A question, please

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I am the mother of a beautiful 6 year old girl with Asperger's. Lately she is complaining of ringing in her ears. I am trying to figure out if this is tinitus or if this might be a sensitivity that she has. When she was younger, she suffered from multiple ear infections and has had PE tube since the age of 18 months. Her hearing is normal. I am wondering if any other parents of children with AS or people with autism/Asperger's have experienced this. I, too, sometimes have ringing in my ears, but it seems that the frequency that she is telling me it is happening is is pretty high. Any thoughts?
Thank you all, kindly.

it might very well be tinitus, or it might be that she's hearing power transformers; is she mostly complaining when near the tv or simular equipment?

Yes, it is quite possible for electrical or electronic equipment to generate high frequency noise that older people can't hear--our high frequency hearing degrades as we get older. Perhaps the easiest test is to turn the device (computer, lights, appliance, ...) off and see if the problem goes away.

Izzeme- thank you for your prompt reply! It happens in a variety of places, but she will mainly tell me about it when we are in our home. Our home is very open concept, so the living room, kitchen, dining room are all one big room. At first I thought it might be the fridge she was hearing, but she will tell me that it is happening even when the fridge is not running. Last night I put her to bed and turned on her CD player for her, and she told me that the ringing was back and asked me if I could hear it. Do you think it is possible that she hears transformers. Both my children seem to have extremely acute hearing. (my 2 1/2 year old will hear airplanes flying over the house when we are inside with all the windows shut and when there are other noises in the home that pretty much drown out the plane). I am not sure if it is worth consulting her pediatrician or simply waiting until the next time we need to go in for an appointment. I've asked her to, as much as possible, tell me when it happens so I can track the frequency. I don't want this to cause her any problems.

Heh heh.

Never title a thread with "A Question, Please" in a forum filled with autistics. Our literal interpretations and penchant for word games will get you a long list of random questions because that's what you asked for.

wavefreak58 - I appreciate the input - and it has been noted! Thanks!
BTDT - I will try what you are suggesting. Turning off the appliances is certainly and easy way to see if the ringing stops. Thank you, too!

Auditory therapy might make her life more comfortable.
I remember when I could hear lightbulbs whistle.

I hear a lot of noises that other people in my home can't hear or have trouble hearing. I have an electrical outlet that I can hear noise from if I put my ear near it. I have a tv where I hear a high pitched noise if I put my ear near it even if it's turned off. I've had Nintendo DS plugs that make a high pitched noise when plugged in. My hearing is too sensitive and I notice noises others can't hear or just don't pay attention to.

A ringing sound? Pink noise? My guess would be cathode ray tube monitors & tvs.

Could possibly even be from next door neighbors, I always notice when they turn on the TV even when I can't see the blue light dancing on their window shades.

I know I can hear vy high frequencies, up to 30kHz.

Flourescents & Incandescent lights are more of a buzzing sounds to me. Neons are the worst. Oil radiant space heaters: buzzing. Refrigerators: whirring cricket sound. Fans: whirring. Transformers: buzzing. VCR & tape decks: both low throbbing and high ringing. Freeway traffic 1/2 mile away: white noise. Bad electrical outlets: high ringing. Digital Clocks: buzzing or ringing.

With electronics (special interest of mine) it is typically bad electrolytic capacitors that cause the high ringing sounds. They have about a 10 year lifespan before they need to be replaced, so any older electronics will cause a ringing sound as they age, unless they are operated continuously. Electrolytic Capacitors are part of the power supply in every electronic device, they filter AC to DC. Sometimes they go "microphonic," where if they are subjected to a physical vibration, they "ring" out a note that is at the top of or above the human range of hearing. As they wear out, they "ring" continuously.

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You could walk the child around the house and note where the sounds are most prominent to them, might help you narrow down your search.

I have this problem frequently. I would imagine that you would not be giving a 6 year old caffeine, but that is one of the things that makes it worse for me. Sometimes there is caffeine in strange places like jelly beans. I stopped mentioning hearing things often because I eventually found out that others didn't hear anything and I didn't want to be weird. Earplugs are a great thing for me to take a break from all the noises in the room.

I hear ringing sometimes and also phantom noises that others can't hear. It's the worst when I am going to bed. All electronics must be turned off. If the ringing is constant and unrelated to location, it is likely tinnitus. Otherwise, it is probably something she is hearing such as electronics, household appliances, etc. I suggest keeping a journal of sports of when it happens, noting down the time and the location.

Thank you, everyone. I will try all the suggestions posted.
I have another question... I notice some "scores" at the bottom of some of the postings. Whate are these?

The case is that aspies love to get their condition(s) put into some system. There are individual reasons for this, but if I should pick something I would say that it is because they have been mislabelled most of their life and now they can put a measure and understanding behind their "weirdness".
It's really fantastic to get some answers.

I don't have much to add to this except that I've had tinnitus in my left ear (constant, it does not come and go) for most of my life due to a loud noise, which was meant to be a prank.

I'm also surprised nobody has pointed this out yet, but tinnitus is considered a symptom. Thus, any ringing in the ears is tinnitus.

If you want to figure out your daughter's tinnitus, you should actually go read up on it.

I don't recall ever not having ringing in my ears. When I was really little, I thought that's what people meant by "silence."

Also, I can hear cathode ray tubes, old radio tubes, and used to be able to hear ALL fluorescent lights. The only way you're going to find out if it's something she's actually hearing is to have an all out full blown hearing test done. Ask them to test supposedly non-audible frequencies. You might be surprised what they find.

If they don't find anything, it's probably tinnitus.

My wife can hear dog whistles.