What the world can sound like for me, an autistic person:

[Magna]

A section of the following song is for me a great example of how my brain can not process or filter noisy environments.

I would recommend fast forwarding to the 25 second mark and listen for one minute until the 1:25 minute mark. I believe that section is a very good example of what the world sounds like to me when there are background noises of any kind and multiple people talking around me. In that section of the song, note how each person talking is talking at the same volume. My brain tries to listen to and analyze each sound at the same level. It does not "push" certain sounds to the background in favor of other sounds. It wants to hear all sounds equally. This is why being out in public can be disorienting to me and mentally taxing. I mitigate this by wearing high fidelity earplugs in public.

 

[Major Tom]

A section of the following song is for me a great example of how my brain can not process or filter noisy environments.

I would recommend fast forwarding to the 25 second mark and listen for one minute until the 1:25 minute mark. I believe that section is a very good example of what the world sounds like to me when there are background noises of any kind and multiple people talking around me. In that section of the song, note how each person talking is talking at the same volume. My brain tries to listen to and analyze each sound at the same level. It does not "push" certain sounds to the background in favor of other sounds. It wants to hear all sounds equally. This is why being out in public can be disorienting to me and mentally taxing. I mitigate this by wearing high fidelity earplugs in public.

I'm getting "Video not available" maybe it's in my country, but usually it says "Video not available in your country or region". Anyone else get the same?

 

[Magna]

If there are problems playing the video, the band is called Yaz and the song is called: I before E except after C.

 

[Major Tom]

If there are problems playing the video, the band is called Yaz and the song is called: I before E except after C.

Thanks, I listened to it, and I can certainly relate, except for me the volume gets amplified on top of all the trying to process all the different conversations going on. But really spot on as far as to the experience.

 

[Sherlock77]

Yup... But then I've always thought that mixing up of different voices like that was something everyone struggled with, not that I would know...

I love music, and when I've listened to mass choirs, live or on video/tv shows, I have trouble hearing what the words are because of the mixing up of voices, especially on a large scale, but I still enjoy it

 

[Neonatal RRT]

Yes,...and for me,...throw in the distraction of 5 frequencies of ringing in my ears (tinnitus).

 

[Magna]

Yes,...and for me,...throw in the distraction of 5 frequencies of ringing in my ears (tinnitus).

I've had lifelong tinnitus most likely since birth. I've never actually heard silence and likely won't. I can empathize.

 

[Magna]

Yup... But then I've always thought that mixing up of different voices like that was something everyone struggled with, not that I would know...

I love music, and when I've listened to mass choirs, live or on video/tv shows, I have trouble hearing what the words are because of the mixing up of voices, especially on a large scale, but I still enjoy it

I assume that everyone does have trouble with following 2,3,4 etc conversations at once. NT brains have an ability to filter sounds in order to be able to focus on the sounds that are important. Listening to someone while conversing with them in a room with numerous other groups of talking with each other: NTs are able to focus on what the person in front of them is saying and more or less ignore the rest of the voices around them. The reason I think that section of the song I posted is a good example of how my brain reacts is that all the voices in that song are essentially the same volume competing with each other. None of the voices are quieter (ie in the background) so the listener struggles to hear all the voices at once.

After being with me for 20 years, my wife understands that I can't converse with her in a crowded setting because I can't focus on what she's saying because my brain is trying to focus on all sounds equally. Sensory overload. Sometimes she'll forget and I'll just shake my head indicating that I can't process what she's trying to say.

For me it's not just voices that I can't filter, it's all sounds.

Another example: It's difficult for me to converse with a person outdoors if there are a lot of nature sounds going on as well. One instance comes to mind when I was talking with someone outside on a windy summer day while we were standing next to a row of tall aspen trees. My brain gave equal attention to the person's voice, the varying sounds of the wind and the clicking, clacking, sizzling sounds of the tree leaves hitting together in the wind. My brain was focused on analyzing (over-analyzing) the various nuances of the wind noise as well as trying to focus intently on the sounds of the leaves while the person was talking.

Hopefully that makes sense.

 

[Major Tom]

I assume that everyone does have trouble with following 2,3,4 etc conversations at once. NT brains have an ability to filter sounds in order to be able to focus on the sounds that are important. Listening to someone while conversing with them in a room with numerous other groups of talking with each other: NTs are able to focus on what the person in front of them is saying and more or less ignore the rest of the voices around them. The reason I think that section of the song I posted is a good example of how my brain reacts is that all the voices in that song are essentially the same volume competing with each other. None of the voices are quieter (ie in the background) so the listener struggles to hear all the voices at once.

After being with me for 20 years, my wife understands that I can't converse with her in a crowded setting because I can't focus on what she's saying because my brain is trying to focus on all sounds equally. Sensory overload. Sometimes she'll forget and I'll just shake my head indicating that I can't process what she's trying to say.

For me it's not just voices that I can't filter, it's all sounds.

Another example: It's difficult for me to converse with a person outdoors if there are a lot of nature sounds going on as well. One instance comes to mind when I was talking with someone outside on a windy summer day while we were standing next to a row of tall aspen trees. My brain gave equal attention to the person's voice, the varying sounds of the wind and the clicking, clacking, sizzling sounds of the tree leaves hitting together in the wind. My brain was focused on analyzing (over-analyzing) the various nuances of the wind noise as well as trying to focus intently on the sounds of the leaves while the person was talking.

Hopefully that makes sense.

Totally makes sense. Thankfully for me, the sounds of nature usually relax me and allow for better concentration unless it those dang cicadas. Wind can sometimes get me too, it's like it's causing a tornado in my eardrums if it gets too windy and is blowing directly into my ears.

 

[Ken]

Oh yes, I can definitely relate.

I was born with a hearing deformity, but the deformity is neurological as opposed to any ear anatomy. The signals from my ears are routed incorrectly in my brain. Audiologists have never figured that out because my hearing does not match their standardized equipment. It’s kind of funny, the audiologist’s equipment says I am deaf, and they tell me this verbally.

In some ways, my hearing disorder has been a blessing. Many autistics seem to have hyper hearing, so I’m thankful to have been spared that torture.

Eventually, I really wanted to hear better. After becoming an electronics design engineer, I designed a hearing aid that works for me. It took a few years to match the electronics to my neurology. But then I spent over a year troubleshooting the very issue of this discussion. Everything runs together. Two or more people taking at once sounds like a foreign language. I can’t make any sense of it. Any other noise occurring while someone is talking obliterates what they are saying. I am also unable to understand the lyrics of any music that includes vocals, because my mind cannot separate the lyrics from the music. Still sounds good, very enjoyable, but forget the lyrics. Any singular sound, music, voice, etc. I can hear perfectly. Finally, after tons of exhaustive testing I realized the issue is not with the hearing aid, it is with me. It’s just that finally, I can hear what my ears are hearing, and the issue is what appears to be a classic autistic hearing characteristic.

But there is an advantage; if any sounds are too overwhelming, I can just turn it off.

 

[Progster]

I find that when I try to listen to one speaker and another person is speaking at the same time, I keep getting distracted by the second person speaking and I can't keep my focus on the first one. I find it hard to filter out the other voice and only listen to one person. The other voice keeps intruding. I see pictures of people working in call centres with rows of people working one next to the other and all talking on the phone, all equally loud, and wonder how on earth they manage to work under those conditions.

 

[MyLifeAsAnAspie]

Yes, this is one more issue I've long known I've had but only recently connected with ASD. I always wondered how other people were following conversations in noisy rooms when I couldn't .

 

[Kalinychta]

Ohhh my goodness! That must be horrible. I felt drained after only 20 seconds of listening to that.

 

[Soleil]

I don't know if I'm bothered as much as autistics tend to be. But how can I compare the autistic experience against the non-autistic experience unless I somehow experience both?

Still, this can be a problem for me. Even today, I was trying to video chat with a friend of mine, but I could hear my mom play with my 1-year-old niece, and it was a bit distracting. It's not like my brain is listening to both my friend and my family at the same level, but the noise of the baby made it hard to concentrate on my friend.

Sometimes when I'm at work and we're waiting to get our assignments for the day, everyone talks to each other, and having a dozen or so people having multiple conversations with one another is very frustrating.

 

[Magna]

I don't know if I'm bothered as much as autistics tend to be. But how can I compare the autistic experience against the non-autistic experience unless I somehow experience both?

The way I can compare the two experiences is knowing what mine is and actually witnessing the NT ability to filter out background sounds enough to concentrate on something specific.

Another good example is witnessing many NTs throughout my life who are able to block out and not be distracted by a TV playing in the background. I've found that it's most often the case with people who grew up having the TV playing in the background in their homes, but for me I can not focus on a conversation with someone if there is a TV in the background. In my house a TV needs to be muted in order for me to be able to speak to someone or if the person wants me to be able to listen to them, the TV must be muted.

 

[Progster]

I can cope with quiet background music, especially instrumental music - it's people talking that really gets to me, but also intermittent sounds like a dog barking. Droney or a fan or a noise that is constant and the same are less distracting - unless they are high pitched. I can't tolerate high pitched sounds.

Before I was diagnosed and in the "good old days" when VAT was still low and eating out was affordable, we often used to eat out. But whenever we did so, it was always too loud - both the music and people talking, I couldn't hear the conversation and I just sat there saying nothing, not joining in or speaking, getting frustrated. Eventually I stopped trying, I got bored and just wanted to go home. I never could understand why the noise didn't bother other people as it did me.

I watched a documentary once where two people on the spectrum were being tested with an audio recording with different, mingled sounds and they had to pick out specific sounds, that of a dog or a cat for example. Apparently, those on the spectrum are significantly better at this task than other people.

 

[Tokyo Shemp]

That's my biggest issue, too. I could only listen to about ten seconds before shutting that off. When my life is built to sustain sounds, I tend to thrive. I have problems with dogs barking, lawn mowers, low bass car music, etc.. It's true what you say how every sound can be heard meaning it's tough to hear one sound. I had to get through to my best friend that I'm always listening, but sometimes I can't rattle back pertinent responses so easily.

 

[Soleil]

Another good example is witnessing many NTs throughout my life who are able to block out and not be distracted by a TV playing in the background. I've found that it's most often the case with people who grew up having the TV playing in the background in their homes, but for me I can not focus on a conversation with someone if there is a TV in the background. In my house a TV needs to be muted in order for me to be able to speak to someone or if the person wants me to be able to listen to them, the TV must be muted.

I don't quite have that problem, but in my experience the TV and the people talking to me tend to be about the same volume, so that makes it hard to focus on them sometimes.

I do, however, have the opposite problem- I find it difficult to speak to someone over the noise of a TV or radio. The locker room at work has an awful noise in it (I guess it's the engine for the HVAC system or something?) and that also makes it hard to talk to someone, even about topics I like.

 

[SDRSpark]

Yep. That's what it's like. I have a really hard time with conversations in public - multiple people talking at once morphs into something that I've compared to a flock of seagulls (AWKAWKAWK!)

It's a problem when I'm expected to conduct business of some sort in a crowded area. I literally can't, because I can't process speech in a crowded area (acoustic properties of a building can make it better or worse).

Just yesterday I had a sort of conversation with a coworker and I just sort of pretended to empathize because I had no idea what she was saying. I hope I got it right and didn't come off as rude.

 

[FIVER]

A section of the following song is for me a great example of how my brain can not process or filter noisy environments.

I would recommend fast forwarding to the 25 second mark and listen for one minute until the 1:25 minute mark. I believe that section is a very good example of what the world sounds like to me when there are background noises of any kind and multiple people talking around me. In that section of the song, note how each person talking is talking at the same volume. My brain tries to listen to and analyze each sound at the same level. It does not "push" certain sounds to the background in favor of other sounds. It wants to hear all sounds equally. This is why being out in public can be disorienting to me and mentally taxing. I mitigate this by wearing high fidelity earplugs in public.

Yes, that is me as well.
I believe it is called Auditory Processing Disorder.