How have noise cancelling headphones helped me as a multiple disabled person?

Posted Tue 21st Feb 2023 at 10:03
by Oliver Waite

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Oliver shares how a TA grant allowed him to purchase a vital piece of equipment.

As well as having Tourette syndrome, I am also autistic,  schizoaffective bipolar type  (meaning I have both schizophrenia and bipolar) and have complex PTSD, Irlen syndrome and several physical conditions, including chronic pain and fatigue. I am a full-time manual wheelchair user and a full time AAC user. About eight months (June 2022) ago I was awarded a Tourettes Action grant for a pair of Bose noise cancelling headphones. They have helped me in multiple ways.

Firstly, how do they help me with my TS?

As part of my TS I have mental tics which are like vocal tics, but inside my mind. It is extremely exhausting. Noise cancelling headphones, as well as blocking noise out, can simultaneously allow me to listen to something at the same time. For me this might be music, a podcast, or various nature sounds. You may think it strange that I add noise to an already noisy brain, but this is noise I can control and is an excellent way to distract from these distressing and constant mental tics.

My Bose noise cancelling headphones, have a scale of how much noise they filter out, going from one to ten. This means that I can block out background noise, which can often include people being mean to me on public transport and out and about. This helps me to not suppress my tics, which can trigger more tic attacks. Blocking the negative comments out also helps me to stay grounded and less likely to trigger my complex PTSD.

Many different things come with Tourette's, one being sensory issues, including sensory overload.

Recently I was at the Trafford Centre, if you don’t know it, then it is a huge (really huge!) shopping centre in Manchester. We were there on a Saturday afternoon - two neurodivergent people that should have realised it would be sensory hell!

Loud, bright, smelly, people everywhere. I had my headphones on with noise cancelling on full, but the noise was still very overwhelming, and my brain was still very loud. My partner reminded me to put some music or sensory sounds on through my headphones to help with the noise. I put a familiar playlist on, which helped. I had reduced the noise of the outside, meaning I was less anxious, less overwhelmed, and less likely to have a tic attack. By adding familiar music to the noise cancellation I could block out more external sounds and help to distract myself from the constant mental tics.

As I said at the beginning of this post I am also disabled in other ways as well as my Tourette's. As an autistic person I am extremely overwhelmed sensory wise all the time. Noise, especially lots of people talking, is one of my most difficult sensory inputs to cope with. As you can imagine, noise cancelling headphones help me a lot. They are worn on full noise cancellation setting anytime I am out of my home, and at times worn in my home as well. When at the Trafford Centre, the noise cancellation of my headphones likely helped me not to have a full-blown meltdown. If I had not had the headphones, then meltdown and a tic attack would have been much more likely.

I am also schizophrenic and noise cancelling headphones with music on can help to distract from auditory hallucinations. They can also help with the anxiety and severe paranoia I deal with constantly, especially out of my home. I believe that I am being watched and spied on, that I am being followed, being able to distract from this is really important. So noise cancellation and music or sound is incredibly important for me.

When I say my my brain is a noisy space, I really do mean it - mental tics, intrusive thoughts, hallucinations, paranoia etc. Therefore having a way to help me distract from all this is vital for me. And to have a way to reduce sensory overload is equally as vital.

Oliver has a personal blog page where he 'Talks more about life as an: autistic, touretter, mentally ill, neurodivergent, disabled, LGBTQIA, Tudor and history geek'. Read more here.

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