TV / Radio Ad’s

Did you mean You-Tube? The amount of ads popping up annoys me, difficulty finding what I want and all the instructional videos that make no sense, especially when you want something in English and not American.

Adverts are purposely designed to Create Disruption. And disruption is about knocking someone's headspace out of a flow. The point is to literally 'annoy' the listener. Not only will they disrupt pacing of programming, but will also be louder, if even at a jarring level to those with discerning/keen hearing.

What you're dealing with are interruptions. And interruptions for autistics are a kryptonite.

Autistics have a heightened ability to be in the type of flow state which one hopes to find with Yoga or meditation. It's part of the same biological mechanics which are supposed to also filter out or desensitise one to their surroundings. The more desensitised the world becomes, the more disruptive adverts become in response and so on. Studies are showing Autism is identified with having less of these bio-mechanics to filter out. So we won't ever desensitise the same. Interruptions can literally feel like being hit with a bat on the back of the head. Or something else - but it's physically painful. You don't cope. You forget and then bam. Get hit again the next time. And she's too young to begin to learn to consciously pause and scream into the void. because the frustration of things like this will never stop, we might just find more ways to be responsible with the sensory assault by our mid 20s or into our 30s.

What she needs is more agency and help controlling what she's subjected to. 

The best idea here is to explore what she likes - movies and music. Then buy these on download or DVD/CD/etc. Many of us might be happy to listen or watch the same things on repeat. The Library is an amazing source when looking for something new or borrowing movies/music.  Alternately, some streaming platforms have ad free per subscription, like Disney. But when I was growing up, we didn't have a TV or watch much. 

How come it annoys you? I am selective in what I watch on there. It isn't really a substitute for tv in our house, but I know it is for many.

I only watch mainstream tv, no streaming or You-Tube, You-Tube really annoys me.

Often we watch something which has been paused from the beginning so can ff through the ads. To be honest I don't watch that much tv anyway which requires ads. And they appear less or not at all on youtube because I don't use the app. I think if we can chip away at sensory overload it can make things a bit easier overall. Adverts are unnecessary viewing anyway. 

I think we get advertised at much more now than when I was a child. I tend to record things on comercial channels and ffw through the ads, would this be an option for you? I hate adverts, watching them with the sound muted I often try and guess what they're about.

Not as a child but as an adult,  adverts automatically go on mute or turned down here. Nobody watches them anyway. It's noticeable by myself and everyone I speak to that adverts are louder than programmes. They seem to be louder and faster than they used to be and they're difficult to tune out. With so much "sensory overload" these days, people around me don't mind muting them if it helps take the edge off everything else we get bombarded with. So that's my coping strategy perspective.