Unspoken Things
Posted by: ryno in asperger, autism, health, people stuff, people-watching, perception, rantThe subject has been known to me for quite some time, but this post was prompted by a visit to one of Herself’s health professionals.
We often visit doctors and so forth together: I apparently tend to downplay symptoms (or so I’m told), while the Good Lady sometimes forgets to mention a detail here or there. Whatever: the waiting-room magazines are usually not worth reading, so I was in the office with her.
Ms Usual-Person was on holiday, so Ms Filling-In was taking her place.
Now for all my faceblind, autistic, total lack of body-language skills, I felt very inclined to ask Ms Filling-In if she was keen on dancing or strenuous gym-type exercise.
It wasn’t that I noticed anything exceptional in terms of build or musculature. My clue was that this young woman SPOKE IN BOLD CAPITALS.
All the bloody time.
I was a tad naughty, and I dropped my voice level a bit.
Yup, suspicion confirmed. It’s hard to lip-read me, what with the whiskers and all.
Like so many of the personal stereo generation, poor Filling is losing her hearing way too early.
I won’t go into my own little horror story, “Mister Fuckwit Learns How NOT To Use Oxy-Welding Gear“, apart from saying I was very fortunate indeed to grow my eardrums back. Nasty business it was, and I still audiogram within the normal range for my age.
A point that seems to escape notice is this frightening truth: noise damage above a certain level is permanent. Yep, no recovery. Worse yet, that level is low.
| How loud is too loud? | |
|---|---|
|
150
|
Firecracker |
|
120
|
Ambulance siren |
|
110
|
Chain saw, Rock concert |
|
105
|
Personal stereo system at maximum level |
|
100
|
Wood shop, Snowmobile |
|
95
|
Motorcycle |
|
90
|
Power mower |
|
85
|
Heavy city traffic |
|
60
|
Normal conversation |
|
40
|
Refrigerator humming |
|
30
|
Whispered voice |
Table borrowed from (USA) National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.
Here’s a few decibel levels I dug up, as an indicator:
Weakest sound heard 0dB
Whisper Quiet Library 30dB
Normal conversation (3-5′) 60-70dB
Telephone dial tone 80dB
City Traffic (inside car) 85dB
Train whistle at 500′, Truck Traffic 90dB
Subway train at 200′ 95dB
Level at which sustained exposure may result in hearing loss 90 - 95dB
Power mower at 3′ 107dB
Snowmobile, Motorcycle 100dB
Power saw at 3′ 110dB
Sandblasting, Loud Rock Concert 115dB
Pain begins 125dB
Pneumatic riveter at 4′ 125dB
Loudest recommended exposure even WITH hearing protection 140dB
Jet engine at 100′, Gun Blast 140dB
Death of hearing tissue 180dB
Loudest sound possible 194dB
OSHA Daily Permissible Noise Level Exposure
Hours per day - Sound level
8 90dB
6 92dB
4 95dB
3 97dB
2 100dB
1.5 102dB
1 105dB
.5 110dB
.25 or less 115dB
Let’s not forget, the energy pumped out by those earbuds has nowhere else to go but up the ear canal…
I’ll go away quietly now…
Entries (RSS)
July 27th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Funny, I use an MP3 player all the time, go out to pubs dancing, etc. and I can still hear to 26 kHz with a blank spot somewhere around 16 kHz.
Yeah, I’m a freak.
July 27th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Yeah, I used to hear up in puppy-dog territory too.
Fluoro lights and TV sets on stand-by are still annoying, but my sensitivity is a bit diminished. I can still hear people talking to each other as they leave the pub a quarter-mile away, but a lot of that’s the acoustics of our valley.
After the accident, the Rather Insensitive GP said, in one of those raised voices with exaggerated pronunciation reserved for use on the deaf and/or daft: “You’ve got hardly any eardrums left. Hey, I’ve never seen all the little bones working before, hahaha.”
I wasn’t sure whether to try and off myself then and there, or to put the bastard’s lights out, so I did neither.
(Long Story Snipped)
Since I got my wee tympanic membranes back, I’ve tried to go easy on the noise levels. So far it seems to have preserved me at slightly better than expected for my age.
July 27th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
I’m incredibly sensitive to everything. James is the same way. Our DSQ chickie is talking about getting specially tinted glasses for me because my overload is so huge from fluoros et al.
I’m glad your eardrums grew back. You’re pretty lucky.
Just why do I have to have such acute hearing? It’s not really all that useful and can be very painful.
July 27th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
I love my hearing. I’ve experienced Lack Thereof, and it was pretty awful.
Mum had a progressive nerve deafness: notches completely missing from the spectrum right where my rather deep speaking voice goes (as a result, I sometimes unconsciously modulate up two semitones when talking to older women), and general loss of acuity across the board.
The other odd thing with her was that sometimes sounds arrived out of order: 1,2,4,3 kind of thing.
She was noticeably afflicted by the time she’d reached my age, so I may have dodged that particular genetic bullet.
July 27th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Oh, and by the way, for Naiiad re comment 3:
I have used tractor muffs when working in open plan or other less-than-ideal sonic environments. I recommend Protector brand.
July 27th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
Oh I appreciate having hearing, it’s the nasty high frequencies that noone else hears that bugs me.
Thanks for the tip. I can just imagine wearing tractor muffs to the supermarket. :-) I will remember that, though.
July 27th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
Oh, come on, Naiiad! A little glitter, some of those googly eye stickers that roll around, some marabou feathers… where’s your creativity?
July 28th, 2008 at 12:05 am
*chuckles* Thanks, I needed that.