#auditory overstimulation

[artastic-friend]

Man, as a hearing person who gets easily overstimulated by lots of sound and vocal conversations all around me, going to deaf events and parties and get togethers and such is just such an awesome experience.

Since there is no taking, only signing, it is so much quieter and I get so much less overwhelmed by multiple conversations going on at once because I can choose what conversation I’m actually paying attention to and listening to.

So like, with a hearing people event, you can’t really focus your ears to only hear sound from a single person and block out everything else. When people are having multiple different conversations around you, it gets so overwhelming as people get louder to talk over eachother and as you try to listen to one person talk to you, you have to try to mentally block out what others around you are saying and only focus on the person you’re trying to hear.

Meanwhile with signed languages, you literally can choose where you are looking because of how sight works lol, and so you can focus on just one or a few people and meanwhile all the conversations going on behind you are completely blocked out! So for me personally, I just don’t get that overstimulation!! It’s great!

Now this isn’t the case for all people ofc, moreso what personally causes overstimulation for you, like my friend in the same class as me had the opposite experience, where they are more drawn to visual cues and get more overwhelmed by seeing movement all around and thus they get overstimulated by not being able to focus on only one person and loosing track of conversations.

But if you get easily overstimulated with sound like me, I definitely recommend learning ASL (or whatever sign language is dominant for the country/culture you live in) and going to deaf events and getting to know your local community because it is so wonderful!

Deaf people are so wonderful and awesome to converse with! They have so many interesting stories to tell and are generally just such kind and understanding people!

I have never felt better at a social gathering ever in my life than I do at deaf gatherings^^ and I have never felt like much of a social person in general UNTIL I went to my first deaf gathering (well- actually my second because at my first one I didn’t really know enough sign yet).

Anyway. I just thought this was worth sharing for any hearing people who may need to hear this.

This is your sign to learn sign 😁

[clickerflight]

Joseph: Part 4 - Officer Muir

Masterlist

Part 3

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I'm so excited about this. This story has really grown in my mind and I have PLANS! You'll have to bear with me, though. Since it's been so long since I wrote the last piece there are a lot of differences. There are not goblins or werewolves in this world. Anyways! I hope you enjoy!

Content: Vampire whumpee, human caretaker, body horror, temporary blindness, grief, hospital whump (specifically the noise and isolation), overstimulation, panic attacks

Let me know if you want to be on the taglist

..................................

Officer Muir sat in his car, watching the cars pass by and checking their speeds as they went.  It was always amusing to watch people slow down drastically when they spotted him, but he let them go by. He was quite content to sit and think. 

He heard his radio crackle to life and a voice came over the radio. 

"Distressed vampire on highway 60 between exit 820 and 821. A human male is keeping the vampire company currently. Ambulance dispatched. Are there any officers in the area that can evaluate the situation?"

Officer Muir picked up the radio and said, "Officer Muir here. I'm two exits down. I'll be there in a moment."

He put the radio down and turned on the lights and sirens. Vampire in distress really wasn't much to go off of. If there was a human there, it could be trouble. Vampires were usually very hostile when stressed out and could turn on the man easily. 

Officer Muir sped past the cars that pulled aside for him and soon spotted a large mower and a man crouching in the grass over something. Officer Muir pulled up and got out of his car, looking over the situation. The grass hid what the man was looking at, but he got up, phone pressed to his ear as he talked with the emergency operator on the other side. 

"Oh, an officer is here," the older man said. He was obviously human as his wrinkles and dull graying hair proved, which meant the vampire was laying under the coat that Officer Muir could now see through the grass.

"I almost ran 'im over with my mower," the man said. "I spotted ‘im just in time. I let ‘im drink from me. He's in bad shape."

"Gotcha. What's your name?"

"Lloyd Montgomary," he said as Officer approached the coat, noting the twitching movement underneath. 

"Alright, Mr. Montgomary. Thank you," Officer Muir said. He crouched by the vampire and could hear the man's whimpers and whines over the sound of traffic. 

"Yeah. He's a Moderna vampire. Wasn’t burning in the sun."

Officer Muir nodded and lifted the coat to get a better look. 

The vampire was curled in on himself, but Officer Muir could tell he was missing limbs. Not in a torn off way, but in a growing them back sort of way. 

"Hey, man, can you hear me?" Officer Muir asked, and the vampire turned his face to him. 

Officer Muir recoiled from what he saw. The vampire was growing back much messier than most vampires he'd met. His sightless eye sockets stared out emptily and he still needed to regrow the skin on half of his face.

Office Muir collected himself quickly enough, putting a hand on the vampire’s back through the coat. 

“Hey, man. I’m Officer Muir. There’s an ambulance on the way for you, okay?”

“Okay,” the vampire said breathlessly. He flinched and whined, long and drawn out. “It hurts,” he whimpered. 

“I know, man. Hang in there. He’ll get you to the hospital and they’ll give you painkillers while you grow out the rest of the way, okay?”

The vampire nodded. 

“I’m sorry,” Mr. Montgomery said anxiously as the sound of sirens became audible in the distance. “Was I not supposed to feed ‘im, I-”

“It’s fine.” Officer Muir soothed. “He’s going to be okay and what you did was very kind.”

Officer Muir turned back to the vampire and asked, “Hey, what’s your name?”

“J-Joseph.” The vampire looked faintly like he was going to be sick for a moment before he asked, “What year is it?”

Warning bells went off in Officer Muir’s head. “Were you held captive?”

“They, they put me in a box,” Joseph managed. A dry sob wracked through his body, making him spasm in pain.

“Hey, hey, it’s going to be okay,” Officer Muir said. “I’m here. They can’t do anything to you. They’ll have to go through me.”

Joseph nodded, his not-quite-formed hand reaching out blindly and Officer Muir held it. “What year is it?”

“2019.”

Joseph sucked in a shuddering breath. 

“How long did they have you?” Officer Muir asked, leaning closer as the sirens got louder. 

Joseph just wailed, gripping Officer Muir’s hand tighter, struggling to get closer. Officer Muir gently pulled him closed, settling on the ground so the vampire could hide his face in Officer Muir’s pant leg. 

The paramedics were there soon enough, and they coaxed Joseph onto a stretcher. Other officers came and started taking Mr. Montgomery’s statement. Officer Muir was grateful for that because, despite the vampire only having about three and a half fingers in total, he had a deathgrip on the Officer’s hand. 

“Sweetheart,” one of the paramedics said gently. “How about you let his hand go?”

“Please,” he whispered, sightless eyes turned to Officer Muir. “Please. Don’t leave.”

Officer Muir sighed. He turned his head and spotted Officer Granger, a vampire woman who often acted as his partner when he wasn’t on duty at the roads. 

“Oi! Granger?”

She turned and he tossed her his keys. “Can you get someone to take my car to the hospital? I’m going in the ambulance. And could you let the chief know?”

She rolled her eyes. “She’s gonna tear you a new one when you get back.”

“No she won’t. She loves me!”

Granger sighed and shrugged. With that, he turned back to the vampire and climbed into the ambulance. 

Joseph was breathing heavily, rolling his head around nervously as the paramedics got things ready for him. 

“Alright, this should help a little with the pain,” the gentle paramedic said, gently poking a needle into Joseph’s half formed arm and plugging a drip to it that would feed in pain killers. 

Over the course of the ride, Joseph started to relax, though he never let go of Officer Muir’s hand. After a long silence where the paramedics conferred and joked together, Joseph turned his head to Officer Muir. 

“Three years.”

“What?”

“I was in a silver box for three years.”

The paramedic’s fell silent and Officer Muir found himself running his thumb back and forth across Joseph’s knuckles. “Want to tell it… from the beginning?”

Joseph took a steadying breath and nodded. 

“David and I… er, David’s my sire, we were going to the store? Or maybe going out to get drinks? I don’t remember,” Joseph said sorrowfully. “A weird van pulled up and, and…. some guys grabbed us. Dressed in robes and stuff. They had silver weapons and there were a lot of them. I never was good at fighting.”

Joseph swallowed nervously. “They took us somewhere remote. They…. I think they were cultists. They tied us up and they poured silver on David’s face. Why would they do that? We weren’t even-” his voice broke off as he heaved another dry sob. He took a moment, the skin growing across his face as he fought for control. “They killed him.”

Officer Muir squeezed his hand, and Joseph squeezed back. 

After a long moment of silence, Officer Muir asked, “Do you want to talk about what they did to you?”

Joseph’s breath quickened. “They cut my heart out.”

Officer Muir winced. 

“Put me in a silver box and buried me, I think. Someone found the box. And someone put blood in me and cut a part of my heart off. Then I…… I don’t know how I got on the side of the road.”

Officer Muir frowned. “It sounds like they were testing for your age. There’s been a rise of crime rings selling the hearts of ancient vampires around for their knowledge. How old are you?”

“I was born 1984.”

“Kay. So they saw you were a modern vampire and probably tossed you out. You got lucky.”

Joseph shuddered. “Doesn’t feel like I did.”

“I know, man. But you did. You survived. You’re going to get healed up and get some help and you’ll be on your way. Did you have a coven?”

Joseph shook his head. “I’m Hemijeoa Moderna.”

Officer muir tightened his grip on Joseph’s hand. “David was your… bondmate then?”

Joseph was silent for a long time. Officer Muir could see him working his jaw, trying to say something, but all he could do was nod, skin creeping closed over his eye sockets.

“Please don’t leave me,” he whispered. 

“Okay. Okay, I won’t,” Officer Muir replied. “I’m Officer Muir… but you can call me Joshua.”

“Joshua,” Joseph whispered. “Joshua.”

Officer Muir hummed softly and Joseph relaxed a bit more. 

“Where are you from, Joseph?”

“Mmm? Oh, It’s a small place. Forreston. Where are we going?”

“We’re going to Keaton. Have you been there?”

Joseph frowned. “No. I lived in Forreston my whole life.”

“It’s nice. It’s a small city, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.”

“And you’ll be here?”

Officer Muir ran his thumb over Joseph’s knuckles again. “I will probably have to leave at some point. I am technically on duty, but-” he said quickly as Joseph went pale and his breathing picked up again- “but, I’ll give you my number and I’ll come visit you when I get off, okay?”

Joseph took slow breaths again, calming himself down. Officer Muir couldn’t imagine what he was going through. Losing your pairbond like that and then being trapped in a burning box for three years? Officer Muir couldn’t begrudge the fact that the vampire was being clingy. It was actually kind of nice. He still didn’t have many friends in the city, after all. 

It was too early to be thinking along those lines, though. Soon enough, the ambulance pulled up at the hospital and Joseph was taken to a room where he could grow out the rest of the way, another drip of blood being hung up alongside the pain killers. 

After making sure Joseph was settled and comfortable, Officer Muir said, “I have to go, okay. I’ll be back this evening.”

He slid his hand from the vampire’s and pulled out his notepad, writing down his phone number and pressing it into Joseph’s hand. “You can call me if you need to, but I should be back soon,” he said. 

Joseph nodded as he clung to the note, eyelids fluttering, though his eye sockets were still empty as the ocular muscles were only just beginning to develop. “Okay. Okay. Thank you.”

“Course,” and with that, Officer Muir left. 

………………………………

Joseph sat and regenerated. Without the pain, there was just a tingling where his limbs were growing. The only thing he really didn’t appreciate was the noise. It was so loud here. The machines never stopped beeping, voices passed down the hall constantly, he could smell blood and fear and could hear screams on the other side of the hospital. Every so often a code would be called and he would jump out of his skin, his ears and heart throbbing with fear. 

He pressed the blanket to his face, trying to distract himself with the feeling while avoiding the small bumps that were starting to form under his eyelids, biting his lip as his hair grew in and just kept growing until it reached the length it was when he was turned, ticking his ears and cheeks. He pressed his face into the blanket harder, shoulders up around his ears as someone laughed loudly down the hall and the beeping just kept going. 

There was something crawling under his skin, something constricting around his chest making it harder to breathe and he still didn’t have feet to escape with. 

Desperately, he dropped the blanket and put his hands over his eyes, muffling the sound, but they wouldn’t go away and now he could also hear the rush of blood in his palms. 

He was crying, and now he could actually form tears, the droplets hot on his face as he tried desperately to breathe. He tried to keep the sounds down in his throat, his breathing almost unbearable to him, nevermind the stupid whimpers he couldn’t keep himself from making. 

A warm hand touched his and he flinched back, opening his eyes. He could faintly see lights and blurs of darkness. 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” a male voice asked. It wasn’t Muir. Stars, Joseph wished it was Muir. He’d felt safe when Muir was there.

“”S loud,” he whispered, unable to fight back the hot tears that were still traveling down his face. 

“Okay, give me a moment,” the man said and the blur moved. 

Joseph watched him go and covered his eyes, watching the blurriness around him for movement. 

The man came back. Joseph smelled him coming and only flinched slightly when he felt another touch on his hand. 

“I brought you some noise canceling headphones,” he said softly. “It’s pretty normal to get overwhelmed, especially if it’s your first time. Do you want any music?”

Joseph almost said no, but then he realized he really didn’t want to listen to his blood and heartbeat again. He needed something. He nodded.

“Kay. Is there a specific album you’d like? Something longer, if you can think of it, so you have time to get your sight back before you need to change it.”

Joseph shook his head. “Anything works- wait. No. Minecraft music.”

“Okay.”

The man put the headphones gently over Joseph’s ears and, after a very uncomfortable moment of listening to himself, familiar sounds of Minecraft music began to play, reminding Joseph of the mindless hours he and David played the game together. 

He closed his eyes, willing himself to relax as he sensed the man leave again. 

Joseph kept crying, but it wasn’t because of the pain or the overstimulation. All he could think about was David’s triumphant grin when they killed the ender dragon on their fifth attempt. 

………………………………..

Muir stepped out of the Chief’s office, his ears still ringing a little bit from the bit of shouting she had indulged in. 

Granger was waiting for him outside, eyebrow lifted and a little smile on her face. “Favorite, ey?”

“I am,” he replied snidely as he took his keys back from her. “And she was yelling at me for something else entirely anyways. She was only a little mad about me going to the hospital.”

“I see. Was he alright?”

“I think he’ll be okay. I’m not sure. I’m going to check up on him tonight, actually, after I finish some paperwork.”

“Okay,” she said. “You said he was a Hemijeoa, right?”

“Right.”

“Where’s his bondmate?”

“Died in the same incident that got him where he is,” Muir replied, making his way to his desk. 

She raised her eyebrow. “You’d better be careful, then. He’s in a fragile state. He might try to pairbond with you.”

“And what would be so wrong with that?”

“Well, you’d have to stick around him a lot more. Plus, you’re human. You wouldn’t feel the bond enough to actually keep up with it and keep him healthy.”

“I thought humans pairbonded with vampires all the time?”

She huffed. “I guess. Still I don’t think it’s healthy.”

Muir rolled his eyes. “I don’t think you get to have opinions. You’re a Ferox yourself, aren’t you? You don’t need any bonds.”

She shrugged. “Just be careful. You don’t want to have to deal with a clingy vampire for the rest of your life.” Without letting him respond, she took off to her own desk. 

Muir rolled his eyes and got back to work. 

Joseph: @whumpsday @not-a-space-alien @why-not-ask-me-a-better-question

From Dust to Ashes: @whumpsday @writereleaserepeat @currentlyinthespiral

Let me know if you want to be added to either taglist. Joseph's taglist is stuff having to do with just this vampire, and the other one is for general stuff written in this whole world.

Part 5

[amyyythestarry]

In all honesty I need to know if Apple headphones ( like the ones that play music and stuff ) can help with overstimulation ( specifically auditory ). I had a terrible time in the roller rink and bus for my field trip. The roller rink was too loud and overwhelming, I was to myself, and the bus kept ringing out of control and we all had to ride like that. It was a nightmare.

Also tell me why when the bus start ringing one of the teachers said “To the kids with sensory issues, this is just exposure therapy” girrrllllllll. Exposure therapy is not gonna ‘cure’ sensory processing disorder. She sounded real slow.

What could help with auditory overstimulation expect for ear defenders or earplugs bc I don’t think my parents would let me get them, they’re not aware of my struggles.

[kazoosandfannypacks]

Me: Sensory issues are wild. Pepper sets my mouth on fire, sometimes patterns and colors freak me out, some textures of foods make me gag, and sometimes a simple background noise can be Too Loud. Someone: At least you must be a good listener then, right? Me: What? Someone: You know, you must be good at... Me: Oh, no, not at all. I also have auditory processing disorder.

[void-galaxy-shenanigans]

“i’m overstimulated. i’m understimulated. ...actually i don't know which.” *thinking* “...the stimulation is off. yeah. the stimulation is just wrong either way.”

- me, auDHD, unable to tell if I'm overstimulated or understimulated but knowing the Vibes™ are off

[squid--inc]

....

[harbingerofwhump]

Question for my fellow sensory issue haver's (autistic or not) :

do y'all find that your sensitivity to sensory input is worse when you've first woken up (like the first hour or so), regardless of how much you slept/when you woke up/etc.?

[trekkiehood]

*is overstimulated*

*politely request people to stop doing overstimulated thing*

"You can't say that! That's rude!"

*removes self from room*

"Why are you always so antisocial and rude?"

*puts in headphones/ear plugs*

"Wow. Rude."

*plugs ears*

"You are so disrespectful and rude!"

[hecatine-writer]

the reason i hate parties isn't because i'm "introverted" it's because my brain refuses to tune out noises so i basically get to hear dozens of conversations at the same time which is exhausting, draining and incredibly stressful!

[lesbiankoby]

[gives adult obito his headphones back]

[stal3bread]

If I'm honest, I'm kind of desperate at this point. Basically, I get pretty fucking overstimulated at school pretty much every day, to the point where I frequently get headaches. It means I'm basically useless once I get home and I just generally feel like shit. If anyone else on the spectrum experiences this, please give me tips or just words of comfort that it's not just me who experiences this, because I'm surrounded by allistics who can just go to school and then come home and work and be fine.

[thecouncilofidiots]

Also, who thought getting me, the alter with little to no experience with external interactions, to order us, an autistic system with APD and GAD, food at a busy place? -Baz

[assigned-marcille-at-breakfast]

im crying and fucking begging you please please god fuck please stop playing your god damned music out loud on your phone. i dont wanna hear your shitty christian music. and i cant fuckin say anything to you about it cause youre my boss. just like. idk. feels like a basic decency thing to not play shitty christian music out your phone speaker where your staff is working and cant leave or say anything like. fuck

[hastalavistabyebye]

shuffle your favorite playlist and post the first five songs that come up. then copy/paste this ask to your favorite mutuals <3

Okay okay okay, I know I've taken ages to answer to that and I'm so sorry but I'm here now.

Je te laisserai des mots - Patrick Watson

Chanson for my depressed love - Pomme

Ode to my family - the Cranberries

Lighthouse - Patrick Watson

Can't help falling in love - Elvis Presley

I don't have a favorite playlist but I went with my quiet playlist (usually for late evenings like right now or for auditory oversensitivity moments).

[whispers-into-the-void]

so this is going to sound like it builds up to an ad (it does not) but one of my major fears about one day becoming a parent was my sensitivity to sound. as someone who keeps the fan at a lower speed because it's too noisy at full speed during what has been declared a heatwave week in my district, i had serious reservations about my capacity to keep my shit together when my kid is crying or yelling or in any other way being noisy, as children invariably are.

and well. i saw this advert for earplugs which had a quiz to find out the right earplug for you. and it asked you, hey what is the kind of noise cancellation you're looking at. and the entire parenting thing was an option. like "i want to hear enough to know what's going on but while protecting my eardrums" or smth to that effect was an option.

and the sheer relief that washed through me. that. earplugs. reusable earplugs that don't noise cancel to the extent of cutting you off from the world exists. because honestly absolute quietness is not smth i can afford in my daily life. i have roads to cross lmao. but !! even though these earplugs are hella expensive, one day i will gift thwm to meself (cause i'm the only person other than my psychiatrist who recognizes that I'm autistic). i will save up and i will reduce my misery. one day.

and i say this as someone who routinely uses their earphones as earplugs by just not playing any music. it is...a good makeshift but it drains battery and sometimes i click it accidentally and it starts playing smth or opens up google assistant(god assistant is SUCH a nuisance) and also just. it cancels so much that i speak in a whisper and the people around me get exasperated because my sound processing is completely thrown off and yes.

i have spent the last hour staring longingly at earplugs on the internet and I can't say i have any regrets i want it rlly badly.

[krystalmoth]

Me:

sitting alone at a table surrounded by chairs and dissociating about the boys getting 3 am beans.

Them:

"Hey is anyone else using this chair?"

What I heard:

"Feyis anmyerlse fusing chair?"

My response:

"uh...yes?"

Them:

😐

Me:

Turns out I've had an auditory processing disorder my whole life. To be honest I was starting to wonder why everyone was talking like Charlie Brown's teacher from Peanuts.