Computer noises are the focus in the festival setting, it’s not a distraction.
Pen clicks are little momentary brain erasers that rip the attention you’re so desperately trying to focus away from the thing you’re focusing on, and now you have to struggle constantly to get it back with each one.
Pen clicks would be no problem if you were intentionally focusing on someone clicking their pen.
So thaaaat's why I like clicking pens as a fidget but don't love it when others do it in my proximity.
People who don't understand my aversion to noisy environments sometimes can't understand why I'm ok with loud music festivals. You nailed it.
I have both and experience sensory issues differently. The autistic sensory issues are definitely more significant and impactful. Like my brain just cannot process things once it gets overwhelmed, sometimes it's painful and feels like my head is going to burst. ADHD sensory issues are more attention based, so I don't get overwhelmed in the same way, just frustrated and less able to control my executive function. I can also get hyperfixated on a specific thing, whereas with autism it just becomes all one big overwhelming stream of data that I can't process.
... Because it can't happen to people that have either of those disorders and only one of those disorders can cause sensory issues. ADHD is a spectrum with a broad list of symptoms and not just "haha, my lil stupid brain can't concentrate" disorder.
Honestly, yeah. How do you explain that? You kinda just have to hope that the other person respects your wish and stops.
They don't make me cry, but they do trigger my fight-or-fight response. The joys of misophonia...
This hasn't been my experience with ADHD. Do I wander from task to task if I don't take my meds? Sure. Are noises like this annoying? Sure. They aren't making me cry though.
I guess sensory things vary quite a bit among people with ADHD then. Because I usually only get super annoyed by some sounds when tired or stressed. Usually it's no problem at all. My wife has misophonia and sounds often make her angry or maybe murderous is a more apt description.
We had an open office (small, about ten people in-person on a given day). There would get to be three conversations happening across the space. I wished people wouldn't talk over each other, just go have a quiet discussion face to face. I wanted to scream "shut up shut UP SHUT UP," and would just walk out to preserve my sanity. I hated that shit.
