain that she can hear things that we can't, for example; she can hear sounds imitating from anything that uses electricity such as lights, tvs, computers etc. all these things give all sounds but it's just too low of a range for us to hear, but not for her. he also said that she can hear things a lot greater distance then we can, for example; she can hear a car alarm going off two to three blocks away where we couldn't hear anything even if we went outside.

The doctor added that with her autism sound isn't exiting her ear as it does with us. The doctor stated when it comes to autism, some experience different reactions to different sounds. He said, some sounds will create fear, other sounds can create pain. I learned very quickly which sound did what just by her reaction, not just her putting her hands three ears, but that combined facial expression and sound effects she was making at the time. As she grew older she learn to adapt to some of the sounds, the ones that create pain still create pain. I did buy her Industrial headphones specifically designed to block out noise, and that helped her greatly.

Some ear-covering may have to do with soothing through pressure. My 6 year-old son requires gentle squeezing or pressure applied when overstimulated. Even as a baby, he would grab my hands and hold them to his cheeks or over his ears to help calm him. Headphones are a good solution since they provide both noise-reduction and pressure.

Thanks. I heard about the headphones before for loud/distracting noises, but he is doing it now when there is no noise. It seems to be when he gets overly excited or anxious...

My son, who is 12 now, used to do this a lot before he was diagnosed. He would do,it in the classroom and the teacher would get on him about it because she thought he was being obstinate. I thought it was strange too, but didn't get that regular noises to us were extremely loud to him until later when I started reading about it. He also used to put his shirt up over his nose when there were strong smells or if he was nervous. I think it's all about soothing yourself. But as he's gotten older, he has learned to adjust. Hope this helps. You are definitely not alone!

I noticed my daughter doing this when she gets over stimulated. If something is too funny or sad. It seems to be a way to cope with the stimulation even though it is not sound related. Closing her eyes does the same thing. We take ear plugs to the movies for her & that is when she started closing her eyes if it was too funny. It seems to be the way the can process the over stimulation, by reducing other senses.