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fern_77

Active Member
V.I.P Member
Today I had gym class for fourth period. I sat on the floor on my computer and did not participate because I find gym overwhelming. It is still overwhelming when I am not participating because there is lots of noise and sometimes I feel like I have to keep an eye on the ball because I worry about it hitting me, but it is less overwhelming when I do not participate than when I do. I did not talk during gym. After gym I told my gym teacher that I do not participate in gym because I have sensory issues due to my being autistic. I had trouble telling him because I was stumbling over my words and I felt embarrassed.

In 5th period physics I talked a bit, but not much.

In 6th period I felt tired and did not want to talk at all. I did not say a word and only communicated with sounds.

After 6th period I had a meeting with my guidance counselor. I told her that I didn't want to talk and she asked if we could talk for five minutes. I agreed to it because I didn't want to be rude. I answered most of her questions in short responses, but some of them I had longer responses to. Eventually we talked about me asking people for things more and she said I could ask her if we could be done talking, as it had been longer than five minutes. I eventually managed to ask her, but I had trouble getting the words out and teared up (I think the tearing up was because I felt guilty for asking if we could stop talking). I sat there for a bit longer and responded to the things she said with "mm" sounds. I brought up one thing she had said earlier, but that was it. Then I left.

I didn't speak at all 8th period and haven't spoken at all yet this period (9th). I don't plan on talking for at least another hour.

What I don't understand is why I feel so averse to speaking today. I'm normally not like this. Typically, although I don't talk much at school, I don't feel averse to talking. But today I have wanted to be silent for a good amount of the school day and have also struggled to get words out at some points. I have considered the fact that it may be autistic burnout, but I don't know.
 
What I don't understand is why I feel so averse to speaking today. I'm normally not like this. Typically, although I don't talk much at school, I don't feel averse to talking. But today I have wanted to be silent for a good amount of the school day and have also struggled to get words out at some points. I have considered the fact that it may be autistic burnout, but I don't know.
To me this sounds like a shutdown. It happens to me too - if I've had a busy or stressful day (it sounds like you did), or have already talked a lot - I get to the point where I don't want to talk and it's such an immense effort to do so, I resist it and clam up, no more energy. I need down time. Or, if someone is talking to me one to one, I'm good for about half an hour, then want out.
 
Do you wear earplugs in gym class? I would highly recommend wearing high fidelity earplugs in noisy environments. You can buy them in a clear variety and they're more or less invisible. They also don't block out sound to the degree that expandable foam earplugs do so you'd still be able to hear instructor directives, etc. High fidelity earplugs "take the edge off" and help filter out the background noise that causes confusion and overload.
 
Do you wear earplugs in gym class? I would highly recommend wearing high fidelity earplugs in noisy environments. You can buy them in a clear variety and they're more or less invisible. They also don't block out sound to the degree that expandable foam earplugs do so you'd still be able to hear instructor directives, etc. High fidelity earplugs "take the edge off" and help filter out the background noise that causes confusion and overload.
I agree having worked in a Noisy enviroment for years.
 
Do you wear earplugs in gym class? I would highly recommend wearing high fidelity earplugs in noisy environments. You can buy them in a clear variety and they're more or less invisible. They also don't block out sound to the degree that expandable foam earplugs do so you'd still be able to hear instructor directives, etc. High fidelity earplugs "take the edge off" and help filter out the background noise that causes confusion and overload.
i have these but i haven't worn them in gym for a while because i find that they do not help me very much, as they only make sounds a bit quieter. i have big noise cancelling headphones that work well, but i do not wear them in school often because i worry about being made fun of (no one has made fun of me for wearing them yet, but i still worry about it)
 
i have these but i haven't worn them in gym for a while because i find that they do not help me very much, as they only make sounds a bit quieter. i have big noise cancelling headphones that work well, but i do not wear them in school often because i worry about being made fun of (no one has made fun of me for wearing them yet, but i still worry about it)

I've used the ones you have before. I assumed you wanted a "middle ground", where you could still hear directives from the teacher, warnings from others: "Watch out for that ball!", etc. If you don't have to be able to hear things in that class and want to go for maximum noise filtering but be more indiscreet. Maybe these?
images

They're fairly clear in color. They're moldable, very comfortable and block out a lot of sound. They're also semi-reusable if you have clean hands and clean ears, but they're intended to be single use; that's the only drawback.
 
I've used the ones you have before. I assumed you wanted a "middle ground", where you could still hear directives from the teacher, warnings from others: "Watch out for that ball!", etc. If you don't have to be able to hear things in that class and want to go for maximum noise filtering but be more indiscreet. Maybe these?
images

They're fairly clear in color. They're moldable, very comfortable and block out a lot of sound. They're also semi-reusable if you have clean hands and clean ears, but they're intended to be single use; that's the only drawback.
i want to be able to hear directives from the teacher but if i'm able to hear that then i'd probably be able to hear everything everyone else is saying too which i don't want. i appreciate you recommending those earplugs for me, i might look into them later if i remember to do so
 
I'm not very talkative myself. I can, and I do when I need to, but I'm usually pretty quiet (unless I'm meowing or making noises at myself).
Still, sometimes I just don't want to. If I'm tired, sick, upset, or overwhelmed, then I find it hard to speak at all. In more extreme circumstances I find myself unable to speak at all, but this is fairly rare.
At work, though, it can be very loud, and if my job didn't depend on it I would hardly speak at all.
 
I'm not very talkative myself. I can, and I do when I need to, but I'm usually pretty quiet (unless I'm meowing or making noises at myself).
Still, sometimes I just don't want to. If I'm tired, sick, upset, or overwhelmed, then I find it hard to speak at all. In more extreme circumstances I find myself unable to speak at all, but this is fairly rare.
At work, though, it can be very loud, and if my job didn't depend on it I would hardly speak at all.
i see. also, i meow too!
 

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