Are you sensitive to the tone of peoples voices?

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santabarbarian
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07 Sep 2007, 3:13 am

I am very sensitive to peoples voices when they are upset or especially when they are angry. I have noticed that my young son (22 months) is also VERY sensitive to tone. Is this a common Aspie trait? How many of you feel the same.

I have extreme feelings of unease when I hear an angry tone. It can quickly make me upset also. I don't really recognize others around me having nearly as extreme a reaction to this as I do.



poopylungstuffing
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07 Sep 2007, 3:54 am

Yep..I am the same way.



marshall
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07 Sep 2007, 4:14 am

Yes. I can't stand it when people are "short" with me.



Danielismyname
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07 Sep 2007, 4:17 am

Yeah, I don't like it when people inject certain emotions into their voice; inflection with anger, rage or any other emotion that's loud (certain people’s happy or excited for example), can send me back into my shell. It literally hurts me physically when I hear people yell at one another due to the anxiety I feel. I cannot handle it. Of course, I remember every fight I've witnessed between adults in lucid detail.

Naturally, I don't do such with my voice.

(Children's voices don't affect me however.)



skahthic
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07 Sep 2007, 4:34 am

I have a tendency to take any sort of anger in a person's voice personally--- even if the anger is not directed at me. This will either result in me feeling hurt, or on rarer instances me getting angry as well.
On the other hand, I don't stop my voice if I am angry and other people take it personally--- it doesn't even cross my mind until after the fact. I sometimes seem to revolve around myself--- i understand this isn't nice, but it happens sometimes.
I feel I actually am a "nice" person--- it isn't always apparent, though.



fresco
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07 Sep 2007, 5:34 am

ooooh yes I take tones of voices right through the skin! I hate it, being so sensitive is annoying.



DaQwerk
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07 Sep 2007, 8:45 am

Yes very much so. I have to get away from anger, it cuts me
to the core. If voices are loud, even if they are happy, I have
to get away, mostly for the sake of the noise they make, since
my hearing is very acute. Other's excitement in general leaves
me weak. Anger though, affects me the worst.


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07 Sep 2007, 8:48 am

I am the same way. I get very upset when I feel that other people use the wrong tone of voice with me.



Bearsac-Debra
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07 Sep 2007, 9:00 am

the medical word say thoes on the autistic spectrum don't get tone of voice or don't pick up on it.

I am an Aspie diagnosed but I think I pick-up on tone of voice better than the average NT. However, how much of this ability is within me or has been learn manually to a high extent it has almost become second nature, I do not know. I know I am naturally very perceptive even if not natually able to translate voice tone meaning. I just wonder if I have learnt manually and store and recall very well what I have learnt on voice tone, or is it just pure perception; it is hard to say. I can voiceback someone's voicetone and rythem very well but am I really getting it natually.


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Irulan
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07 Sep 2007, 9:15 am

My mother likes talking to me loudly. Even if she only asks me what I'd like to eat it sounds almost as if she was shouting at me. I hate it and generally loud sounds. I told her many times to speak in low voice but it doesn't help.



myeyesseekreality
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07 Sep 2007, 9:17 am

I have the same issues with tone of voice. It amazes me that they say we have no empathy, don't get tone of voice, and many other things that I've learned from myself, and people that I've talked to on the net are so false about Autistics. I'm very empathic if I know what's going on. I find that my emotions seem to be stronger than NT's. I'm extremely sensitive to harsh angry tones, and other loud emotion tones not only due to sensitive hearing, but it messes me up with anxiety. The worst for me is when couples are fighting.



shopaholic
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07 Sep 2007, 9:18 am

There's no logic to which voices I find irritating. I suppose very "loud & clear" voices annoy me because I just can''t help listening to them even when I don't want to.

However, this is pretty hypocritical of me beacuse this is exactly the kind of voice I have myself.

But I also get very very irritated by soft & timid voices - I find it very hard to interact with people like this without getting impatient with them.

No problem at all with angry voices - I love a good row and can't relate at all to people who can't deal with this - sorry!

(I bet some of you would run a mile from me - Ms Angry! - in real life!)



username88
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07 Sep 2007, 9:20 am

YES I am, and people just keep on goin anyway and it drives me insane.



woodsman25
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07 Sep 2007, 9:35 am

Bearsac-Debra wrote:
the medical word say thoes on the autistic spectrum don't get tone of voice or don't pick up on it.

I am an Aspie diagnosed but I think I pick-up on tone of voice better than the average NT. However, how much of this ability is within me or has been learn manually to a high extent it has almost become second nature, I do not know. I know I am naturally very perceptive even if not natually able to translate voice tone meaning. I just wonder if I have learnt manually and store and recall very well what I have learnt on voice tone, or is it just pure perception; it is hard to say. I can voiceback someone's voicetone and rythem very well but am I really getting it natually.


As good as I may be at the socalization thing, one thing that Im terrible at is picking up on voice tone and how it relates to an emotion they may be trying to convey, or are just feeling. Its a big problem because I cant tell if someone is mad at me (unless they say it) and I miss sarcasm, but yet can use sarcasm. This is one of my more serious social difficulties, and I doubt ill ever improve upon it. Its kinda funny because someone at work may be angrey and get sarcastic with me and I wont even know it. They may say sarcasitcly "ya, go ahead and take that, I dont need it" and ill actually take it, making them even angryer :lol:


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starlighter
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07 Sep 2007, 11:37 am

Yes, I am. But unlike the neurotypical, maybe, I learned to distinguis when somebody speaks you in nice tone but nasty words or irritating tone but nice words, at last I think I only obbey 'nice words', I don't mind the tone ... :)



kittenfluffies
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07 Sep 2007, 11:49 am

Yes, that is mostly how I discern what mood the person is in. Rather than relying on facial or gesture cues, I listen for the tone of voice to understand if the person is joking/upset/serious/etc..

This is why when someone is telling a joke but in a serious tone, I don't realize it is a joke until later. I just assume the person is serious. I can't tell you how many times I have made an a** out of myself this way...lol


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