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[Sappho]

I'm autistic and extremely hypersensitive. I just had to sit through a 2-hour meeting at work with 6 other people and tons of background noise. I'm quite proud of the fact that I didn't cry, though I came very close, and my ears are going to be ringing and in pain for days now. I'm going to try to plan with my coworkers a better way for me to participate in these meetings in the future without it causing me so much pain (fortunately they all know I'm autistic and are compassionate people), but sometimes there is simply no choice but for me to suffer through this. I made it this time, but now I'm still in the office and there's still lots of background noise, and no way for me to escape to quiet for at least 3-4 more hours.

I have a pair of headphones but they don't really block out external sounds, and I can't put music on them now or I'll just be piping more sound directly into my overloaded ears. People always say "use earplugs" but those really don't work. They don't block out sound, they just meld it all together and reduce the volume - and then there's the sensory nightmare of having something in my ears.

What I clearly need is a set of noise canceling headphones. But I can't seem to find a pair that isn't prohibitively expensive. Bose apparently makes the best ones, but the prices are out of my range for the time being. I found another set by Sony which was only about half the price, but I don't know for sure if they really work, and there's nowhere I can test them (I'd have to order online). People leave reviews saying they work well, but I doubt many of them are hypersensitive and aren't writing from the perspective of someone who really needs to block out noise (rather than just blocking out interruptions to their music).

Does anyone know anything about noise-canceling technology? Any recommendations for brands or models? I know there are ear defenders, too, but I don't know where I could buy those here (in the Czech Republic) and I've never used them, don't know how they work, etc.

Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks!

[BigD145]

I'm seeing Kensington Noise Canceling as an option for $30 US from B&H Photo. I see autistic folks every week and the orange construction isolation headphones are common. I don't work with any autistic folk directly but I do work in that sector.

There's also Extreme Isolation HP-25 Headphone. 25db-28db drop. Runs about $50 US. I've ratings up to 30db reduction. 3M Peltor H10A Optime 105

Active noise cancelling is indeed expensive. For you it's probably worth the money, but yes trying before buying would be optimal.

[Strife26]

I'm not sure exactly what standard  you'd need, but shooting or construction earphones might be an option, and at a fraction of the cost something electronic would run you

[DolosusDoleus]

Well, I have two suggestions for you.

1. I know you said you didn't like earplugs, but some companies actually make earplugs that reduce noise and don't just meld it all together. You can usually find them sold as "musician's earplugs".

This company is pretty good: http://www.sensorcom.com/

2. What Strife26 said, get some shooting headphones. They're relatively cheap, and they cut out a TON of sound.

[Sappho]

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. I've been hoping I can get headphones, since I'm working in an office and a big orange pair of ear protectors is going to look pretty ridiculous. And in any case, I often need headphones at work, and my current pair is slowly dying (sound getting weaker and weaker, bass is already completely gone) so it makes sense to get a new pair anyway... But the noise-canceling ones are SO expensive. Right now I'm pretty strapped for cash and have some big yearly expenses coming up. And I still don't know where I could try a pair out before buying them.

I'm sure I could get the big orange construction worker ear protectors for fairly cheap, I just can't imagine sitting in the office with those on my head. Maybe I could paint a pair black and try to pretend they're headphones...

Earplugs are really not possible for me. Would add to sensory overload to have anything in my ears, plus they can push earwax deeper in and I have a history of problems with that.

I'm actually going to the doctor today. My ears have been ringing very loudly for weeks now, and I've had a lot of other issues with constant fatigue, dizziness, lightheadedness, etc. that lead me to believe I'm likely anemic from iron deficiency - and apparently this is also a possible cause of ears ringing. So fingers crossed that the doctors can help. Going there is a nightmare for me (with my insurance I can basically only go to the emergency room and wait for hours to be seen by an overworked doctor who just wants to get me out the door), so here's hoping it goes smoothly and is worth it!

[BigD145]

I wouldn't touch Boss myself. Sennheiser makes a great product, which is also expensive.

[Strife26]

Bose makes nice stuff, but the price point is awfully high, even worse than already expensive active work. 

((It's a step even worse visually than construction headphones, but they make combat vehicle crewmen helmets that are really great for noise cancelation and pretty cheap on the surplus market. If someone was willing to do serious work on modifying them into something that's not a helmet, they would work pretty well, I think. Trying to modify them even more to give them power and speaker capabilities would probably doable for someone with access to cables and patience))

I don't have access to them right now, but my construction style ear phones are white and not too terribly bulky, but I don't know how out of place they'd be in an office environment.

[i2amroy]

If you don't actually need to play sound through things and are just using them for their silence aspect then picking up a pair of Safety Ear Muffs is going to be a lot better than noise canceling headphones at getting good quality silence for really cheap. Some of them (especially the ones in black) look almost identical to an old-school set of wireless headphones. I mean you still might look a little strange, but honestly I doubt anybody is really going to care much due to corporate apathy and all that jazz, so what is important here is what you need, not what they think. (Honestly I've noticed people wearing much stranger things and nobody ever things any less of them for it).

[Sappho]

If you don't actually need to play sound through things and are just using them for their silence aspect then picking up a pair of Safety Ear Muffs is going to be a lot better than noise canceling headphones at getting good quality silence for really cheap. Some of them (especially the ones in black) look almost identical to an old-school set of wireless headphones. I mean you still might look a little strange, but honestly I doubt anybody is really going to care much due to corporate apathy and all that jazz, so what is important here is what you need, not what they think. (Honestly I've noticed people wearing much stranger things and nobody ever things any less of them for it).

My office is very small. The whole company consists of about 10 people and everyone knows each other really well. It's the kind of environment where if I, in the middle of the work day, were to put on a pair of construction earmuffs, I would have to answer a lot of questions and reassure everyone that it's not their fault and such. One of my coworkers is the type of person who is constantly afraid of hurting someone's feelings or offending someone, constantly starting sentences with "it's probably my fault" and "I know, you're probably too busy". It drives me nuts - she's good at her job and a very nice person, but I don't even want to imagine how bad I'll make her feel if she happens to be talking at a time when I feel the need to put on my ear protectors. As it is whenever I put on my headphones (normal, working headphones) she starts apologizing and assuming it's to block her out. I just... don't want to deal with that.

However, the ones you linked to actually don't look bad at all. A few are not terribly dissimilar to the headphones I wear now. I'll have to see if I can buy something like that locally... Ordering from Amazon would more than double the price in shipping and customs costs. I could just glue an old wire to them so they look like headphones and not have to explain anything... Of course, I do sometimes actually need to use headphones and it might raise a few eyebrows if they see me switching pairs... Hrrmmm..... I shall have to think it over.

I suppose it is feasible for me to simply write an email to everyone explaining that my ears have been giving me trouble lately and I've gotten a set of earmuffs to try to help with it, and that if they see me putting them on they shouldn't take it personally - it's not their fault, etc. It won't stop them from feeling bad and worrying about me, but it might cut out a lot of the hassle of explaining it again and again...

By the way, after a semi-hellish health care experience today that involved having to go to two separate hospitals, it seems I am not anemic after all. The blood tests showed all vitamin levels normal, everything normal. They did an EKG, all normal. Tested my reflexes and a bunch of other stuff, all normal. No explanation for all the problems I've been having. Certainly none for the ringing ears I've had really badly for the past week. Only thing the doctor found was some issue on the back of my neck (two sore spots I've had for years) which she said could be related. She gave me something that she said should help with my headaches and something else to clear the "block" in my neck (I didn't understand well what it was, since it was all in Czech)... Said if I'm not feeling any better in a week I have to go to another hospital, since theirs won't take my insurance for anything more than emergency care. Wheeeeeeeee!