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Magazine article
Noise-cancelling headphones, earplugs and earmuffs – do they really help neurodivergent people?
The Conversation
27/05/2024
Appears in Recent Faculty of Health Publications
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Abstract
Noise can make it hard to concentrate, especially for people who are extra sensitive to it.
Neurodivergent people (such as those who are autistic or have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder – ADHD) can experience different sensory sensitivities. Their nervous system may process information differently when they are exposed to sensory experiences such as bright lights, loud noise, strong smells or busy environments.
Decreased sound tolerance is estimated to affect up to 70% of autistic people and is described in three ways: hyperacusis (perceiving everyday sounds as loud or painful), misophonia (an aversion to specific sounds) and phonophobia (fear of a specific sound). As a sensory feature of autism, decreased sound tolerance may have the largest overall impact on quality of life.
Many autistic or ADHD people describe how noise stops or limits their day-to-day activities such as attending classes, work meetings, socialising or even health care.
Details
- Title
- Noise-cancelling headphones, earplugs and earmuffs – do they really help neurodivergent people?
- Creators
- Kitty-Rose Foley - Southern Cross University, Faculty of Health
- Publication Details
- The Conversation
- Publisher
- The Conversation Media Group Ltd
- Identifiers
- 991013201113302368
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Health
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Magazine article