Accessibility through Awareness of Noise Sensitivity Management and Regulation Practices
Emani Dotch, Avery Mavrovounioti, Weijie Du, Elizabeth Ankrah, Jazette Johnson, Aehong Min, Gillian R Hayes · 2024 · ASSETS '24: Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility · doi:10.1145/3663548.3675630
Summary
This paper investigates how people with noise sensitivity (PWNS) manage and regulate their responses to sound, and identifies opportunities for technology-mediated support. Noise sensitivity — experiencing sounds as disproportionately distressing, painful, or overwhelming — affects many neurodivergent individuals (particularly those with autism, ADHD, misophonia, and hyperacusis) as well as people with traumatic brain injury, PTSD, and other conditions. The researchers conducted an interview study over three months with 21 people with noise sensitivity and 9 caregivers (family members, partners, friends who actively support PWNS). The study explored participants' experiences with problematic sounds, their current management strategies, how they regulate their emotional and physiological responses, and the role of other people in supporting them. A central finding was that awareness — both self-awareness of one's own sensitivity patterns and others' awareness of the person's needs — is the key factor influencing whether management and regulation are successful. The authors distinguish between management (external actions to control the sound environment, such as avoiding noisy places, using noise-cancelling headphones, or asking others to lower volume) and regulation (internal coping strategies to handle unavoidable sound exposure, such as deep breathing, journaling, boundary-setting, and self-talk). Building on disability studies concepts of interdependence and mutual care, the paper introduces "joint awareness" — shared understanding between PWNS and their social network about triggers, thresholds, and effective support strategies — as essential for collaborative noise sensitivity management.
Key findings
Participants reported a wide range of trigger sounds and severity levels, from specific sounds like chewing or pen clicking (misophonia-type triggers) to general loudness thresholds and unpredictable sounds. Management strategies fell into two primary categories: avoidance (leaving noisy environments, choosing quieter venues, timing activities to avoid peak noise) and sound masking (using noise-cancelling headphones, playing background music or white noise to cover triggering sounds). Regulation strategies were more personal and varied: journaling to process emotional responses, setting explicit boundaries with others ("please don't chew near me"), alerting companions to approaching overload, and developing self-soothing techniques. A critical finding was that awareness operated at multiple levels. Self-awareness — understanding one's own triggers, thresholds, and early warning signs of overload — was foundational but often developed slowly through difficult experiences. Social awareness — others understanding the person's noise sensitivity — was essential for collaborative management but required ongoing communication and education, as noise sensitivity is invisible and often dismissed or minimised. Caregivers played crucial roles: monitoring environments proactively, alerting the PWNS to upcoming noise, creating exit strategies, and advocating for quieter conditions. However, caregivers also described the emotional labour of constant vigilance and the difficulty of predicting novel triggers. Technology use was limited and often inadequate — noise-cancelling headphones were the most common tool but could be socially isolating, and no participants used apps specifically designed for noise sensitivity management. The authors propose design principles for future technology including: ambient noise monitoring with personalised alerts, shared awareness tools that communicate sensitivity status to trusted contacts, sound environment previews for unfamiliar locations, and regulation support tools that guide users through coping strategies when overload is detected.
Relevance
This research addresses an underexplored accessibility need that affects a large population — noise sensitivity spans autism, ADHD, misophonia, hyperacusis, TBI, PTSD, and other conditions, yet receives far less design attention than visual or motor accessibility. The awareness framework provides a structured way to think about noise sensitivity support: self-awareness tools (tracking triggers, monitoring physiological responses), social awareness tools (communicating needs to others), and environmental awareness tools (previewing and monitoring sound environments). The joint awareness concept extends the interdependence framework by showing that effective accessibility often requires shared understanding between the person with a disability and their social network — technology that facilitates this shared understanding can be more effective than individual coping tools alone. For workplace and educational accessibility practitioners, the findings highlight that noise management is not just about providing quiet spaces but about building organisational awareness and collaborative practices. The caregiver perspective adds important nuance about the labour of supporting someone with noise sensitivity and the need for tools that distribute this work more equitably.
Tags: noise sensitivity · sensory processing · neurodiversity · self-regulation · awareness · interdependence · collaborative management · caregivers · assistive technology