Background conversations

Thanks everyone for your input. I’m so glad I’m not the only autistic to struggle in this way!

I do this--my husband hates it lol

Yeah I also get this, feels like listening to several different channels at once, it makes work going on in the office and conversations difficult

YES! Or if the tv is on lol. It's a sensory issue--you tend to hear all the bits of all conversations at once, I believe.

Yeah I get this, feels like listening to ten different radios on different stations, it makes stuff like going to the pub and what have you very difficult

Yes! I sometimes resort to listening only, which is frustrating when I have things I want to say. I wouldn't say my listening is that great if the background sounds are that loud or distracting, though. Sometimes I struggle to even sum up the words to ask to go somewhere else. I kind of withdraw and focus on just remembering where I am.

LOL. 

I'm super judge-y like this too. Haha

I've found that it's accents that burn my brain - sitting in a room of Portuguese women where their voices are almost musical is no problem.    Hard, staccato voices like Scottish on Northern Irish jumble up my processing abilities.    The pulse-frequency of the voices interrupts my natural frequencies.

Yes. Entirely. Over-stimulation.

I took some acting classes in my youth which helped with focus and I can summon the discipline but sometimes it's just more effort than necessary. At this point if it's distracting I just start talking about the other conversations as a moment of comedy. I'm afraid I don't know why this is either other than heightened sensory perception.

I notice, I often (unintentionally) can hear conversations around me that seem to distract me from the conversation I am in! Is this a part of ASD? This is another learning experience for me!

Yes.

That's the short answer, LTU. If there's any kind of background noise, I find it extremely difficult. 

Just a bit because of too many simulanteous inputs I think. I find it hard to focus on group conversations, too many threads crowds out the processing capacity and it starts to become hard work.

You might just try suggesting that people go somewhere without background distractions to talk to you. Tell them they deserve your attention but it's hard to focus over the din. Most will appreciate that.