can you qualitatively describe your "heightened senses&

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For me, it's not like my senses are sharper than those of a non-AS person. It's more like they have non-linear behavioral effects on me.

For example, a truck idling sound may simply be background noise for a co-worker, but for me it sets my teeth on edge. I doubt that the sound is actually any louder for me. I don't seem to be able to detect low threshold sounds better than most people. Maybe just a tiny bit better. I'm not Wolverine here.

Also, I find that unexpected sounds make me jump out of my skin. Almost a full body spasm type thing. Again, I don't think they are actually louder than how a NT hears them. But they are more upsetting.

Is this the experience of any others here?

Yes. I am the same way with sounds as you describe yourself to be. I'd describe sounds as basically being distractions. Distractions however are nothing minor, especially when they're interrupting concentration.

Just now two very annoying ones are happening... a truck backing up with beeping noise is triggering my dog to bark.

Background noise is like have multiple radio stations all being audible at the same time. I feel like I want to shut them off but can't.

Last edited by faithfilly on 15 Apr 2010, 10:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

I usually can hear the electrical current of a TV as its being turned on within.....maybe a 50 ft. radius? And lately when I go to sleep at night I have this overwhelming sensation that someone is standing next to me.....its like I can hear the air being ripped and moving out of the way for someone. Thats why people usually can't sneak up on me because I hear the air around them moving......does that make sense? I don't know......I remember one time a few years ago I hear this constant high pitched sound. It bugged the hell out of me and I couldn't sleep so I got in the car and drove to where I thought the source was. It was an alarm at a public school about a mile 1/2 out from where I lived.


Dogs barking throws me into a rage. I could be calm as a hindu cow and as soon as a dog barks my hair stands on end and I turn into the incredible hulk. High pitched beeps do the same, as do the sound of babies crying.....actually anyone that cries pisses me off.

I can relate very well to people not being able to sneak up on me for the same reasons you're describing.

One night I was unable to sleep because of a sound coming from across the mountain from where I live. Before daybreak, I was so unnerved that I got in the car and drove towards it to find out how I could put an end to it before it made me more angry. In my case, it was some kind of all night "new-age" festival... a drum beating around a bon fire that was about 4 miles away as the crow flies. If I'm remembering correctly, I think there was cloud coverage causing the sound to reverberate.

your senses are sharper than mine. although babies crying is *crazy making* for me. And I have an infant right now. Fortunately the parental hormones moderate the crazifying hormones.

I have hypersensitivity in the ears, been confirmed by testing by the doctor i go to, so yeah. I can clearly make out what is said in a whisper from very far away. I can hear air movement, and feel it, so im hard to sneak up on as well. And I can relate to those long distance sounds that get annoying.

ive writen a poem describing my sensory issues


ive put it up on fictionpress.net a website for original written work

here is a link to it if yont to read it

http://www.fictionpress.com/s/2785820/1/Sensory_Overload

This is something that puzzles me. Many times, I have complained about a sound that others around me don't seem to hear, or maybe it just wasn't registering for them the way it was for me? I would get the impression that my hearing was sharper than theirs, but couldn't be certain.

The truck idling sound is enough to make me go ballistic. On garbage pick-up day, I have to wear ear plugs, because the trucks have to go slowly, picking up garbage and idling their engines. Once, I lived on the 7th floor of an apartment building. Someone was out in the parking lot in the middle of the night, tinkering with their car. They kept the engine idling, and it was making me crazy. I couldn't sleep, because it was vibrating in my pillow. I finally called the management and complained. They were amazed that this was bothering me.

Same here!

Is this the experience of any others here?[/quote]

I startle very easily because I hate unexpected sounds, particularly if they are moderately loud. It's one of the reasons I hate horns honking (particularly emergency vehicle horns) and buzzers going off but mind sirens less. When I was a child, I hated the noises the dishwasher and the furnace made because they would "click on" at various, seemingly random times. I also used to hate clocks ticking and could hear them through the entire house. Thank goodness that's no longer an issue for me.

I can feel my anxiety levels shoot way up for a brief second when a loud, unexpected sound occurs, then I identify and rationalize what the sound is and it goes away.

Something that always gets me, though, is styrofoam. I won't even touch the stuff for fear it will squeak. I can relate really well to the "electric shocks to the brain" analogy when this happens. It sucks. I can't imagine what life would be like if I had a whole ton of those triggers...

I really dislike the noise that my refrigerator makes when it cycles on and off. It always starts with a bass sort of noise, and stops with a loud click. Each time I find it incredibly distracting. Ditto with ticking clocks, BTW.

Yes, the same. I keep a fan running, or the radio on all night, to make a white-noise sort of situation so that any other sounds are muted and I can sleep.

For me, I mostly don't think I'm oversensitive. I'm light sensitive though, I feel more comfortable wearing the react-a-light glasses (glasses that change from normal glasses to sunglasses from exposure to sunlight) because light can hurt my eyes distractingly. Also, my clothes have to be comfortable (could be a sensory issue but I'm hesitant to call it that because it could easily be a typical thing). I think I may have some of the audio issues though.

I actually just experienced a phenomenon that isn't really a negative reaction to a sound....but it is a strange one. Walking onto a balcony over a lobby full of people, as the sounds and noises of talking, moving, things beeping washed over me, I was momentarily "frozen" or "hypnotized", like a dear in headlights. It wasn't entirely unpleasant, in a dreamy sort of way it was nice, and it has happened before. If I had been down in the lobby, with the people, it would have been decidedly less pleasant.


anyone else?

I believe you may have hyper-acuitism, or overly-sensitive hearing, like I myself have. I can hear computer moniters from a distance, and they often make me want to scream and literally damage it until it is unservicable. Same thing with fire-alarms, the sound of thin plastic rubbing against something, and other high-pitched noises. It is not uncommon for autistics. I also suffer from phtophobia. I often literally cannot see/open my eyes at about noon because of the sunlight, even on an overcast day. I usually carry earplugs around with me, and have Transitions prescription lenses.

Heh, I feel sorry for the people at funerals (if you have gone/will go to one). And I know what you mean about the air thing. It's like... You stop hearing the air circulating, rather than hearing it. And the TV thing, and the same phenomenon applies to the PC monitor thing I mentioned in my above comment. But yes, you DO have hyper-acuitism.

I think I have experienced a similar thing. Once it happened in a restaurant. The place was not very busy, and not very noisy. There was a moment, when things just seemed to blend together into a pleasant, patchwork quilt of sensory bits; the pleasant clinking of dishes, the soft thud as the waitress set water glasses on tablecloths, the gentle rustle of her order pad as she prepared to write, the muted clash of pots and pans from the kitchen. Even the conversations around me were quiet, and congenial. I just closed my eyes and allowed it to wash over me.