#my headphones don't block it out and even though the active noise cancelling setting kinda blocks it out i can't even use it because it -

[bublp0pr]

Doing research and it turns out noise cancelling headphones don't even completely block out the noise of human speech? It only targets lower frequency noises like air planes and stuff. Weird. And the cheaper ones actually make buzzing sounds themselves as default to "counteract" noises? That just sounds like making the problems worse if you ask me.

When the sensory world is too much for me atm I've got these ear muffs I stole from my dad he used back when he'd go shooting on the weekends. The seal around the ears is important so they can feel a bit tight but the weight of them is also kinda grounding. What matters though is that when I'm wearing them, the only people noises I can hear is yelling and particularly loud kitchen clanging when someone's doing the dishes.

I assumed that noise cancelling would be the upgrade to my current set up. Headphones that don't squeeze both sides of my skull so I can lay on my side comfortably while wearing them sound like a luxury. But if they're not gonna block out the sounds of my brother singing to himself in the kitchen then what's the point?

All this time thinking I was on the same page as people raving about the benefits of active noise cancelling for neurodievergence and I'm starting to realise there's maybe a bit more nuance in different people's audio needs than I expected.

Like, sure, the hum of distracting background noises vying for my attention when I'm trying to focus my energies on particular speech is its own kind of draining. High pitched noises or scrapes and other harsh frequencies feel like the shooting pain of a migraine for my ears and takes a toll on my patience that can be frankly irrational. But my all-time most common use of ear muffs is to counteract the slowly building pressure pot of anxiety that comes from hypervigilant awareness of other people taking up space around me. Removing myself from a world of noise calms me down because above all else, it eliminates things I could overthink and in doing so gives me permission to stop dedicating resources on masking.

If I'm wearing headphones and can still be aware of each and every human residing in the same building as me then they're not doing the job I paid them for. Those suckers should be a Do Not Disturb sign that dares people to fucking try if all they want but I will not be disturbed. They're the weighted blanket for my senses that bears down on me so much I'm barely aware of my surroundings anymore.

I'm switching my focus to Bluetooth industrial earmuffs.The options just seem cheaper and more effective for my particular needs. Same audio frequencies targeted but I'll be able to listen to music while blocking out noise at the same time, which should be a game changer.