"I have worn noise-canceling headphones many times throughout my life. As an autistic diagnosed in early toddlerhood, I've relied on sensory accommodations across every stage of my life. So, when I settled into the stands for my first undergraduate football game at the University of California, Berkeley, I expected the technology to do its job. I expected relief from the roar of the crowd. Then came the cannon shot."
"At Berkeley football games, a ceremonial cannon is fired every time the team scores. When it went off, the blast cut straight through the headphones-amplified, sharper, and more jarring than anything I had heard without them. I got the fright of my life and came close to a meltdown. I've been wary of noise-canceling headphones ever since. That moment stayed with me not because it was loud, but because it was unexpected."
"Active noise cancellation works by sampling environmental noise through microphones, analyzing its frequency and timing, and generating an opposing "anti-noise" signal. This process is highly effective for steady, low-frequency sounds that change slowly-airplane engines, traffic hum, the continuous drone of a crowd. It is far less effective for sudden, high-frequency sounds that arrive without warning. For abrupt sounds like a cannon blast, the noise arrives faster than the technology can respond."
Noise-canceling headphones perform well at reducing steady, low-frequency sounds by sampling environmental noise and generating an opposing anti-noise signal. The technology struggles with sudden, high-frequency sounds because those arrive faster than the system can respond. Suppressing low-frequency background noise can increase perceived contrast, causing abrupt noises to feel sharper and more jarring. Unexpected loud events can trigger intense fright or sensory overwhelm, particularly for autistic individuals who rely on accommodations. Relying on a single tool as a universal solution risks failing when environments behave unpredictably. Sensory fixes should be individualized and account for varying sound types and timing.
Read at Psychology Today
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