Sounds are life. I wish I wasn’t sensitive to so many of them, but that’s the reality. I don’t know if my hearing is better than most (probably not), or whether the sound is just turned up really loud in my head. It’s embarrassing holding my left ear closed and crouching down until the sound passes during theatre rehearsal when the intercom comes on above my head, or being delayed during a fire drill because I can’t tune the noise out enough to move. It’s embarrassing being warned by your parents when there’s about to be a loud noise, and there are things it’s hard for me to do, like go outside to see the fireworks or going to a football game. There are things I love that happen to be loud (like my dog, who’s really quiet in general, but whose barks are deafening) and celebrating the Fourth of July and New Year’s because I love my country, but find fireworks hard to tolerate. In the long run, though, what matters is being with the people I care about (and making sure I’m at least not cut off from the noises that warn me from danger). I’ve learned to deal with SPD and the challenges that come with it. I have some heightened senses, and that’s okay. I’d like to give some perspective about what it’s like to live with sensory anxiety.
So here are my top 20 worst sounds (in order from worst—#1—to most tolerable—#20):
1) fireworks
2) Thunder
3) The lawnmower (when I’m near it)
4) The fire alarm
5) ice makers (sometimes)
6) really loud music or TV
7) the buzzer at volleyball, basketball, or football games
8) yelling/screaming
9) dogs barking
10) balloons
11) nail gun
12) drums or tuba
13) trucks with loud engines
14) the whistle at recess
15) the crackly Botox machine
16) microphones (sometimes)
17) cursing
18) the intercom (sometimes)
19) most ringtones turned up really loud
20) sirens