When you look at autistic people walking around, you might notice them wearing headphones. Some autistic people use headphones to block out noise, and some autistic people use headphones to listen to music.
Autistic is a broad spectrum disorder that affects how a person behaves, communicates and interacts with the surrounding environment. Autistic people often experience oversensitivity to sound, and loud noises can cause a lot of distress. Therefore, they usually wear headphones. So the question is, why do autistic people wear headphones?
Some people like to listen to the voices of loved ones while they’re at work (for example); some autistic people can’t handle conversations where they need to listen to multiple voices that are not directed at them. Some autistics feel overwhelmed in these situations and cannot concentrate on their work, so they wear headphones.
This way, they can block out extra noises while still listening if someone is talking directly to them (which their coworkers may or may not understand). It’s easier for us than having our ears hurt/ringing because of all the noise.
Not every autistic person experiences super overwhelming sounds – some only get slightly overwhelmed easily. Still, it’s better for everyone if we cover up our ears when it gets too much.
Some autistic people also do not like the feeling of ears touching their earlobes, or they don’t like something touching their ears at all. It is why some autistics wear hats, caps, and sunglasses even indoors (and even though it’s raining/foggy). Some of us also don’t like loud noises such as whistling and dog barking etc. So we put headphones on to block out those irritating sounds too.
Sometimes a person only likes music without lyrics, which means no radio or tv either. There’s nothing wrong with this! You can still listen to music on the headphone(s) instead of forcing yourself to sit through another episode of whatever TV show is popular nowadays, wasting your time staring at a screen.
Conclusion:
I hope this article has given you a better idea of why some autistic people wear headphones – and why it’s not just because we’re rude! Please remember that everyone is different.
It can be challenging to understand why people with autism wear headphones. It’s hard to have a functional conversation with someone who is wearing headphones. However, autistic people can have difficulty communicating, and headphones help them to focus on the conversation rather than being distracted by background noise.
