My son was terrified (screaming like he was being tortured anytime a dryer was turned on) of dryers in restrooms. He was also terrified of hair dryers. So, it was easier for us to start with hair dryers because it was easier to do at home (vs public). It only took us a couple of weeks to turn this around. I had 2 hair dryers and gave one to my son and I kept one. We started by playing with them in separate rooms like they were guns. I'd hide behind something (door) and quickly turn the dryer on/off and laugh and say "I got you!" ( from 20-30 feet away). At first he was afraid, but my husband helped him play. After a few days, he'd get closer to the dryer and I'd blow it in his hair and he'd blow his back at me. After he got really comfortable with this, I told him the dryers in the restrooms were just like the hair dryers at home and had him turn it on and blow it at his hair. In no time at all, I had the problem that he wanted to turn on all the dryers in the restrooms multiple times! But, I can live with that!

It may be the abrupt nature and volume of the sound. I don't know about desensitizing to the sound itself; that sounds very uncomfortable to me. But you may want to try headphones or ear plugs. Had a similar problem with automatic toilets, dryers, and vacuums years ago.

There is auditory training that one can try (hyperacusis) but not enough research on it and takes long. Our son doesn't like very loud sound or the hand dryers either. Maybe buy noise cancelling headphones and show using hand dryer with headphone isnt so bad - hopefully that can overcome the anxiety / fear part? Just an idea and we havent tried this yet.

Mine was also reactingthe same way. ABA therapy and OT have been very successful in managing those sensory issues.

I wanted to reply b/c this thread helped me desensitize our 4YO to dryers and I think our experience could help the next family struggling w/this. We were going on a big trip with lots of new, non-residential bathrooms and I wanted him to be able to use the restrooms at these places. He was TERRIFIED of dryers. Like screaming, crawling up my body to get away from them, etc.

So, like Andcoop, we started at home w/ the hair dryer, which he was also wary of. I used a ping-pong ball on it to draw him in and make it fun, since he saw a similar device at a kid's museum and was fascinated by it. I started with trying to get him to grab the ball off of the gust of air of the hair dryer. He wanted to watch but didn't want to touch. So I had him count me down and I grabbed it. We also did countdowns with turning the hair dryer on/off so that the ball would fly up. I did a few minutes at a time every hour on the first day and we worked up to him grabbing the ball out and turning the hair dryer on and off himself as he got more used to it. Second day, I got him to put his hand in the air and after many times doing that, I started tilting the hair dryer (you can tilt it a lot while still keeping the ball on it) and then "accidentally" letting it slip too far and blow on him. It blows on him a little, but the ball also drops and it's a hilarious oopsie, so there was enough other stuff going on that he wasn't bothered by the air blowing on him. I'd do this whole routine for just a few minutes at a time every hour or so, and talk about how it's just like the hand dryer in the bathroom. For most of this, he'd give me a countdown/control when/where things were blowing.

He got cool with the hair dryer so the next day we went to Macy's, which is 1) not too busy and 2) has a lounge just outside the bathrooms where we could sit. The 1st day we just sat outside and looked at my phone while people went in and used the toilets/dryers. We were close enough that we could hear it all but didn't have to be inside. I will say here that my son is VERY bribe-able with any type of screen time, so that a lot during his process. I can't remember if we went in at all on the 1st day. If we did, it was when no one else was in there, and I held him while he counted me down and *I* activated the hand dryer and put *my* hands underneath.

Over the next few days we went back to Macy's a few more times and worked up to him activating the hand dryer and putting his hands under. There was negotiating involved still, but he was much more calm and confident and willing to participate than he would've been the week before. I wish I'd budgeted more time so I could have gone a little more slowly, but he ended up being fine on the trip and now loves doing the hand dryers in bathrooms.

Overall, I was really happy with how things worked out. It showed me that even things that seem impossible (like him being STOKED to use a hand dryer) are achievable with persistence and patience.