Computer noises are the focus in the festival setting, it’s not a distraction.
Pen clicks are little momentary brain erasers that rip the attention you’re so desperately trying to focus away from the thing you’re focusing on, and now you have to struggle constantly to get it back with each one.
Pen clicks would be no problem if you were intentionally focusing on someone clicking their pen.
This is less ADHD and more autism, right?
I have both and experience sensory issues differently. The autistic sensory issues are definitely more significant and impactful. Like my brain just cannot process things once it gets overwhelmed, sometimes it’s painful and feels like my head is going to burst. ADHD sensory issues are more attention based, so I don’t get overwhelmed in the same way, just frustrated and less able to control my executive function. I can also get hyperfixated on a specific thing, whereas with autism it just becomes all one big overwhelming stream of data that I can’t process.
My Sensory Processing Disorder is what got me on the road to my autism diagnosis in adulthood, it’s bad.
And I’ve heard the “gotcha” about music and concerts so many times, especially since I too am a massive fan of “computer noises *” (honestly though classical music concerts are the worst offender because all you can hear is others around you clearing throats, coughing, opening candy wrappers… It’s like torture), but somehow only just recently the penny dropped - it’s a stim!
So not only is it the choice thing and the fact that you can follow music vs how sudden/sharp noises just completely scramble your brain and all that other stuff, but also - it’s calming to the nervous system (especially when you’re having a sensory overload and putting headphones with loud music on is enough to block out the noise, never mind a defence against that in the first place), it’s giving me something enjoyable to focus on, it’s giving me these lovely sounds to vocalise along with (vocal stimming/echolalia, which can be harder with lyrics vs just music because words make you think), it’s probably the only thing other than my cat purring that I can completely sink in to even if it’s just for a minute or two to get a break from the internal noise in my head (doesn’t always work, but nothing else does).
None of that helps explain it to the NTs though, more often than not when I try their instinct is to make as many horrible noises as they can, and not just then, but at random points later to “test” me, or worse, openly state that they are doing it to trigger me because they find my distressed reaction hilarious. A few do get it, and they try their best, but it’s still a constant asking them to “please not”, and if they can hear that without taking it personally and getting upset, then you know they can stay lol
*here was what I originally linked but then my playlist changed my mind, but both are good, listen to both lol
Wow, I can’t comprehend how much of a crayon eating, gasoline guzzling failure of a human one can be, just because “it’s so much fun”. It makes me furious only reading about it.
They mean that the people fucking with you by making noise on purpose are assholes
I always love running across other IM fans in the wild. Those guys’ music has such a special place in my heart for personal sentimental reasons but it’s also consistently some of the most unique, varied, and surprising stuff I listen to, and I listen to a lot of EDM/IDM.
unique, varied, and surprising
Spot on. Also often cheeky.
Been listening to them for over 20 years, and they’re pretty much all I listen to nowadays (Cream is on in the background as I type lol), there isn’t just a track for every mood, but like 10… I’ve been narrowing their complete discography down and got a main playlist of over 350 tracks, and of those I’ve marked just under 100 as favourites. Which is wild, really…
While I first heard Bust a Move probably around 2002 I was way too young to really appreciate it. I got reintroduced to their stuff when a friend threw on “The Pretender” in late 2016 and blew my mind. Since then I’ve favorited over 150 tracks off of 44 releases, which is absolutely insane as most of my other favorite artists top out at maybe 30 tracks. I was lucky enough to get to see them perform a DJ set in 2019 where I heard the first half of “Ani Mevushal” before it was released which was amazing. I would love to get the chance to see them again.
From converting vegetarians, I go nuts during the “shaka ka ka ka ka ka ka … shaka ka ka ka… sha kawwww”. I’m right there with you vocalizing to our awesome computer music.
I also had the modem dialing up sound as my ring tone for a while in college … because it made me happy. It really is so different when we WANT to have our systems overwhelmed and swim in the shutdown. Thanks for sharing your links, was a nice surprise when I wasn’t necessarily expecting IM :D
(You may also like Holly Herndon and BT, if you don’t already listen to them)
I love that track!
And your comment reminded me of a youtube comment that really made me lol the other day, someone posted the lyrics, and then someone replies
Waaaah! Waaaah! Waaaah! Waaaahaaaaahh! Waaaah!
And it’s just so accurate 🤣
Modem dialling sound is a littlie too screechy for me, I guess it’s residual trauma from the days where my parents would try to log on while I was on the phone lmao
Gave a couple of Holly Herndon tracks a quick listen, some bits are great but others are a little breathy for me. What does BT stand for?
There’s a lot of crossover with ADHD and misophonia, which this is and OP may not know there’s a word for it.
It’s usually a VERY strong emotional response to certain noises, my main one is eating noises. It’s an adrenaline fueled flight-or-fight response that makes me want to cry, scream, flip my desk, punch a hole thru a wall, etc. Most people filter out clicking pens or loud eating as “annoying” and move on but with misophonia it registers in your brain as DANGER and it becomes the only thing you can focus on. It can be managed but not controlled, it’s extremely frustrating.
I guess sensory things vary quite a bit among people with ADHD then. Because I usually only get super annoyed by some sounds when tired or stressed. Usually it’s no problem at all. My wife has misophonia and sounds often make her angry or maybe murderous is a more apt description.
My sensory issues are mostly smell and “human” noises. It drives me fucking crazy hearing someone with a whistle in their nose, or loud breathing, or smacking their lips, etc.
This specific thing even has a name, but I forgot what it’s called right now. It’s annoying because, well, it makes me irrationally irritated firsr of all, but second it’s not like I can ask someone to just… not be human. No matter how politely I phrase it.
And above all that: It’s triggered by a lot of “stimming” activities, which I even have myself with bouncing my legs. So I even irritate my own damn self.
