sensitive/above average hearing

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I was wondering is sensory problems with hearing is due to having above average hearing or is it because of the brain being unable to process sound input.

I have above average hearing and have problems with sound, strangely enough it works both ways, I cannot function in places like night clubs or parties but I also can't function with no noise at all. I have put these problems down to sensitive hearing myself.

Judging from the latest MRI research, it would seem to be both. Apparently the autistic brain actually has more sensory receptors than the neurotypical brain, so our sensory input is literally coming in at a denser volume, so naturally, the brain is going to have trouble processing all that data as fast as a normal brain would.

The diagnostic criteria in the DSM specifically list "may see lights or hear sounds that others do not" as defining symptoms of AS. When I first read that, I wasn't sure what it meant, it sounded like they were referring to hallucinations of some sort and I had never been prone to that, so I was a little mystified by it.

Then a week or two later, I had an epiphany and suddenly knew exactly what they meant:

Once when I was in my 20s, I was hanging out with a small group of friends, a half dozen of us in one room, and I forget the topic of conversation, but in making some point, I used as analogy, the tiny, hi-pitched squealing sound that all black & white vacuum-tube style televisions used to make, even when the volume was turned down, that I could hear all the way at the other end of the house with my bedroom door closed. All but one of them stared at me blankly. They had no idea what noise I was talking about. The one who did was an electronics buff and explained that it was the exciter at the back of the cathode ray tube that made that noise, supposedly above the range of human hearing (kind of like a dog whistle).

I had been hearing that sound all my life and just assumed everybody around me was hearing it, too. Once that memory came back, I recalled several other incidents in my life when I heard something to which people around me were utterly oblivious.

In fact, it happened just a few months ago when I went along with my Dad and Brother in Law to move a refrigerator and while we waited for the seller to show up, there was an odd noise from far down the street, that sounded sort of like a cell phone ring, but it went on and on and on, long after a cell phone would have gone to voice mail. It was driving me crazy trying to figure out what it was and where it was coming from and when I mentioned it to my Dad and Brother in Law, I could tell by their expressions and lack of response, they had no idea what noise I was hearing.

its interesting, I suppose it could be helpful in a way but its annoying a lot of the time. I have heard that TV noise as well. do you find that you get annoyed by noises that other people do not, I had to take my clock down stairs just to stop my self from chucking it out the window, I hate the ticking noise so much it makes me really angry, also I hate people eating and breathing, that sounds really harsh but I cannot sleep in the same room as anyone else without wanting to strangle then.

its strange how you can be oblivious to things that are different about yourself, I used to think everyone saw patterns moving on carpets and walls when apparently they don't.

I'm not too bothered by noises under normal circumstances. However, right now I live in an apartment complex and my upstairs neighbors drive me crazy with their clomping across my ceiling and blasting their music at odd hours.

that's annoying, and also not very considerate of your neighbours. maybe you should complain

Willard, are you also referring to the continuous high pitched sound that you can hear wherever there is electrical current? I always assumed everyone could hear that, right? I don't think that sound is specific to Aspies, but that everyone can hear it, which is why true silence, where there is electricity, is impossible.....that's true for everyone NT and Aspie, right?