Autistic people may also be able to hear sounds from inside the building – such as voices or noises from other rooms, or water in pipes and electricity in the walls. A decibel meter can be useful to support this work (now available as a phone app for those in need).
Electricity creates low-frequency vibrations that radiate as sound. While most people cannot discern these sounds due to our brain's filtering capability, neurodivergent kids can often detect these frequencies.
Three issues can create humming or buzzing from an outlet or switch: a loose wire, an overloaded wire, or an improperly grounded wire. Each of these situations is a fire hazard, so you'll need to involve a professional electrician.
Hypersensitivity is having extreme sensitivity to physical senses such as sound, touch, or smell. It is also associated with being easily overwhelmed by a lot of information. Hypersensitivity is a common trait in individuals with ADHD. Being aware of your hypersensitivity can change your life.
Hypersensitive hearing of specific frequencies is often (but not always) associated with autism. A person can tolerate most sounds at normal levels, but certain frequencies are intolerable, especially above 70 decibels.
If the hairs inside your inner ear are bent or broken — this happens as you age or when you are regularly exposed to loud sounds — they can "leak" random electrical impulses to your brain, causing tinnitus.
Hyperacusis (say it with me: HY-per-uh-CUE-sis), is an increased sensitivity to sound that is commonly found among people with autism. This means that certain noises, such as classroom bells, the radio or the TV, may be uncomfortable for your child to hear.
Self-stimulatory behavior, often called “stimming,” is when a child or adult repeats specific movements or sounds as a way to self-soothe or remain engaged in a situation, often referred to as “fidget to focus.” Many people assume that only individuals with autism engage in self-stimulatory behaviors.
Sound: Many people with ADHD are hypersensitive to auditory stimulants such as multiple simultaneous conversations, loud music, fireworks, or grating noises. For these individuals, such sounds could result in a stress reaction.
ADHD is not on the autism spectrum, but they have some of the same symptoms. And having one of these conditions increases the chances of having the other. Experts have changed the way they think about how autism and ADHD are related.
Electrical sounds are normal but usually quiet
Electrical appliances do—and these sounds are all around you in your home. However, you can't hear most of them, and some people's ears are more attuned to the sound of electricity than others.
Buzzing sounds are especially common in grounded outlets, which protect the outlet and device from an electrical surge. But if you hear a louder buzzing sound right as you go to plug something in, that could be an issue. In this case, the buzzing sound is most likely a loose connection between the outlet and the plug.
Sometimes when flipping on a light switch you might also hear a hum. This type of humming sound is normal and harmless. On occasion, you might hear a mains buzzing sound, which can be quite a bit louder than just a hum. If this becomes a persistent electrical buzzing sound, you should consider calling an electrician.
Auditory sensitivities are common among people with autism spectrum disorder diagnoses (ASD).
People whose brain works differently often experience sounds, including music, in unique ways. As a neurodivergent person, I experience sound differently than other people. I was born with hyperacusis. Sounds that are at a normal volume to most people sometimes seem extremely loud and distorted to me.
People who are neurodivergent often feel that they need to hide or decrease their self-stimulatory behavior, as it often elicits an undesirable response from those who do not understand the compulsion behind them.
Children with ADHD often have difficulty paying attention to the same thing for too long, and they may get distracted easily. Autistic children may have a limited scope of interest. They may seem to obsess over things that they enjoy and have difficulty focusing on things that they have no interest in.
Differences in emotions in people with ADHD can lead to 'shutdowns', where someone is so overwhelmed with emotions that they space out, may find it hard to speak or move and may struggle to articulate what they are feeling until they can process their emotions.
Too much information. Sometimes an autistic person may behave in a way that you wouldn't immediately link to sensory differences. A person who finds it difficult to process everyday sensory information can experience sensory overload, or information overload.
Executive functions have other roles which affect how someone thinks. In people with ADHD, these executive dysfunctions impact thinking in numerous ways. People with ADHD don't really think faster than people without it, but it can sometimes seem like they do.
Adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) frequently suffer from sleep problems and report high levels of daytime sleepiness compared to neurotypical controls, which has detrimental effect on quality of life.
Mild autism is level 1 autism spectrum disorder. It means a person does not have severe symptoms and needs a lower level of support than someone else with autism. People with mild autism still have a hard time communicating and interacting with others.
Many autistic people experience hypersensitivity to bright lights or certain light wavelengths (e.g., LED or fluorescent lights). Certain sounds, smells, textures and tastes can also be overwhelming. This can result in sensory avoidance – trying to get away from stimuli that most people can easily tune out.
In the case of vocal stimming (or verbal stimming), the child might make noises such as groaning, grunting, high- pitched screeching, squealing, humming, or repeating random words, words to a familiar song, phrases, or lines from a movie.
In children and teenagers with high-functioning autism, this can present as a limited social circle, difficulty completing group work, or problems sharing toys and materials. Many people with ASD have sensory difficulties. Certain tastes, noises, smells, or feelings can be intolerable.