Re: Help coping with school fire drill alarm noise

[Guest guest]

Hi,

For the children in our school that have similar problems with fire drills, they let the kids know days in advance and also have them wear either ear plugs or head phones.

They've also let one boy be "there" when they set the alarm off. It still isn't a fun time for them, but they know what's coming.

Good luck!

It really is simple. Just treat others kindly and with respect.

Robin

From: jmlrgs1870 <jmlrgs1870@...>Subject: ( ) Help coping with school fire drill alarm noise Date: Monday, April 5, 2010, 12:23 AM

Does anyone have any advice on how to help my dd cope with the fire drills they have throughout the school year? The alarm is so loud and she is scared to go to school because they might have a drill. It's become a major daily issue for her. How can AS children learn to adapt to loud noises like this fairly quickly?

[Guest guest]

The fire alarm drill was also very tramatic for my daughter. I sat down with

her, her teacher and her principal, and we all agreed that the morning before a

fire alarm goes off the principal will come in and talk to her to let her know.

The teacher also lets her know right before it goes off and has her cover her

ears before it starts.

Just having the advanced notice and assurance that it will not (hopefully!) ever

go off unexpectadly has helped my daughter conciderably. She is still paranoid

and reacts when it goes off; however, the reaction is no longer a complete

meltdown. No matter what building we go in she notices the fire alarm system

and comments about it, but she no longer panics when she sees it.

Best of luck!

Amie

>

> Does anyone have any advice on how to help my dd cope with the fire drills

they have throughout the school year? The alarm is so loud and she is scared to

go to school because they might have a drill. It's become a major daily issue

for her. How can AS children learn to adapt to loud noises like this fairly

quickly?

>

[Guest guest]

My advice would be to talk with the teacher and/or social worker. For planned

fire drills the teachers know they are coming, but don't tell the kids in order

to have them practice what it would be like in a real fire situation. I would

think that the teacher/social worker would be able to make an exception for your

daughter where they can give her some advance warning and have a plan where she

can walk with the teacher for some comfort on the way out. If you explain that

she is really scared to come to school EVERY day because she isn't sure if there

will be a drill or not that will probably help. They want her to be at school

and be comfortable enough to learn- not constantly worrying about fire drills

that only happen a few days per year. Your daughter would probably have to

agree not to tell the other students, but she may look at that as having a big

responsibility and do very well with it. Hope that helps!

>

> Does anyone have any advice on how to help my dd cope with the fire drills

they have throughout the school year? The alarm is so loud and she is scared to

go to school because they might have a drill. It's become a major daily issue

for her. How can AS children learn to adapt to loud noises like this fairly

quickly?

>