Autism and Auditory Input: Part 1, Music

One of my favourite auditory stims of the last few years has been "goth" music. Anything dark and synth-y makes my head feel very tingly!

I'm particularly fond of Depeche Mode. There's something about Dave Gahan's voice that makes the experience more enjoyable than most other bands I listen to.

Take Skinny Puppy, for example - the music is A++ head-tingly, but the vocals leave a bit of a gap in full enjoyment. It doesn't help that I can't understand anything he says, all I understand is that it's English.

On the other (or, not "goth") side, Placebo produces a very similar affect to Depeche Mode. There's something about Molko's nasally whine that is exceptionally pleasurable to my brain.

Placebo's album, "Without You, I'm Nothing", is an auditory playground for my ears to explore and enjoy - except it's all perfect swing sets, and each song is like going to a different set and getting on my favourite swing of that set.

In other words, it's the best thing I could ever hope to experience.

Good-old synth pop also produces a very, very nice feeling, though it tends to be very... heterosexual (surprise! I'm gay).

All of this is because of my sensory processing disorder, which is one of my autistic traits and is one of the most common traits out there.

When I say music makes my head feel tingly, I'm not using any figures of speech, I am being literal. For instance, I am currently listening to Sleater-Kinney's album "All Hands on the Bad One". Every time Carrie or Corin does The Thing with their voice (if you've ever listened to a Sleater-Kinney album, you know what I'm talking about), my head literally feels as though the inside of it is tingling, or sparkling. It's a pleasant sensation to me.

On top of the sparkling feeling, it's also a little warm, like the sun is on the back of my head through a window.

I have no way of knowing if anyone else experiences this, or if this is something most people experience when they listen to music, though general consensus  says it's something that mostly autistic people feel.

Since it's officially Oct. 31st, 2016 where I am, Happy Halloween!

-Mark