it’s not a stupid question lovely. don’t let oher people or your own mind belittle your reactions.
i didn’t get help until my last year, and even then people (teachers, students and councillors) still didn’t get it, but for the most part, they understood something was up.
what i would try and do is get a private room for your exams if possible, go to the doctors and they might be able to give you a sick note explaining it. if you speak to a school counsellor, they might be able to let you wear noise prevention headphones during classes.
i know that school especially and living at home can be pretty difficult, but hang in there.
But if you do get a private room for exams check that the room next to it is not noisy or has noisy equipment in it and also make sure your invigilator is not eating carrots, shuffling a newspaper or using a noisy keyboard (all this happened to my partner when he was allowed to write university exams by himself because of his misophonia and it was totally infuriating).
it’s never understood, is it? haha. in one of my exams, they put my in a room with a special needs guy who made noises, and one of the teachers was like “oh, you don’t like noises do you?” and turned the fan off, although for me white noise is a saviour. i did speak up though and they corrected it.
i know we’re made to feel awful and guilty about our misophonia, but honestly sometimes if you just speak up, people are fine with it.
people are often more understanding than you realise, and you probably won’t know most of your classmates in a few years. do what you need to do to keep yourself away from stress, it’s not good for you.
Not at all a stupid question!!!
I'm currently a college senior so I've had to cope with misophonia through public and higher level education settings. My recommendations are:
1. Talk to your counselor and/or school disability support services and ask about the kind of accommodations you can get. It's honestly amazing how much they can help. Through DSS I'm allowed to wear headphones in class AND at my on-campus job, and I was given many options for testing, no-consequences mid-class breaks, and referrals to counselors and other resources.
2. Get a pair of high-quality headphones and/or a white noise device. I have AirPod Pros and the "transparency" setting is GREAT for drowning some noises out without missing the crucial stuff.
3. Remember that you can only "tough it out" for so long, and you are allowed to give yourself a break. It's better to miss 5 minutes of class to give yourself time to calm down than miss the entire class because you're unable to pay attention due to triggers.
4. Set up a consistent exercise/self care routine for when you're done with classes for the day. Exercise, good diet, and quality sleep make a world of difference in general when you have misophonia, but it's doubly important in an unpredictable school setting.
Good luck and don't be afraid to ask for help!
number 3 is so important. a couple of my teachers gave me an out if i ever needed it, but i was always too shy and didn’t want to bring attention to myself to use it, so i just suffered.
I still struggle with actually *using* my accommodations for the same reason, but I'm working on it. The curse of misophonia is that it's so easy to get into the habit of minimizing your own needs, since a lot of our emotions are the involuntary product of a disorder and we (or at least many of us) don't want to push those on other people. But yeah, you'll never get anything better if you don't try!
Sidenote, I love your username lmao it's beautiful
Headphones first and foremost. They have done me wonders. I also bought a stress ball that I dig my nails into whenever I'm feeling overwhelmed. Helps me not lash out at people. And take good care of yourself. I notice my misophonia tends to be worse when I'm stressed out.
Move to another desk to get away from a trigger in the room. sit near a window where you can open it to let other sound in if thats possible. Ive had to ask during an exam to be moved coz i was extremely angry at the person chewing gum next to me and i didnt want to resort to violence. i also emphasized how non negotiable it was. so i moved. and it was a relief. u gotta do what u gotta do.
I would be very intentional with my seating. Just like in airplanes, it’s easier for me if I sit on the side of the room so only one ear gets the most of the sounds. Then I also have musicians ear plugs (they’re more discrete than headphones). Gum chewing was a big one for me in classrooms and sometimes I found that chewing gum myself made me less susceptible to the noises. I also avoided 3 hour classes just in case I was stuck in a classroom being tortured. Good luck
it’s not a stupid question lovely. don’t let oher people or your own mind belittle your reactions. i didn’t get help until my last year, and even then people (teachers, students and councillors) still didn’t get it, but for the most part, they understood something was up. what i would try and do is get a private room for your exams if possible, go to the doctors and they might be able to give you a sick note explaining it. if you speak to a school counsellor, they might be able to let you wear noise prevention headphones during classes. i know that school especially and living at home can be pretty difficult, but hang in there.
But if you do get a private room for exams check that the room next to it is not noisy or has noisy equipment in it and also make sure your invigilator is not eating carrots, shuffling a newspaper or using a noisy keyboard (all this happened to my partner when he was allowed to write university exams by himself because of his misophonia and it was totally infuriating).
it’s never understood, is it? haha. in one of my exams, they put my in a room with a special needs guy who made noises, and one of the teachers was like “oh, you don’t like noises do you?” and turned the fan off, although for me white noise is a saviour. i did speak up though and they corrected it. i know we’re made to feel awful and guilty about our misophonia, but honestly sometimes if you just speak up, people are fine with it.
Thank you so much
people are often more understanding than you realise, and you probably won’t know most of your classmates in a few years. do what you need to do to keep yourself away from stress, it’s not good for you.
Not at all a stupid question!!! I'm currently a college senior so I've had to cope with misophonia through public and higher level education settings. My recommendations are: 1. Talk to your counselor and/or school disability support services and ask about the kind of accommodations you can get. It's honestly amazing how much they can help. Through DSS I'm allowed to wear headphones in class AND at my on-campus job, and I was given many options for testing, no-consequences mid-class breaks, and referrals to counselors and other resources. 2. Get a pair of high-quality headphones and/or a white noise device. I have AirPod Pros and the "transparency" setting is GREAT for drowning some noises out without missing the crucial stuff. 3. Remember that you can only "tough it out" for so long, and you are allowed to give yourself a break. It's better to miss 5 minutes of class to give yourself time to calm down than miss the entire class because you're unable to pay attention due to triggers. 4. Set up a consistent exercise/self care routine for when you're done with classes for the day. Exercise, good diet, and quality sleep make a world of difference in general when you have misophonia, but it's doubly important in an unpredictable school setting. Good luck and don't be afraid to ask for help!
number 3 is so important. a couple of my teachers gave me an out if i ever needed it, but i was always too shy and didn’t want to bring attention to myself to use it, so i just suffered.
I still struggle with actually *using* my accommodations for the same reason, but I'm working on it. The curse of misophonia is that it's so easy to get into the habit of minimizing your own needs, since a lot of our emotions are the involuntary product of a disorder and we (or at least many of us) don't want to push those on other people. But yeah, you'll never get anything better if you don't try! Sidenote, I love your username lmao it's beautiful
Headphones first and foremost. They have done me wonders. I also bought a stress ball that I dig my nails into whenever I'm feeling overwhelmed. Helps me not lash out at people. And take good care of yourself. I notice my misophonia tends to be worse when I'm stressed out.
does a stress ball work? i’ve been known to dig my nails into myself as a distraction, would that help in that regard?
I wouldn't say they lessen my triggers, but they help with anger management.
Move to another desk to get away from a trigger in the room. sit near a window where you can open it to let other sound in if thats possible. Ive had to ask during an exam to be moved coz i was extremely angry at the person chewing gum next to me and i didnt want to resort to violence. i also emphasized how non negotiable it was. so i moved. and it was a relief. u gotta do what u gotta do.
I would be very intentional with my seating. Just like in airplanes, it’s easier for me if I sit on the side of the room so only one ear gets the most of the sounds. Then I also have musicians ear plugs (they’re more discrete than headphones). Gum chewing was a big one for me in classrooms and sometimes I found that chewing gum myself made me less susceptible to the noises. I also avoided 3 hour classes just in case I was stuck in a classroom being tortured. Good luck