Noise and concentration

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I can't concentrate when there's noise in the background. Random noises, like a car passing by or a dog barking, are OK; my problem is with organized sounds like speech and music. I think it's because my brain automatically tries to decode and understand it.

Does this happen to any of you? Do you think it might have something to do with Asperger's, or maybe sensory integration disorder?

i think im the opposite dude. i can concentrate more about backround noise than i can something thats right infront of me.

Well, concentrating with noise in the background is often difficult for me as well. And as it seems for the same reasons as for you...I guess it has to do with both- decoding and understanding as part of Aspergers, and sensory integration disorder..which is autistic trait.

That's a relief, my mom sometimes makes me feel bad about it. Apparently, asking her to shut her door when she's listening to the radio (my door is always shut, but it takes two doors to block out the noise) shows that I want to make people unhappy. She'd probably be more understanding if I told her about Asperger's.

I need something in the background to concentrate. If it is too quite, my mind wonders off... At work I have a radio next to my desk; I set the volume low, no one can hear it but me. If it is too quiet, forget it. In college, I always studied with the TV on, something stupis like wheel of fortune. I wish there were as many cable channels back then as today. I just think how much I could have gotten accomplished with Nick At Night running in the background...

Absolutely! My TV's always on, Star Trek mostly, but I hardly ever watch it. I absolutely must mute it in order to compose more than a few words. At work this can be a problem when I have to write a procedure, which I'm doing a lot since this library has never done an inventory before, because there're always people talking.

I have this problem as well. I can't concentrate most of the time when music or a conversation is taking place, and most of the time I do my homework at night because I can't concentrate with my brothers constantly talking and playing music and what-not. A big distraction for me was when my sister (before graduating high school and moving out) had her drumset and she (or my brother) played it. The practice drumpads are also distracting and annoying when trying to do homework. It always helps for me to go in a quiet, secluded place that has a cool temperature (I can't work in high heat either; it doesn't have anything to do with the noise issue, however). Anyways, it sucks when this happens, because I fall into sleep deficit for a week because I stay up at night (not all night; just really late when nobody is up). It's always good to take control and try not to pay attention and concentrate really hard (like zone out), because it's always worth it to get work done instead of letting the sound take over (which is what I've found over the years). Another good thing to work with (that I've done a couple times) is to work with earplugs or to work with those sound-proof ear protectors; that works really good.

Yeah, I'm considering that to solve the problem at work.

If there is so much noise, it's impossible to hear any one particular thing, I can drown it out. Like in a bar or crowd. But in a restaurant where there is mood music and/or the dumb conversations that pierce the air, it's impossible to concentrate on anything else. TV and music at home is also distracting. Music in the car really helps, though.
Some appliance noises still really bother me. The swamp cooler being on high, weird whistling noises, fans. My own dog has an alarm bark that I can't stand and I always tap the window to shut him up, sometimes even going out to soothe him. My husband thinks it's a waste of time. Other dogs don't bother me.

Noise often overloads me. The less, the better. The worst noises are ones that are not constant. A fan is a constant noise, less likely to bother me because I get used to it. But something like, say, music or traffic or loud neighbours, shatters my ability to concentrate on anything.

Some noises that are not constant I find soothing or interesting though. Strangely, we used to live near a railroad when I was a kid, and my parents used to go nuts - they said it sounded like it was driving through the living room when they slept at night. But I remember it as a very exciting and good sound. Noises now that I like are the sounds of cars on a nearby bridge (it's a very sort of eerie sound at night when it's quiet enough to hear), distant trains, crickets, and birds singing.

I cannot concentrate on anything if there is background noise of the speech or song variety. "Organised sounds", as the first poster refered to it, and I agree. For example, I cannot concentrate on a television show if someone is talking on the telephone out in the hallway. It is frustrating because I can't understand a word being spoken between the characters on TV if there's organised sound going on in the background. I can't even hold a concersation with someone if other people are talking nearby, because the distraction is so great. Certain music is okay, if it is simple and melodic without words, but if I know the tune too well this distracts me too, as my mind attaches myself to it and insists on 'humming along' in my head. I often miss huge chunks of dialogue on TV because someone will start talking on the 'phone in the hall, or my brother will be playing his music upstairs. And I cannot talk to my mom if my brother and his friends are talking in the doorway. I simply can't tune out the secondary 'track' and end up unable to make sense, or fully process, either of them. I cannot even work on a project or piece of writing, because the secondary track clashes with my own, and I can't formulate sentences or ideas. Frustrating indeed.

I can't listen to a person talking if there's music or lots of noise in the background. but i can also hear sounds other people can't. My mom can read while the tv is on and to me that seems like a superpower. At home I have a white noise machine that i turn on to get to sleep or to read and do work if my parents have the tv on downstairs. It was especially useful when i lived in an apartment with roomates. sometimes, though the white noise makes me hear things, like conversations or music that i know aren't there. Also sometimes when there's no noise i hear my cell phone, or someone calling my name, or it used to be the ice cream truck.

I can work fine through steady noise, traffic or music or other peoples conversations. Thats not a problem i just phase it out. However i am often completely unable to hear or talk to someone else when there's and significant noise in the room. I find it really hard to talk and do anything else actually!! I just can concentrate on what their saying or on what i'm thinking.

I have a big problem with most noise. I don't think I filter it out well.

I can't stand any unwanted 'human' sound, like speech, music or TV. It drives me insane. Sound like traffic or a huge storm are no problem. It's definitely type of sound that disturbs me rather than volume.

I feel very much the same - I cannot talk to people in crowds as there are too many other conversations going on. I dislike Television and I only like the radio when I am actually trying to listen to it. Noise bothers me so much that I wear earplugs all the time. I am lucky that I live on the edge of London and not in the centre or near a main road!