Like many Aspies and Autists, Birdie and I have auditory hypersensitivity. This can be really interesting, and challenging, in a large class environment, especially when we are stressed and/or tired (which is, like, all the time – that vet student life!).
Some days the 5-10 minute breaks between lectures (we’ll often have 3-4 hours of lectures back to back) is excruciating. The cacophony of speaking, laughter, shouts, footsteps and doors is just too much. (It doesn’t help that we have one individual who’s laughter physically hurts, and it’s loud – if he’s in, you can hear it throughout the whole lecture theatre.)
Some days one or the other of us is just too keyed up to make it to lectures and cope with the noise. It’s fortunate, then, that a class mate of ours always records lectures and uploads them onto the class drive, typically immediately after the lecture has finished, so that we can listen to the lecture at home, in peace and quiet, in our PJs.
I have also discovered that, by dictating my short notes for my exam to audio files and putting on repeat and on random, I actually remember the content. I’ve gone over the entire content for this module three times. I’ve written out my short notes and read through them twice. I’ve read Birdie’s short notes. I’ve dictated them. Now, only after hearing them, after lying back on my couch, closing my eyes, and concentrating on my voice, do I remember the content properly.
In fact, I’m pretty sure that if I dictated the whole module and played it back a few times, I’d remember everything.
This next episode on Spectrum we will be discussing the superpower that is our auditory processing, so find us on iTunes, subscribe and rate, and keep your eyes peeled as Birdie and I discuss our brains on sound!
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