Last week I wrote about the filters we all use every day, including the one in our brain.  Our brains filter an enormous amount of information every day, and if that filtering ability is compromised that leads to some very annoying consequences.  Well, I now know specifically what information my brain isn’t filtering correctly.  Sound.  I fall into the 7th percentile for ability to filter audiological stimulation.  That’s a fancy way of saying my brain doesn’t filter what my ears hear.

I knew sound was an issue, I live with the sensitivity every day.  Now I have the verification from the wonderful field of medicine to prove it.  7th percentile.  My brain filters sound no better then 7% of the population.  This would explain why over 90% of the people I know cannot understand why sound stimulation is such an enormous issue for me.  Not only does my brain fail to filter out the sound information that is useless, like the ticking of the clock or the hum of the computer fan, it also filters the useful information improperly, and the useless information it fails to filter interferes with my ability to properly evaluate, and react, to my environment.

So as a result I must now visit a new list of specialists to see what can be done about the problem.  A speech therapist, which is a poorly named specialty, in order to learn tools to retrain my brain in this regard.  Also I will see an audiologist to determine if there is a tool that would be useful with this, much like the glasses I now wear for light sensitivity.  This means that returning to school may or may not happen in the fall.  This issue must be dealt with before I put myself in a learning environment because how our brain filters, or fails to filter, sensory input effects our memory.

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