Speaker: Carmen Rosas-Pérez, Heriot-Watt University
Wed 15th April 12:00 – 13:00 UK time. This seminar will be held in person in Newton 241 and online via Microsoft Teams.
Abstract
In the work presented in this seminar, neurodiversity, auraldiversity, and diversity in noise sensitivity are considered as factors that can lead to differences in sensory experiences and needs. The central aim of the research presented was to examine the consequences of overlooking human diversity in acoustics research and practice, to identify common barriers in the built environment and in society, and to guide recommendations for the creation of more acoustically inclusive spaces. To this end, three studies were conducted.
The first study consisted of semi-structured interviews with 12 autistic people (50% over 45 y/o), providing an in-depth, qualitative outlook on the main challenges and positive aspects experienced in common environments. The findings include general lack of understanding and dismissal, sensory gaslighting, a cumulative effect rather than habituation, and intense, long-lasting repercussions of inadequate acoustic environments on personal and professional life, health, and overall well-being and quality of life. The second study was a survey with 311 noise-sensitive people (32% over 45 y/o, 59% neurodivergent, 44% with one or more hearing differences including hyperacusis, tinnitus, auditory processing disorder, and hearing loss). The survey explored aspects highlighted in the interviews, including lack of habituation and capacity to filter out background sounds, helpfulness of common measures, use of coping strategies, and experiences requesting modifications. The results show diversity in responses, as well as significant differences between groups by neurodiversity and auraldiversity. Noise sensitivity was reported to generally increase with age and traumatic experiences, and frequent dismissal and rejection of accommodation requests were also common. Increasing awareness and understanding among practitioners, policy makers, authorities, and society in general was deemed critical. The third study presents the development of an Acoustical Inclusivity Assessment tool (AcoustInA) and the results of its application in 21 spaces with the collaboration of 13 experts in acoustics. Additionally, the findings served to identify a series of acoustic, non-acoustic, and hybrid factors moderating responses to sound, and to propose a model of the impact cycle of noise sensitivity, with a feedback loop effect influenced by factors such as stress, exposure, dismissal, and lack of agency.
This work seeks to amplify the accounts of people with enhanced perceptual capacity and other sensory differences who frequently experience negative impacts in daily-life acoustic environments, highlighting also that these impacts are significantly aggravated by social attitudes and preconceptions of what is “normal” to feel, to endure, or to consider in research and design.
Biography
Carmen Rosas-Pérez is an acoustic engineer and PhD researcher at Heriot-Watt University. The work in her thesis has been shaped by her past experiences as a neurodivergent acoustician and researcher, as a participant in laboratory experiments and soundwalks, and by the work of disabled scholars and activists. Her other projects have included the investigation of sound source localisation through the measurement and convolution of HRTFs, perception of low-frequency noise in residential buildings, and the acoustical improvement of a classroom and a hospital ward. Bringing together her passion for acoustics, field recording, and sharing sounds, she created the binaural Sound Map of Malaga for her masters’ thesis in 2016, and was enormously happy when her piece received the Scottish Soundscape Prize at Inter-Noise in 2022.