Man I totally get that. Having sensory overload is such a pain. Literally every single noise just drives you completely insane and people just don't understand how torturing it can be. Having to go through that at work daily myself. My co-worker is literally being as loud as possible on purpose just to annoy me. And he makes fun of me whenever I try to speak up against it.
Still can't believe how autism is still such a misunderstood topic. I hope you have some possibilities to block out the loud noises as much as possible (headphones, ear plugs etc.). Even leaving the scenery for just a few minutes (going outside, going to the toilet,...) can help a bit. It sucks that people know so little about autism. Why should we constantly adjust ourselves for them, but they won't try to understand us?
I calmed down after going to my room, having a good cry into my blåhaj, and taking a nap, but I really shouldn't have to do that. My father and sister both think that they're autistic, and they claim to be autistic despite not being diagnosed, which pisses me off. They don't understand the basic issues that I have, sensory overload being one of the biggest ones.
I can't use earplugs because my body produces too much cerumen, so I end up with impactions if I use earplugs. As for headphones, they can only do so much, especially since I went into sensory overload already, and silence is what I needed. If I tell people that they're too loud, then they raise their volume and add more noise.
So many people don't even seem to understand what I mean when I say that an environment is too loud. It's not just about decibel rating, but instead how many noises are going on at the same time. If multiple people talk at the same time, then that's a surefire way to get me overstimulated since my brain isn't able to sort out any of the information coming in. I wish I didn't have to work, because I get issues with that a lot at work. There were even times when I broke the rules to take 30 minute crying breaks because I couldn't handle all the noise.
Movement is the other big thing I'm sensitive to. I'm the only employee in the building who only works in the lab since I can't handle all of the moving people outside of the lab. I constantly want to quit, but I need the insurance and the income. I wish I could just be a housecat. I wasn't meant to work; I was meant to lay in the grass and eat berries.
