Sensitivity To Noise Query

Post Reply New Topic

Is sensitivity to noise a part of Aspergers Syndrome or could it be something else?

Thanks in advance.

It is considered a part of AS,Autism, and SPD.

Yeah, definately. I am an aspie, I HATE loud noises! When I listen to music, I hold my earbuds about 2 or 3 inches from my ears, if I can still hear it I turn it down. I cannot stand listening to live music, because they insist on playing it so loudly! Even when we were on a caribbean cruise, I did not go up to the pools on the top deck very often, because there was a band there. They played very nice tropical music, but it was loud. Out of all my christmas presents I got, and I got some nice ones, my favorite one was a pair of noise-cancelling headphones. They are not very good ones, and one of the ear pads already has a small hole in it, but I love them because of the sweet silence they bring to me.

Sensory Sensitivity in general (no matter which sense is affected) is a part of AS (and others.)

And sound does fall under this category. So I wouldn't worry about seeking too many different opinions on matters.

How to manage it can definitely be something you could learn from here on WrongPlanet or from a health care professional. There are many here (that I have seen on various threads) that have Sound Sensitivity so there is probably a wealth of information for you to tap.

Yes, I am very, very easily distracted by noise.

I have odd sensitivity to noise.... On the TV spoken word needs to be at a higher volume.... anything with a high bass meeds to be low volume, I can hear my roommates walk barefoot down a carpeted hallway, but half the time I cannot hear if someone is calling my name from 2 feet away.

Led Zepplin can be blaring in my earbuds, but I can still hear the conversation being carried out 20 feet behind me. Along with paper shuffling and tapping.

I think a hypersensitivity to noise occurs more often in AS than in the general population. However, I read that it is also more common in some medical conditions such as chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and chronic Lyme disease.

Yes I do have sound sensetivity. What really sucks is today on the bus to school, my idiot bus driver was playing the music really loud, and one of the speakers was right by my seat. I had to cover my ears >_<

Yes, definately.
I actually find many quieter noises more annoying than loud ones. But it depends on the noise--white noise is good, pink noise sucks.

I am around loud music all the time..and have been for a large portion of my life, so in some regards I am desensitised to it. I do wear earplugs alot....

Um...I am sensitve to sudden sounds...sudden loud sounds will jar my thoughs...I am also sensitive to certain frequencies....either really high or really low...my reactions will range from irritability to nausea...uncompressed low bass is my least favorite....

When I am not listening to a live band, I keep my stereo kinda low and I hate it when the stereo is even a fraction louder than i want it to be.....which is odd concidering the number of loud live bands I listen to.

I am also very sensitive to tiny sounds....I will not understand a single word that is being said on the television in the other room, but I am aware of every little external noise that is audible to me in and outside the house....the fridge...the flourescent lights..the fan in the computer..the ac....the ac rattling the loose vent in the next room...and so on...

There's another one which is comorbid to AS and Autism called hyperacusis,it adds more hypersensitivity to what have already got and can change in severity.

it ain' loud music that drives my eardrums nuts- it's usually quick and loud sounds that do it: like gunshots, fireworks, and popping balloons. Plus, I'm jumpy, too.

Funny thing- back in 6th grade, I went to see Les Miserables with my class. My principal lied to me- he told me the cannons weren't loud.

Well, first off, I learned something very important that day- earplugs work for PEOPLE WITH NORMAL HEARING, NOT FOR PEOPLE WITH AUDITORY SENSITIVITY, like ya get with AS.

Yeah, the ear plugs worked a LITTLE bit- cut out like 15% of the noise...but that was it. To this day, they cut out THAT, and nothing more. And it's still loud as all h-e-double hockey sticks.

I was literally crying in my seat, shouting "make it stop!". Yeah...until the end of the school year, I was the laughing stock of my class...AHH the memories...those painful, painful memories...

Heh- the funny thing is, we went to see Les Miserables...I can tell you, from that point on, I was DEFINITELY Le Miserable!

the sensitivity isn't just about volume.
certain noises drive me crazy if i can hear them at all. worse with hearing aids.

I wonder if people post these topics about single symptoms and/or annoyances of AS or autism just to see us discuss. :p

Anyway, yeah. I'm really sensitive to noise. I have absolute pitch and all, but certain noises literally make my body feel like it's on fire. And I've never been on fire before. XD

Sensitive to loud noises. Aspies hear thing as they really are. It helps with Engineering and listening out for defunked machinery. Aspies don't have the social filtering softwere that NTs have.
That is my logical deduction that is almost always correct.

perfect description (except for the led zep). such paradoxical sound experiences
drive me and anyone around me nuts. ad the sharp noise problem (i typically see
bright flashes with sharp noizes) and my tendency to get mezmerized by the sound
from heating/airconditioning vents or other low-constant noises and the normal
soundscape becomes maddening.

the psych. folks i have worked with indicate these odd sound experiences are certainly
characteristics of asp.

earplugs are a god. i am a flents man myself. buy them by the gross.

fg