"Zoning out"

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I'm not sure if "zoning out" is the term to use for what I experienced frequently as a child, but often when I would be very focused on something I found interesting it's as if my hearing would temporarily stop working. My parents could be standing there calling my name repeatedly and I honestly could not hear them until I finally "snapped out of it". If anything I would hear a muffled unintelligible drone of background sound.

That still happens to me from time to time, but not as often.

Awhile back I was standing at an appointment desk at a doctor's office waiting my turn. While I was standing there I noticed a flat screen TV off to the side and I was reading the subtitles and figuring out what what the topic of that news program was. I must have tuned everything else out because I "came to" listening to the person behind the desk saying: "Sir! Sir? Can you hear me sir? Are you okay, sir?". I think she'd been trying to get my attention for about thirty seconds. I'd completely shut out everything but what I was looking at.

Anyone else experience that to such an intense and all encompassing degree?

I have a similar thing that was also a frequent thing when I was a kid where I would focus on something visually and when thinking of something intently my vision would go out of focus as well and i would be totally lost in my thought shutting out external stimuli.

I've been zoning out all day today... I don't lose hearing but it's like I lose my focus and just stare into space for a while like falling asleep with eyes open. I've been incredibly stressed out lately though so i'm blaming it on that... But it does happen from time to time otherwise as well just not as much as it has lately. Sometimes people snap their fingers at me and ask if i'm present lol.

I get that to some degree, but my ASD son has the extreme version.
If he's hyper focused on something he may as well be on the moon if I try to speak to him.
I've learnt to let him have his "out of this world time" unless it's important, because he's an absolute genius and I think he's that way precisely because of his need to mentally deconstruct everything, and soak up the world like a sponge.
I used to worry that this habit could put him in danger, but I've seen him snap out of it with lightning fast reflexes if the need arises.
He can appear ignorant and rude to people who don't understand him, unfortunately.

I sometimes zone out, especially when I've been feeling stressed or worried about something. I just focus on one particular thing and ignore all else around me. When people try to snap me out of it, I often get confused or panicky.
I tend to zone out quite a bit when I'm somewhere very busy (e.g a supermarket or a very busy shopping centre).

Yeah, I zone out at work a lot.
The guys in my pod sometimes talk to me and expect that I've been hearing their conversation, but I never have a clue, I just don't hear it. I have to ask them what they were talking about, which probably drives them nuts.
I can even zone out in a face-to-face conversation, realise I've missed the last two sentences and have to ask the person to repeat themselves.

This happens not often to me but if so I found me responding to people without even thinking about that what I said at this time just to get rid of them. Sometimes it happens if someone starts smalltalk on a phone while I'm doing something more important in parallel.

It is simply a question of mental focus where the mind skips all interrupts by the language centre of the brain. Just ask him afterwards what he was thinking of and try to talk a little bit about the things. That can cause him to share his thoughts with you sometimes once you are near him at this time. But always take his thoughts seriously because it's more important for him than you are at this time and otherwise he wan't talk anymore about it.

I used to (and still kinda) do that all the time. Drove my parents nuts because they thought I was ignoring them when they called my name. Especially if I was upstairs in my room. They'd eventually come upstairs to yell at me and I'd be so confused cause I would swear I never heard them call. The worst part would be if the first time they called I might mumble something back without realizing it and they'd argue that I clearly heard them since I responded, but I couldnt remember responding lol. The amount of times I randomly said yes to a question I didnt hear... Although zoning out in school has got to be the worst.

I zone out all the time. I think of it as one of my ways of coping with all the difficult stuff in my life. I will get lost in my thoughts know matter where I am or what I am doing. I got ninja like reflexes when I zone out. If someone throws a ball my way while I'm zoned out , I will catch it or block it.

I did this as a kid, and still do so to this day. It drives my wife insane. She says I do it all the time, but of course I have no recollection of it.