I have heard that for non-autistic people anyway, tuning out noise is a skill that your brain has to learn, and that’s why the health organizations recommend it limiting your time on noise cancelling headphones.
Is it different for people with autism?
Yes. The inability to filter out noise is a common experience with autism. This is one of the reasons people might wear noise cancelling headphones.
In a noisy environment, many autistic people say it is difficult to hear what’s being said. Background noises can create overwhelming listening difficulties. Conversations can become a jumble of words (as shown in the image below, created by the authors).
I often find it difficult to tune out background noise, especially to hear what someone is telling me, but it sounds different from being unable to.
Maybe there is a term for “people relating to the Autistic experience, but getting it wrong because they never lived it.”
If I had active noise cancelling headphones in as a kid, I wonder if I would be even worse at tuning out noises? That is why the research is interesting to me.
If I am on a road trip for a long time, sometimes I put in my acoustic earplugs and turn the car stereo up very loud to try and drown out the road noise, maybe that is relatable too? Idk.
Yes. The inability to filter out noise is a common experience with autism. This is one of the reasons people might wear noise cancelling headphones.
https://evidence.nihr.ac.uk/alert/better-understanding-of-autistic-peoples-listening-difficulties-could-improve-their-wellbeing/
I personally use ear plugs or head phones that are not powered on to filter out noises so I can focus on conversation.
Thank you for the explanation.
I often find it difficult to tune out background noise, especially to hear what someone is telling me, but it sounds different from being unable to.
Maybe there is a term for “people relating to the Autistic experience, but getting it wrong because they never lived it.”
If I had active noise cancelling headphones in as a kid, I wonder if I would be even worse at tuning out noises? That is why the research is interesting to me.
If I am on a road trip for a long time, sometimes I put in my acoustic earplugs and turn the car stereo up very loud to try and drown out the road noise, maybe that is relatable too? Idk.