Hypersensitivity to noise within autism for university dissertation project!

[Suzie D]

Hi!

I'm Suzie, a 22 year old university undergrad student. I'm a queer woman based in Newcastle, UK. I'm currently seeking an ADHD diagnosis, but I suspect I'm autistic too. It's been a long discovery process for me and I'm still working my way through it.

As long as I can remember, I've had issues with noise. I have phonophobia, and sudden, loud noises send my brain into shutdown. I'm terrified of balloons, bonfire night is a nightmare, etc. Among my sensory issues, auditory hypersensitivity takes the cake. So I took this issue close to my heart and turned it into my final research project for my psychology degree.

This study is researching into factors contributing to auditory hypersensitivity in adults. Two things I consider important to fix: 1) so much autism research does not focus on adults; 2) auditory sensory issues are underrepresented in the scientific community. I know first-hand how debilitating they can be - it's important to investigate contributors to begin understanding, and thus helping.

Autistic traits have been shown to correlate with auditory hypersensitivity. This is one of the hypotheses I'm investigating in my dissertation project. Because of this, I need autistic participants!! It would mean the world if you could fill out this survey - should take less than 15 minutes. Whether you have similar experiences or not, any and all data is so greatly appreciated, my degree and this project are special to me.

This survey, and link, are entirely anonymous, as according to forum guidelines. You will not be identifiable through your answers. The link is here:

https://nclpsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_czLL7XZZss47X0y

If you have any questions, please let me know, either here or by the email given in the survey, I'd love to answer. (I'm new to this forum, forgive me if I'm unsure what I'm doing.)

Have a wonderful day

Suzie <3

 

[Raggamuffin]

Done

Ed

 

[Suzie D]

Done

Ed

Thank you so much!!!

 

[Butterfly88]

Done!

 

[Suzette]

I am self identified as autistic. I disclosed this information in the section on diagnosis as "Other".

 

[Suzie D]

I am self identified as autistic. I disclosed this information in the section on diagnosis as "Other".

Hey! That's absolutely fine, thank you for letting me know. The medical diagnosis question won't be playing a key part in the study, just the numerical data - autistic traits are being measured by one of the survey response scales. If I use the diagnosis information at all it will likely be in the discussion, potentially to discuss the prevalent trait/diagnosis gap, I can't be sure yet. I'm not relying on medical diagnosis to 'validate' autistic participants at all, because that is far from what I believe! Thank you so much for completing the survey.

 

[Suzie D]

Done!

Thank you so much!!

 

[Flown]

Complete!

 

[Gerontius]

Done & done.

Diagnosed as an adult.

 

[Greatshield17]

Hi!

I'm Suzie, a 22 year old university undergrad student. I'm a queer woman based in Newcastle, UK. I'm currently seeking an ADHD diagnosis, but I suspect I'm autistic too. It's been a long discovery process for me and I'm still working my way through it.

As long as I can remember, I've had issues with noise. I have phonophobia, and sudden, loud noises send my brain into shutdown. I'm terrified of balloons, bonfire night is a nightmare, etc. Among my sensory issues, auditory hypersensitivity takes the cake. So I took this issue close to my heart and turned it into my final research project for my psychology degree.

This study is researching into factors contributing to auditory hypersensitivity in adults. Two things I consider important to fix: 1) so much autism research does not focus on adults; 2) auditory sensory issues are underrepresented in the scientific community. I know first-hand how debilitating they can be - it's important to investigate contributors to begin understanding, and thus helping.

Autistic traits have been shown to correlate with auditory hypersensitivity. This is one of the hypotheses I'm investigating in my dissertation project. Because of this, I need autistic participants!! It would mean the world if you could fill out this survey - should take less than 15 minutes. Whether you have similar experiences or not, any and all data is so greatly appreciated, my degree and this project are special to me.

This survey, and link, are entirely anonymous, as according to forum guidelines. You will not be identifiable through your answers. The link is here:

https://nclpsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_czLL7XZZss47X0y

If you have any questions, please let me know, either here or by the email given in the survey, I'd love to answer. (I'm new to this forum, forgive me if I'm unsure what I'm doing.)

Have a wonderful day

Suzie <3

Will get to it in a bit.

 

[Hylian]

Done!

 

[OkRad]

Hi there,

Will you share the results with us?

 

[Au Naturel]

It is a curse of mine that I look at a question and upon detailed analysis decide it is impossible to accurately answer. I think it is the Aspie in me that I want as much precision as possible, I want the variables nailed down, or the answer comes out as, "That depends..."

The answer depends on who you are talking about. Depends on what the conversation is about. Depends on who the occasion is with. Depends on why the event happened. Maybe the statement has two clauses that really need to be answered separately.

These things buzz around my head like hungry mosquitoes.

 

[Suzie D]

Hi there,

Will you share the results with us?

Hi! I'd be more than happy to. The project won't be complete for another few months, and I'd have to figure out how to publish the report on here, but I'd love to share my findings once it's all written up and marked

 

[Suzie D]

It is a curse of mine that I look at a question and upon detailed analysis decide it is impossible to accurately answer. I think it is the Aspie in me that I want as much precision as possible, I want the variables nailed down, or the answer comes out as, "That depends..."

The answer depends on who you are talking about. Depends on what the conversation is about. Depends on who the occasion is with. Depends on why the event happened. Maybe the statement has two clauses that really need to be answered separately.

These things buzz around my head like hungry mosquitoes.

I really relate to this, and it pains me a bit to have to stick to such robust scales. Scientific method and my neurodivergency don't go hand in hand, I wish there was more room for nuance. Unfortunately since this is my first dissertation/empirical project of this size I'm using quantitative measures. Qualitative research is often useful for autism because you can get into these individual details and contingencies so much better, but I don't have time nor resources (physically or mentally)

Hopefully, in the discussion section of my dissertation, I'll be including a conversation on how the scientific scales could be improved in this respect. I've chosen the most reliable scales I could find for each measure, but even that's not great, especially for the autism measure... I have a lot to say in the discussion about it!! Thank you so much for taking part though, it means a lot.

 

[Thinx]

Done. Interesting area of study! Good luck with analysis and getting it all written up.

 

[OkRad]

It is a curse of mine that I look at a question and upon detailed analysis decide it is impossible to accurately answer. I think it is the Aspie in me that I want as much precision as possible, I want the variables nailed down, or the answer comes out as, "That depends..."

The answer depends on who you are talking about. Depends on what the conversation is about. Depends on who the occasion is with. Depends on why the event happened. Maybe the statement has two clauses that really need to be answered separately.

These things buzz around my head like hungry mosquitoes.

Very odd. That happens to me as well. Those stupid forms used for diagnoses always made me more confused than accurate.

 

[Au Naturel]

Very odd. That happens to me as well. Those stupid forms used for diagnoses always made me more confused than accurate.

Probably written by NT undergrads.

 

[Thinx]

It is a curse of mine that I look at a question and upon detailed analysis decide it is impossible to accurately answer. I think it is the Aspie in me that I want as much precision as possible, I want the variables nailed down, or the answer comes out as, "That depends..."

The answer depends on who you are talking about. Depends on what the conversation is about. Depends on who the occasion is with. Depends on why the event happened. Maybe the statement has two clauses that really need to be answered separately.

These things buzz around my head like hungry mosquitoes.

Very odd. That happens to me as well. Those stupid forms used for diagnoses always made me more confused than accurate.

Yes I can find that too. I found this one not bad along those lines, the way questions were worded and the ranges for agreement or disagreement on each section gave adequate scope for me to manage mostly, just one or 2 fudges. I did have a discomfort with the 5 point range that had 'occasionally' as the centre point. I felt this may have been better labelled 'sometimes'. But it was the midpoint, so I just decided to see it as that.

 

[Suzie D]

Yes I can find that too. I found this one not bad along those lines, the way questions were worded and the ranges for agreement or disagreement on each section gave adequate scope for me to manage mostly, just one or 2 fudges. I did have a discomfort with the 5 point range that had 'occasionally' as the centre point. I felt this may have been better labelled 'sometimes'. But it was the midpoint, so I just decided to see it as that.

I'm also with you here. The scale with occasionally at the centre is the scale for auditory sensitivity, taken from the - I'm pretty certain - only available, checked, and rated scientifically reliable adult sensory profile. (There's a lot out there for children.) I have to use their measures to keep it authentic which means labelling and scoring in that weird way... in what world is occasionally 50% of the time? I tend to ignore the word and go on the percentages, see it as a midpoint, just like you. I wish I had more power over these things, but at the moment I'm just a ND undergrad trying to get through my final (?) year of education with my brain fighting against me lol. My first set of this year's exams start tomorrow, so I'm productive-procrastinating by discussing my diss here instead, it's nicer.

A huge thank you to everyone who's taken part in it, seriously. If you know anyone who might be interested in filling it out, please share, getting relevant participants for an undergrad diss is such an uphill battle so I'm so thankful to you all!!!