NT kids upset by noise vs ASD kids upset by noise

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I know some people here won't believe that a small NT kid can be upset by a loud noise (or try to deny it and ask the most annoying question ''are you sure the child you are talking about is NT???'' Ahhhh!! !) But I have seen it for myself, and yes, without having to write pages and pages of explanations of how I know a child is NT, let's just cut a long story short and say yes the child was NT.

I have heard parents with NT toddlers saying stuff like their small kids being afraid of the hand dryer in public toilets because some hand dryers are loud. When I was a child I used to go to birthday parties and I've seen NT kid (under 6) being afraid of having balloons in the same room in case they pop. Then a few years ago my uncle took his boys (both typical NTs, one was 12 and the other one was 9) to one of those race car shows or something like that, and the engines were really loud. My uncle filmed it, and I saw the 9-year-old having his hands to his ears nearly the whole time. The engines were so loud (because they were super fast) that it kind of distorted the sound on the camera when we watched it.

So yes I have seen NT kids, or for those annoying skeptics, possible NT kids being in situations where they dislike a loud noise. What's the difference between a child on the spectrum being upset by a loud noise and an NT child being upset by a loud noise? I just thought it would be interesting to bring this up.

For someone on the spectrum, excessive sensory stimulation can trigger the fight-or-flight response. I'm not sure if this is the case for NTs, but it is very much possible for an NT to be overwhelmed with stimuli. I think their limits are generally higher than ours though, and they desensitize more easily.

I know there are also some aspies who are more desensitized to certain forms of sensory stimuli than non-aspies. I lived with someone on the spectrum who was a few years older than me, and he blasted his music crazy loud through his earbuds, to the point that other people could hear it. There's no way I'd be able to stand that, yet I remember one time I was eating some jalapeno and cheddar doritos, and I offered some to him, and he said they practically burnt his mouth. I don't even think they're that hot, though that's from years of desensitization.

Jalepeno and cheddar doritos would "burn" my mouth as well. My tongue would need to go to the nearest Burn Center!

I'm not sure, but here are some thoughts. NT kids and adults can definitely be bothered by loud sounds. However, I think people on the spectrum might be more likely to be bothered by more common sounds or not adapt to loud sounds as quickly over time. Like a toddler NT might be upset by a vacuum cleaner, hand dryer or flushing toilet and even an older child might be bothered by something like loud race cars, but it is less likely that an NT preteen is going to be scared of a hand dryer or an adult is going to cover their ears at a race. With people on the spectrum, it wouldn't be unusual for people in those age groups to still have problems with those situations.

Still, even if a child or adult is very sensitive to loud sounds in the exact same way that some autistic people are, having that one symptom alone doesn't mean they are on the spectrum.

I think that the difference lies in why the NT child is covering their ears. My guess is that the sound is so loud that it is causing actual damage which if sustained or repeated excessively canlead to tinnitus and partial deafness. This is a reflexive act in the same way that taking one's hand away from a flame is a reflexive act. Alternatively NT's can suffer from Hyperacusis and Misophonia. The other point is that autism is a spectrum. Those kids may have been NT to all intents and purposes but they may well be higher on the spectrum.

People with autism will cover their ears or flee from sounds because they constitute sensory overload. The sound is too intense to process. Its less about damage and more about a neurological response. Additionally aspies amplify sounds partly due to being unable to filter out background noise and partly due to actual physiological cortical sound processing differences. There's a study which shows that autistic children experience latency at 2 frequency tiers which impairs speech recognition. There is a basic neural difference in the way sound is processed and thus perceived. An NT's response is proportional to the decibel level while an autist's response is not. An autistic child will also struggle to integrate the sound leading to shock fear and flight.

Can't comment on the experiences of others, but for me: When I was growing up, I wasn't aware of how much noise upset me.

For example, growing up, I had no idea why being inside a grocery store made me panic; now, I wear subtle ear covers in stores most of the time, and I don't have problems. If you asked me what was wrong as a child, I would have shouted that I don't know, and I would have been being honest.

I think an "NT" kid would have figured out that the noise was bugging her, and probably also wouldn't have a panic attack from exposure to it, but I'm speculating here.

Sensory processing disorder is actually a co-morbid of ASD. While most of people with ASD have sensory problems it is also a disorder by itself and can appear in non-autistic people.
For example my aunt is NT and she is just as frustrated by some sounds, smells and textiles as I am. But she can easily make people believe her about it and I fail to do so.

Recent situation, we are about to give the aunt a drive.
My mom: I better turn the radio down or sis will complain about it again.<turning the radio down>
Me: Why you never turn it down when I ask you to?
My mom: I want to listen to the radio. You can stand it.
Me: The hell I can!

The radio in car is usually so loud that it causes me motion sickness, but when I say it my mom just tells me "We will be home soon" and doesn't turn the music down. I have no idea how to explain it to her.

Anyone can be upset or bothered by loud noises whether they are on the Spectrum or not. And a lot of NT little kids are afraid of loud noises. My mom is afraid of thunder and she is NT. Being afraid of or upset by a noise has nothing to do with Spectrum vs. NT. People on the Spectrum can be much more sensitive and much more affected because of sensory overload issues. For instance, I can be greatly affected even if the noise is not considered loud by others at all. But anyone can be affected negatively by noise.

I don't think there is any. Many people if not most share some autistic traits including sensory issues without having enough to be diagnosable.

Read 'Quiet' by Susan Cain.
Overstimulation (loud noise) is also a thing with Introverted NT's. A longitudinal study showed the effects of things like loud noises on infants and they watched them as they grew up. The ones who cried at loud noises turned out to be Introverted. And as Introverts make up some 30 to 50% of the population, it should be no surprise to find kids who are disturbed by loud noises.

Thank you, all answers were helpful. I often get really confused when seeing an NT kid or adult showing a common ASD trait but not actually having an ASD, and I always like to know a bit more about the differences.

Like I always say, things like this are too difficult to explain, but saying ''everyone forgets things at times but that doesn't mean we are all senile'' practically explains it. That means a young child with no disabilities being afraid of a hand dryer isn't necessarily on the spectrum. A young child with Autism may react more intensely to a hand dryer, like start stimming or making panicking noises or curling up on the floor with his or her fingers in the ears. But an NT toddler might just cry, cling to parent, may or may not even cover the ears, and will probably be OK again once they are back outside, but an Autistic child might be quite traumatized for the rest of the day or something like that.

I was always afraid of the bells at school, and tried my best to avoid being near one when it was due to go off. I didn't react to it like an Autistic child might, I just disliked it making me jump because I hated that feeling of shock. It didn't seem to worry any of the other children, and I envied them a lot and wondered how it didn't. But I remember once at high school the fire alarm went off, and I saw one of the most popular girls in the school put her fingers in her ears as she walked near a bell.

My therapist told me that the only things that humans are naturally afraid of are of falling and of loud sounds. So yah, I would assume that all children, NT or otherwise, could very easily react to loud noises.