My fear of the bell made me look more Aspie at school

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I've always had a true phobia of the school bell, as I probably have mentioned here before. Not just because they're loud and sudden, but also because I don't like the look of them, and it has just given me a lifelong pathological fear.

At primary school I used to walk out of the assembly hall (with the rest of the school) when assembly finished, and with my fingers in my ears because I was afraid of the bell ringing for playtime. The teachers knew the bell worried me, but I think they assumed that I put my fingers in my ears because of all the noise of the children, but that was NOT it at all. The noise of the children never worried me, as I could filter it out just like most people.

Then at secondary school, as a teenager, I avoided standing too near a bell between classes, so when everybody was waiting in the corridors to be let into the classroom, I used to isolate myself from the rest of the kids by standing further down the corridor. That looked very Aspie, because it looked like I was too afraid to be around other children, but, again, it wasn't that at all. But I was too embarrassed to tell other children or the teachers that it was the bell I didn't like, so I just made myself look antisocial.

Maybe that was partly why I received a diagnosis at 8 years old. Apparently I was observed by a professional at primary school, and she probably took note of me covering my ears in the corridors a lot. She probably thought I was just afraid of all the noise. But I only had a phobia of the bell, no other loud noises. Not even balloons popping.