4 min read time.
Why can the same sound feel manageable one day and unbearable the next? According to emerging research, the answer may involve far more than volume alone…
For many Autistic and neurodivergent people, sound intolerance is not simply about volume. Experiences such as sensory overwhelm, hyperacusis, and misophonia can be shaped by attention, context, stress, predictability, and environment.
While sensory differences are often discussed in broad terms, experiences of sound intolerance can vary significantly from person to person. Some people may experience hyperacusis, where sounds are perceived as painfully or uncomfortably loud, while others may experience misophonia, which can involve strong emotional reactions to particular sounds or sound patterns. Although these experiences are often treated as distinct, research is still investigating how much they overlap, particularly within neurodivergent populations, and what mechanisms drive them.
Dr Patrick Dwyer from the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre (OTARC) recently explored these questions in a talk with Hashir International (Research Institute for Misophonia, Tinnitus & Hyperacusis) through the lens of attention, environment, and neurodivergent experience. In this conversation, Patrick drew together research, lived experience perspectives, and implications to better understand sound intolerance in Autistic and ADHD populations.
Sensory experiences are complex
Current sensory frameworks often group together a wide range of sensory experiences, despite the fact that they may involve different underlying processes. Patrick described misophonia as involving: “more emotional reactions like anger or disgust or frustration… towards certain sounds that are really triggering.”
Rather than reducing sensory distress to a single explanation, his work has highlighted the complexity and variability of these experiences. Sensory overwhelm, shutdown, and meltdown are all examples of concepts that have been used by Autistic communities to describe experiences that have historically been misunderstood or overlooked within research and clinical settings. Autistic burnout, another example, only recently started to be studied in research.
Importantly, sensory experiences do not occur in isolation from the environments people are navigating. Stress, control, predictability, fatigue, cognitive load, and emotional demands can all shape how sensory input is experienced in a particular moment.
Attention shapes experience
A major focus of Patrick’s work has been the relationship between attention and sensory experience.
In the talk with Hashir Institute, he discussed monotropism, a theory developed by Autistic people that conceptualises autism partly in terms of attentional differences. This framework proposes that Autistic attention may often involve deep, focused engagement with a smaller number of interests that may change over varying periods of time.
This may relate to experiences such as hyperfocus, intense interests, and difficulty shifting attention once engaged. At the same time, Patrick noted that hyperfocus and distractibility can coexist, just as sensory hyper-responsiveness and hypo-responsiveness can coexist.
“Attention determines the contents of our consciousness to a very large degree… It is kind of what determines our experience of the world in a way,” he said.
This perspective raises important questions about whether attentional processes may contribute to the intensity, persistence, or emotional impact of some sensory experiences.
There is also a case for exploring the relationship between sound intolerance, anxiety, and hypervigilance. Distressing sensory experiences may contribute to cycles of anticipatory anxiety, where people become increasingly alert to potential triggers in their environment. This might ensure people focus on aversive sensory stimuli, potentially worsening sensory experiences.
As Patrick explained: “If you’ve got this sound intolerance experience, it would be reasonable to get anxious… because you’re then going to want to avoid that experience in the future.”
At the same time, Patrick repeatedly emphasised that these findings are correlational and that more longitudinal research is needed. Rather than pointing towards a single cause, the research suggests a more nuanced relationship between attention, emotion, sensory experiences, and environment.
Environment matters
One of the strongest themes throughout Dr Patrick Dwyer’s work is the importance of context and environment. In the talk, he emphasised that neurodivergent experiences cannot be understood separately from the environments people are navigating:
“Everything varies from moment to moment in a way that is really reflecting the environment [and] the specific context somebody’s in.”
This has important implications for how schools, workplaces, healthcare settings, and public spaces are designed. Predictability, autonomy, access to quieter spaces, and the ability to step away from overwhelming environments can all affect how manageable sensory experiences become.
Patrick also reflected on how simply knowing there is a safe space available can reduce cognitive load and preserve coping resources. Importantly, this framing shifts the conversation away from ‘fixing’ neurodivergent people and towards creating environments that are more enabling, flexible, and inclusive.
Patrick also pushed back against deficit-only understandings of hyperfocus, discussing how intense engagement can support creativity, enjoyment, and productivity depending on context and support.
“We do need the conceptual frameworks to understand all of this… if we’re going to be able to understand our own experiences… let alone convey that to other people and advocate and seek validation and accommodations.”
You can view the full talk here.
