Aspies' sensitivity to high-pitched sounds

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I can't stand the high pitched whine some electronics make. It drives me nuts. Usually I'm the only one who can hear it too.

I also hate all the beeps & buzzes electronics like phones, computers, etc. make. When I get a new device, the 1st thing I do is find out how to disable all the sounds.

Surprise loud noises can really bother me. If I'm prepared, I can cover my ears or use earplugs.

I have tinnitus, so there's usually some sort of high freq hum going on (like right now). I've learned to ignore it, or if it's real bad, mask it with other sounds/music.

To whiterat: I used to watch random JPop videos on Youtube. Um, my cousin used to bring DVDs such as Inuyasha over to watch during family gatherings. I thought that most female singers and seiyuus sounded quite high-pitched.

To ictus75: My computer once made high-pitched buzzes that puzzled everyone. It broke down soon afterwards. If I remembered correctly, it was sent for repairs.

I found out off my doctor that I am really oversensitive to sound and light, and the buzzing of computer towers, a smoke alarm, a car alarm and especially fireworks and thunder and lightning really scare me so I will generally not go out in that kind of weather, My tinnitus I can generally ignore as I love listening to music as I don't like it when it is really quiet either.

In Japanese culture women with low voices are considered unfeminine. So basically the high pitch voice thing is due to tradition and culture.

About noticing high pitched sounds, I've always picked up on high frequencies. I find that I often have to leave some shops and areas in the city (Melbourne) due to ultra high frequencies that my friends are not really bothered by.

Try to avoid listening to anything by Alva Noto or Ryoji Ikeda . . .

I've been bothered by the sounds of CRT tvs my whole life. Luckily flatscreens don't male as much noise. As far as what to do about it I think the best option might be to invest in professional grade earplugs designed to be worn all day. That's how I cope with intense sound regardless of it's pitch.

Violin concertos are pure unadulterated hell.

If you have a desktop PC try going here

http://www.quietpc.com/

Replacing the stock fans with noctua ones helps a lot, as does getting an older graphics card with a silent heatsink and a quiet power supply.

I think I was a little more sensitive to this when I was a kid. I remember first starting kindergarten and having to take the school bus for the first time. You know when the bus stops and the break mechanism makes that sudden really high pitched compressed air sound? Well I couldn't stand that sound and would plug my ears the whole duration of the bus ride because of that. I recall being teased by a few kids for doing it but I'd rather deal with the teasing than the high pitched sound. It doesn't bother me now but back then it was torture for me.

To this day I still cannot STAND the sound of screaming babies/kids. Whether it be because they are throwing a tantrum or because they are hurt or just being stupidly annoying, I loath the sound and if I hear it I will visibly cringe. It's especially awful at work because I can't exactly escape it, and most parents these days don't even care.

I'm also one of those people that can hear the frequency sounds of TVs and the like. Even if there's no picture on the screen I can still tell when it's turned on by that sound. It's amazed a few people before.

Ironically, I LOVE electronic dance music, and that involves some very interesting sound combinations.

I always hear the sound of CRT TVs or certain lights, sometimes really loud if the item is in bad repair. I can easily hear a TV on several rooms away without any sound on, by the noise it makes. I suppose this is part of the reason I never watch TV, but just videos on my computer monitor (LCD).

This is particularly bad when I'm stressed. Worst case scenario happened a couple of days ago with a midterm I was writing when a florescent light gave up the ghost suddenly above my desk. It greyed out, and started making a medium loud really high pitched noise, and went back between being back on and being off with the high pitched noise every 10 min. or so for the rest of the test. The most irritating part is that it didn't appear to bug anyone else. I'm not entirely sure if it interfered much with my test (I suppose it probably did some, but I wasn't doing so well on it anyway), but I don't think it the others would have liked it much if they were trying to write the test with a car alarm blaring outside the classroom half the test duration. At least the light didn't start flickering too; that would have been quite unbearable.

If you're curious about your hearing range, here's a test: link
I can hear up to and including the 17k tone properly (however, the 18k and 19k tones still sound different than nothing...they make a noise for me, but not of an identifiable note) (they say that the CRT is at 15.6k).

Last edited by dancing_penguin on 03 Nov 2011, 10:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Vacuums and hair dryers are the main offenders for me, so I just don't use them. I sweep and let my hair dry naturally. If I absolutely HAVE to vaccuum, I just deal with it and get it done as quickly as possible.

Interesting test! I've pretty much killed my hearing by wearing in-ears every day of my life for the past 15 years. But I can hear up to 15K, can't hear 16, 17, 19, or 20, but CAN hear 18K.

I totally LOVE both of them!
Ironically I also make noise music and go to lots of noise shows.

Check the last section of my track(DeadAntsProcess) on this Australian noise compilation album:
Unshaven Maelstrom vol. 1 (2011)
http://beardmafiarecords.webs.com/downloads.htm

Ughhhhh. High-pitched and "beepy" sounds are the worst! Trucks backing up, typical beeping alarm clocks... they seriously make me want to jam pens in my ears just to make. the. sound. stop.

I've unplugged my fridge before when the hum it's made has gotten too unbearable, but I do spend a lot of time with silicone earplugs in. I'll also listen to bands like Sigur Ros, Amiina, etc. that are soft and ambient and can drown out the ugly.

It's awful. I have to turn a fan on and that usually helps me sleep better. I just cover my ears and then walk away from the noise.

In my previous apartment one thing that drove me into horrible panic attacks was when my landlord put a gfci outlet in the bathroom. It constantly made a humming/buzzing noise that would sometimes get louder for a while for no apparent reason. It was installed through the bathroom light and I was so relieved when I discovered the outlet had no power going to it and was quiet if the light switch was off. From then until we moved we had to go to the bathroom by flashlight.

These things have been a curse my ENRTIRE half century on this planet!
EMT vehicle sirens can cause me to howl like a dog. OR at least cover my ears and crouch..
Sudden fire alarms, chalkboards (well who doesn't hate this one?! LOL), but the worst is babies or toddlers that start high-pitched screaming or crying. My instincts to help get overloaded, as to my senses. This STILL uglues me. I hate going into Wal*Marts( even when I worked for the Evil Empire )because you always are exposed to this.
Also, very high, loud notes in music, even in the variety of Rock I still love, can be very, very unpleasent.
I have not yet found a way to deal with these things besides trying to avoid them as best I can.

Sincerely,
Matthew