Music class - Earplugs - good solution?

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So I'm in my third year of a Bachelor of Music degree. It's required by my degree to take a certain number of courses from course list A, a certain number from course list B, and so on. So one of the courses I picked up to cover list A is Percussion Methods.

Basically, it's a course that teaches you the basics of percussion instruments. What I want to do with my degree is either music therapy or composing, and percussion methods is mainly meant for those going into teaching, but I need to take a certain number of courses from that list.

Anyway, I am very sound sensitive. And the snare drum feels like a shock in my brain. But I don't want to drop the course, other than the noise it really is fun to hit things with sticks. I'm registered with Student Accessibility Services as having Asperger's, so I'm going to inform the teacher and see if he'll let me wear earplugs in class if I need to.

The only thing I'm afraid of is that this will mark me as different than my classmates. If any classmate were to ask me why I'm wearing earplugs, I'd just say I'm sound sensitive, but people can be cruel to those who are different.

i went to an art high school for music and have played insrtuments in bands almost my entire childhood and wore earplugs through out. im sure that if high school students and teachers can be understanding than university ones should be aswell.

I'm a professional percussionist with Aspergers. I wear ear plugs when I play or practice. Some drums are very loud, like the snare drum. Some others, like hand drums and small percussion, can be played very quietly. I don't think anyone will think you strange if you wear earplugs. Explaining that you have sensitive hearing should be enough. If not, then they are not very understanding.

Good luck and have fun!

i also wear earplugs when i play music, i got specially made 'musicians earplugs'; these dont deform the sound like regular industrial ones do, so i still hear the music as if unprotected, just at a lower intensity.
as a bonus, these fit fully inside my ears and i chose to have them skin-colored, so they are nearly invisible if you dont actively look for them.
i have surprized someone sitting next to me in the band for over a year by pulling out the plugs after practice, as i did every time, but only after a year he realised

Just find some earplugs to use. As long as they're not really huge and eye catching, you should be fine. It's much better to have good hearing, and over time loud instruments can cause hearing loss. I don't know about you, but I depend extensively on my hearing in all walks of life, though I wasn't really aware of it until recently.

I learnt drums for a while and was told to wear special musician earplugs to protect my ears if I were gonna be drumming for any period of time. My drumming instructor's ears are quite damaged after years of drumming. So you do have a valid reason for wearing earplugs.

I've thought about this recently for singing because for a a lot of reasons that I've sure you can relate to. But the confirmation that people use it, helps. Some of the problems I have is that I recognize pitch faster with the sense of touch and my sense are hearing is sometimes too acute. I can hear everthing at once and feel the key of the music when I cover my ears. I would imagine that they would help alot.

Please protect your hearing.

I'm a music major and wear Etymotic Research earplugs. They're GREAT and don't give that "stuffy head" feel that other earplugs do, because they're designed with musicians in mind.

You can order a pair for (I think) US $25 from their website: http://www.etymotic.com/hp/er20.html

They come in pretty colors too

Again, please protect your hearing. The reason children always plug their ears at things we think aren't loud is because children have the CORRECT hearing level. Most people's hearing has been significantly damaged already, but they don't realize it. I've been fortunate enough to have musician parents that have helped protect my hearing, and I keep it up as much as I possibly can, because music is my life and spirit and I don't want to go deaf.