Hearing

I have problems with a hearing. When I want to go to sleep, even faint sounds can disrupt my sleep. It drives me insane. The only thing I can do is put my earphone in and listen to music.

i didnt run from the bees myself, my sister and her friend ran through them and disappeared so i didnt know what to do and just stood with the cloud of them all around me buzzing, was like a thick fog of bees, couldnt see much around as there was loads of them around me, could feel them stinging all over and trying to pat myself down to get rid of them while still not wanting to go wondering where my sister went, could hear them scream in the distance though lol think i mainly froze in place as wasnt sure whether to run backwards away which would have been the smartest move in hindsight, or run through them the direction the others went. so when people speak of the bees going extinct and drum it up as being bad for the world, i dont really care, they can go extinct, they are a pest lol

I was chased by a swarm of bees once too on a dog walk, one of my dogs was getting stung and the bees where all over him, it was pretty scary. I then had a house I had to go in every day for a job, they had a wasp nest above their front door, I was on the verge of a panic attack every single time I had to go there. 

Yes I do too, subtitles are always on my tv. Though I’ll still constantly ask my daughter what someone said while we’re watching something and she gets annoyed with me - but I’m not entirely sure if that’s because I miss heard, or because I lost concentration because of adhd. 

Yes with me it’s driving to somewhere to walk where it’s quiet. I do drive but as little as I can get away with as I find people tailgating, not saying thank you when you give right off way, not indicating on roundabouts etc really anxiety inducing and it annoys me, the worst is if I can hear sirens and can’t work out which direction they’re coming from.

One thing I found annoying was the countryside around me became ridiculously busy during the pandemic, after they were told to go for a walk for their mental health. Now there are people everywhere and I really struggle with that. It’s almost ruined it for me. I also struggle with finding new walks as I always worry I’ll walk on private land and get told off and I get lost so easily. I’m not good with maps at all.

Yeah that would be great, though I wonder how it would work if people were also adhd as it looks like I am. I’m completely alone now (except my adult kids) because of the few people I’ve had in my life have either annoyed me, or I’ve annoyed them. I don’t know if it would be the same with others with autism and adhd as I’ve never known anyone that’s been diagnosed. 

Highly recommend watching Lucy. 

i do have good hearing for my age, 32 and can still hear the cat alarms and high pitchs that your supposed to become deaf to in your late teens. 

i could hear bees and wasps alot, but i think that was more because of how i got swarmed by a cloud of bees one time and it made me hyper alert to them to the point i perhaps just thought i heard them everywhere when i maybe didnt... i thought i heard them in my walls at one point and texted my dad about it in panic telling him i think theres wasps or a wasp next in my bedroom walls lol looking back that was a bit irrational and panicky of me, never found out whether there was or not but i live in a attic room so there was a chance there could have been a wasp next somewhere, or maybe i just imagined it.

I have ridiculously sensitive hearing. The tiniest sounds wake me up. I can hear my friend chewing or breathing in the next room while he can't hear me at all, even if I shout as loud as I can.

However I also struggle to understand dialogue on TV or hear speech correctly on a phone call or in an environment with background noise. I like listening to audiobooks but find it very difficult to stay focused, even if I'm trying really hard, and end up with a much looser sense of what's going on than if I read the same text.

Yes that's exactly how I feel. I've been pushed to my limits with noise and now I'm even more sensitive to it than I was before. Non autistic people don't understand that we can't get used to a particular noise that's bothering us or learn to zone it out.

The sensation of being in the middle of nowhere with no noise is one that I strive for. It makes me smile too.  That's why I go out walking in remote countryside when I am able to. However just getting out can be too overwhelming, as I have to battle against so much noise before I reach such a place. 

Wouldn't it be great if there was a village in the middle of nowhere that could be inhabited solely by autistic people.

I haven't seen that film so I'll look out for it.

Autonomistic said:

I too notice the sound the bubbles make in a can of fizzy drink, although that particular noise doesn't really bother me.

I think I find it more annoying if I’ve had a build up of other things during the day. I kind of get fixated on it then wishes she’d hurry up and drink it so it would stop.

Yes we are surrounded by pylons where I am and I tend to zoom into that noise too. Occasionally I’ll be on a walK and I’ll stop, realise that everything is so still and quiet, literally no noise and it’ll make me smile. My dream is to live in the middle of nowhere, no neighbours or roads, but it’ll never happen as I won’t ever have the money to do this. 

I’ve also tried earplugs and find the internal noises distracting. Though sometimes I’ll put up with that as a better alternative to what I can hear without them. I think I’ve been pushed to my limit after all of these years and I’m zoning in on noises now even more so than before. It sort of reminds me of the film Lucy, where she is taking in so much information from everywhere - I can watch that film over and over. 

I do genuinely believe I’m annoying, but people also annoy me eventually. I don’t want people in my life but at the same time I feel lonely. I guess the issue is they don’t get it, they don’t see how you can think differently, in the same way I struggle to understand synesthesia, though admittedly I find that fascinating more than annoying. 

I clearly annoy everyone

It isn't true, they just telll us it is, and they gaslight us until we believe it

the truth is:

it starts with different Theory of Mind for allistic and autistic, and it's causing Double Empathy Problem

the truth is:

they prefer to interpret it like that because it's convenient for them , and they do not care about our mental health

you should start watching that series of videos with your kid www.youtube.com/watch

Yes I think my hearing must be ultra sensitive to even the smallest sound.

I too notice the sound the bubbles make in a can of fizzy drink, although that particular noise doesn't really bother me.

If a fly gets into the room the noise is so annoying that I have to hunt it down before I can concentrate on anything else.

The sound of a ticking clock is highly annoying to me as well.

I notice electrical sounds too. The buzzing that emits from certain types of light bulb. When using my computer I'm constantly aware of the noise it makes, especially 'chugging' noise of the hard drive working. 

A few months ago I went for a walk in a quiet nature reserve. No people, no dogs. I thought it would be perfect for me. Then I realised there were electricity pylons running through the reserve. I was soon so overwhelmed by the buzzing noise from them that I had to leave.

I find that my brain becomes sensitised to certain sounds and the more I am exposed to those sounds the worse it gets.

There was a new housing estate built near where I live. Every day for 3 years I had that constant bleeping noise from their vehicles from 8am until 5pm. At first I could tolerate it. The longer it went on I found it unbearable and like torture. I think living with that for so long is what put me into burnout and resulted in my sensitivity to noise becoming extremely acute. Now I think I can pick up the sound of one of those reversing bleepers from miles away.

If I go into a shop the very first thing I notice is the bleeping from the tills. Often it is so overwhelming I have to leave.

Currently the noise I am ultra sensitised to is dog barking, the sharp high pitched yapping type. 

My hearing is so acute that I find ear plugs and ear defenders ineffective. The best I have achieved is a slight dampening of the noise by wearing both together. However they amplify my own internal body sounds and sensations so much I can't tolerate them. Last night I put in some ear plugs, to try and block out the noise of screaming children outside. They barely had any effect. I could even still hear everything that was being said on the TV while wearing them. 

Like you I can't relax at home because of the noise from neighbours. I dream of moving somewhere remote, with no neighbours and no noise. However in my area remote cottages tend to be used as holiday cottages. If they do go on the market they are way out of my budget 

Pretty sure the burnout is already happening which was the start of going down the getting diagnosed route. Which is affecting my work, I’m self employed, as well as the economic crisis atm affecting income I have no energy to try and tackle it. She’s an adult so works and helps with the bills. I think I just annoy her anyway and she gets sick of me getting upset or annoyed by things (I mean I clearly annoy everyone else through my life so why not her too). She doesn’t say it so much but I can just tell by the eye rolls and sighs. Almost positive she is adhd too, as it looks I am so that probably doesn’t help. I also can’t relax at home anyway because of the noise from my neighbours. Just kind of sick of everything. I see so many people on here seeing autism as a positive thing, it doesn’t feel like that for me at all and has hugely affected my life. 

small steps, one at a time

so. why is it such a big deal for your daughter? it causes you serious distress.

if you get hit by burnout who is going to provide for her? ask her

if you can't relax and recharge at home, it's inevitable

Not my Coke, my daughters, I don’t like fizzy drinks. Tbh there are so many noises that annoy me it wouldn’t make a huge impact if I could manage to stop that one. And she’d only moan if I asked her to buy bottles instead. 

buy bottled coke and twist back after taking a sip

Thanks for replying. I do have a strong sense of smell but they don’t annoy me as such. The wasp and wood louse noises also stopped annoying me when I worked out what it was, but the coke bubbles annoy me until the drink is finished (not my coke btw). 

I get that with smells

drive me mad

until I find the source