Aural Diversity Conference 2025

Please find the abstracts from the 2025 Aural diversity conference (University of Salford, 5th September 2025) below

Keynote

Professor Emerita Pamela Heaton
Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths University of London
P.Heaton@gold.ac.uk

Autism, Neurodiversity and Musicality: Historical, Scientific, and Cultural Perspectives
Bioblog
Pamela Heaton is Professor emerita at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Honorary Visiting research Professor at the Royal Northern College of Music. Her research interests are multidisciplinary, spanning human development and music psychology, and her early study of autism and music was awarded the British Psychological Society prize for outstanding doctoral research contributions to Psychology. During her career she forged research collaborations with leading researchers across Europe and North America and has managed UK based and multinational research projects funded by the ESRC and the EU. She is frequently invited to speak at conferences and research events, including for example, at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, the Sante Fe chamber music festival and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. Her recent book on the Psychology of Music and Autism documents the first-person accounts of autistic musicians and reflects the increasing influence of the Neurodiversity Movement on her research.

Abstract
This talk will explore evolving concepts of autism and their implications for science, for autistic people and for public understanding. Musicality is a spontaneously developing human trait, and whilst autistic musicality has been studied within cognitive science, the most important insights have come from studies documenting autistic people’s uses of music in everyday life and their insights into the personal and experiential factors they associate with their musical strengths. This work highlights the complexity and richness of musical engagement in autism and challenges simplistic ideas about intellectual, emotional and social strengths and difficulties in individuals with this diagnosis.

The Emergence of Auraldiversity: “On Deaf Ears”
Prof John Levack Drever, Otoloci Ltd. & University of Cambridge
johnldrever@otoloci.com
More than a decade has passed since the introduction of the terms auraltypical hearing and auraldiversity by Drever (Harvard, 2013). This presentation offers a critical reflection on the emergence of these concepts, examining the conceptual and ideological challenges they have faced, as well as the broader social, cultural, and scientific contexts that have shaped their development.
Significant precursors to this discourse include the World Health Organization’s Community Noise report (1999), which introduced the notion of “vulnerable subgroups.” Additionally, the development of the ISO Soundscape standard (2014), along with thematic networks such as HEFUA (on ultrasound), the Noise Abatement Society and The 2nd International Conference on Hyperacusis, provided important influences on the evolving framework, along with inspiration from students’ projects at Goldsmiths such as the collaborative work of Will Renel with Jess Thom (Touretteshero).
From the outset, its development was marked by caution and critical self-awareness. The term was coined out of necessity, yet there were apprehensions regarding potential backlash, on appropriating or diluting existing disability discourses. A key concern was whether broadening the conceptual boundaries of hearing differences might undermine legal definitions of disability. These tensions were particularly evident within segments of the D/deaf community, where opposition to cochlear implants and concerns over the medicalization of Deaf identity reflected broader complexities surrounding identity politics at the time. In actuality, the introduction of the concept of auraldiversity into academic, public, and professional spheres has not been without resistance and pushback, whist welcomed by Arts and Humanities, concerted and prolonged resistance was encounter from the field of acoustics.
The time frame explored in this talk culminates in the establishment of the Aural Diversity Project in 2018, which marked a significant consolidation, catalysing wider uptake of the concept.

Can You See the Sound? Visual Communication/Elements in Brass Ensemble Performance for Inclusive Music-Making
Noa Nishizawa, Royal Northern College of Music (MMus, Artistic Research);
kurumi.nishizawa0217@gmail.com
Background As a musician living with profound bilateral hearing loss—currently retaining just 20% of typical hearing—I’ve long had to reimagine what it means to make and understand music. While studying Artistic Research and Performance at the Royal Northern College of Music, I developed this project to explore how ensemble musicians use visual communication, and how those visual elements might also enable more inclusive music-making for those with hearing loss.
Aims To explore whether visual cues like eye contact, breathing, gesture, and movement can function as effective tools for ensemble coordination—not just for musicians with hearing loss, but in a way that feels natural and musically useful for hearing performers as well. This avoids confusion or distraction in mixed-hearing settings.
Main Contribution I conducted interviews and video analysis with a professional hearing brass quartet (Accent Brass), examining how performers perceive and use visual cues. These findings informed both a participatory workshop (“See the Sound, Play the Music!”) and my 45-minute final recital—performed entirely without auditory support. I relied solely on visual tools to synchronise with others and express musical ideas.
Conclusion and Implications This research shows that visual ensemble communication is not only possible—it’s powerful. It has pedagogical value, performance impact, and inclusive potential. I propose that visual communication training be embedded in music education, and that we embrace multisensory approaches to ensemble music as part of aural diversity.

“How Sound Makes Me Feel”: Towards an Aurally Diverse Practice of Sound Design in Museums
Dr Stefania Zardini Lacedelli – Institute for Digital Culture, University of Leicester & Science Museum
Group (UK based – GMT)
Dr Marco Mason – Northumbria University School of Design (UK based – GMT)
stefaniazardinilacedelli@gmail.com
As museums increasingly recognise the fundamental role of sound and sound technologies in shaping
more inclusive sensory experiences (Zhang & Trocchianesi, 2022), there is a growing need for design
practices that can meaningfully engage with the plurality of ways people hear, process and experience
sound. Emerging research on Aural Diversity (Hugill, forthcoming) and sonic accessibility (Renel, 2019)
have brought critical attention to the limitations of conventional museum sound design, which often
assumes an ‘auditory normate’ (Renel, 2022) – a standardised model of hearing that fails to
acknowledge the complex, embodied, and individual nature of sonic experiences.
This article embraces this shift by approaching sound as a situated, embodied, and multisensory
phenomenon, intricately shaped by aural diversity – the range of physiological, neurological, and
cultural differences through which people perceive and relate to sound (Drever & Hugill, 2022).
Drawing from current debates in sensory and critical museum studies, we argue that understanding
sound in these terms is not merely theoretical but it is a critical design condition for creating
experiences that genuinely result from a Human-Centred Design approach .
This article draws on a set of participatory design research activities conducted in occasion of a
workshop titled “How Sound Makes Me Feel” organised and facilitated by one of the authors [Zardini
Lacedelli] at the Science Museum in London. By readapting tools from the Aural Diversity Toolkit
(Arup, 2024), together with soundwalking (Presotto & Zardini Lacedelli, 2024) and deep listening
techniques (Oliveros, 1989), the activity invited participants to focus on their auditory perception and
map/express/visualise their experience of the museum’s sonic environment through drawing and
reflective writing. The activity was developed within the understanding phase of the Human-Centred
Design process (IxDF, 2016; UK Design Council, 2025) to understand how existing acoustic conditions
and sound installations were experienced differently by participants. The design workshop surfaced
the participants’ embodied sonic knowledge, revealing often-invisible sensory barriers – such as the
difficulty processing overlapping sounds and the perception of auditory overload – that are often
excluded from traditional sound design practices.
By analysing this case as both an illustrative example and a critical tool for theoretical reflection, we
propose that such set of activities can – and should – become a design practice that support a more
inclusive, human-centred and situated approach to sound design in museums, one that meaningfully
engage with the full complexity of human hearing.
Keywords: aural diversity, human-centred design, inclusive sensory design, embodied knowledge,
sonic accessibility, museum practices

Entangled Listening: A Retrospective
June Kuhn, Nicole Robson, Brittney Allen, Andrew McPherson, Imperial College London
Note this speaker has had to pull out, abstract still included for interest.
j.kuhn24@imperial.ac.uk
Listening is fundamental to music practices and provides technical and cultural context to the design of musical instruments. Through various entanglement theories of human-technology relations, we can understand listening as a Baradian apparatus that motivates, propels, and evaluates the design of new musical instruments. Further, we can use listening practices as a method to de-center the human. We present a retrospective presentation on a 2025 New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) workshop conducted at Canberra, Australia whose aim was to bring ideas from sound studies and aural diversity into design practice. Through guided mediations, hands-on exercises, and prompted discussion, we sought to integrate a plurality of listening experiences into focus. Our general findings were that participants were thoroughly engaged through the combination of textual scores and interactive installation to creatively listen in new ways. Without d/Deaf participants, however, we still operated within theoretical territory in regard to making listening practices more accessible. Nevertheless, prompting participants to create their own scores proved an insightful method to demonstrate inclusive thinking about the listening apparatus.

Auraldiversity and neurodiversity in survey to noise sensitive people: what are the lived experiences of those for whom sound matters most?
Carmen Rosas-Pérez, Laurent Galbrun
Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
mcrosasp@gmail.com
Background: Common acoustic environments can be disabling for people with heightened sensory sensitivity, including many autistic and other neurodivergent people, impacting personal and professional life, health and overall quality of life.
Aims: This study explored the experiences of noise sensitive people in real life. The objectives included: identifying main acoustic and non-acoustic barriers; quantifying findings from previous study (in-depth interviews with autistic people), such as use of coping strategies; degree of filtering and habituation to sound in certain contexts and its consequences; understanding preferences for different environments and possible measures; exploring experiences requesting modifications and adjustments.
Methods: An online survey was distributed in English and Spanish. 311 participants from different countries who considered themselves noise sensitive completed the questionnaire (32% over 45 y/o, 59% neurodivergent, 44% with one or more reported hearing difference).
Results:A high prevalence of reported neurodivergence was found in those with reported hyperacusis and APD (auditory processing disorder), as well as a higher prevalence of hyperacusis in those reporting APD (data dependent on knowledge about these conditions). Autistic and neurodivergent participants reported difficulties to filter out background sounds and increased tiredness due to that in a higher proportion, but also more enjoyment of music with multiple instruments. Neurotypicals reported higher habituation to background sounds. Significant differences were also found in the use of coping strategies such as noise-cancelling headphones, avoiding places, quitting jobs, or drinking alcohol.
Conclusion and Implications: The results show a wide range of diversity in responses to sound, needs and preferences, and highlight the importance of regarding these in spaces dedicated to learning, working, socialising, or resting. Increasing awareness among practitioners, policy makers, and citizens was deemed critical.
The findings have been used for the development of an acoustical inclusivity assessment tool, which has been tested by acoustics experts in real settings.

Towards an acoustically accessible campus: a case study of collecting and using data about the acoustic conditions of an Australian university
Kiri Mealings, Nicole Matthews, Kelly Miles, Joerg M Buchholz
Macquarie University, Australia
Nicole.matthews@mq.edu.au

University is an important stage of learning for students, so it is vital that higher education spaces are acoustically accessible to all, including hard of hearing, deaf and neurodivergent staff and students, and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, who may struggle to participate in less-than-optimal acoustic environments because of the cognitive load of listening in a second or third language in difficult circumstances. Together, these groups of people make up a significant proportion the people who spend time on campus.
The initial aim of this study was to measure the unoccupied noise levels and reverberation times of all of the classrooms in a typical Australian university to assess acoustic accessibility with a view to planning for a more accessible campus. A total of 166 classrooms were measured and categorised into good, ok, and poor classrooms according to the Macquarie University (MQU) Design Guidelines Review Performance Standards. Regarding unoccupied noise levels, 52% of classrooms were within the recommended < 35 dBA limit. Regarding reverberation times, 65% of classrooms were within the recommended 0.4–0.6 s limit. Finally, 40% of classrooms met both the noise level and reverberation time limit.
As well as sharing this data and its method of collection, this paper will discuss the strategies pursued over the two years since this acoustic data was collected to deploy it to improve teaching and learning conditions on campus. Organisational obstacles encountered en route will be theorised to suggest ways forward to ensure a wide range of aurally divergent students and staff can flourish in universities.

Reference to the ‘average’ person fails to protect a minority from adverse effects when exposed to airborne ultrasound in public places without their knowledge
T.G. Leighton, University College London, Cambridge University, University of Southampton
t.leighton@ucl.ac.uk
Background
Claims of adverse effects on humans of airborne ultrasound date back over 70 years, but were controversial, and primarily anecdotal. The few controlled studies focused on changes in hearing threshold in small samples of mainly adult males, with minor mentions of so-called ‘subjective’ effects (headaches/nausea/fatigue/migraine/tinnitus/inability to concentrate) [1 ]. Exposure guidelines focused on occupational settings, from which was derived one 1984 ‘interim’ guideline for public exposures [2 ].
Aims
The aim is to increase awareness amongst professionals that a minority respond adversely to the airborne ultrasound that is increasingly prevalent in public places/classrooms [3 , 4 ], effects that should not be dismissed because the ‘average’ person (including often the professional) does not experience them. Guidelines for public exposure are often ignored or supplanted by more permissive occupational guidelines.
Conclusion and Implications
Testing for effects from airborne ultrasound by comparing the average hearing threshold of those occupationally exposed, with the average of those that were not, mask the sensitivity of a minority to ‘subjective’ effects.
Markets drive increased public exposures to airborne ultrasound without taking this diversity into account.
1 Leighton, T. G. (2016) Are some people suffering as a result of increasing mass exposure of the public to ultrasound in air? Proc. Roy. Soc. A, 472(2185), 20150624 (57 pages) (doi: 10.1098/rspa.2015.0624).
2 International Non-Ionizing Radiation Committee of the International Radiation Protection Association. (INIRC-IRPA). (1984) Interim guidelines on the limits of human exposure to airborne ultrasound. Health Phys. 46, 969–974 (doi:10.1016/0041-624X(76)90074-3).
3 Leighton, T. G. (2020) Ultrasound in air – Experimental studies of the underlying physics are difficult when the only sensors reporting contemporaneous data are human beings. Physics Today, 73(12), 39-43 (doi: 10.1063/PT.3.4634).
4 Leighton, T. G., Lineton, B., Dolder, C. N. and Fletcher, M. D. (2020) Public Exposure to airborne ultrasound and Very High Frequency sound. Acoustics Today, 16(3), 17-26 (doi: 10.1121/AT.2020.16.3.17).

The SPAACE Project: Speech Perception by Autistic Adults in Complex Environments
George J. Bendo, Alexandra Sturrock, Graham Hanks, Christopher J. Plack, Emma Gowen, and Hannah Guest,
Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester
george.bendo@manchester.ac.uk
Background: Autistic individuals are generally known to have poor social and communication skills. However, the details of autistic people’s speech perception abilities and difficulties, which could create barriers in in terms of communication, have previously been poorly documented.
Aims: The SPAACE (Speech Perception by Autistic Adults in Complex Environments) project, which is a collaboration including autism and auditory researchers and includes diagnosed autistic individuals, has the goal of identifying the specific listening difficulties that autistic adults have.
Methods: Results from a series of interviews and questionnaires have identified a diversity of issues that cause listening difficulties, with background speech specifically causing notable problems, but the nature of the listening difficulties varied broadly among the participants in these studies. These listening difficulties have had significant impacts on autistic individuals’ ability to socially interact with others as well as their education, their careers, and their self-esteem. However, we have also been gathering information on coping strategies that help autistic people with their listening difficulties.
Conclusions and Implications: The results from this research so far have not only identified the range of listening difficulties that autistic individuals have but have also provided details on the next steps needed to test these phenomena in laboratory settings. Additionally, the results have already shed light on the steps that can be taken to create autism-friendly social environments and the strategies that autistic people can use to engage in socialization through verbal communication.

Quietly Anarchic Self-Noise
Lola de la Mata, University of Liverpool
L.De-La-Mata@liverpool.ac.uk
Taking the ear as an actively anarchic being, one which asserts presence and holds artifacts – in the case of my left ear – chronic tinnitus, I followed up the concept album ‘Oceans on Azimuth’ released May 2024 with three projects. These looked to further investigate visual and physical engagement of quiet, teetering on the inaudible, and imagined sound, across alternative immersive formats of sonic presentation through the lens of a chronically ill artist.
While ‘Oceans on Azimuth’ featured sculptural glass, metal and ceramic instruments and objects inspired by forms from the ear to centre my own experiences of living with tinnitus as a way of producing more traditionally recognisable (yet still experimental), music. ‘In Stillness’ – a 24min piece for voice, body, Claravox theremin, two bows and a ear canal shaped gong – presented at WORM, Rotterdam in 07/24 and No Bounds Festival, Sheffield 10/24, tapped into my desire to move beyond stage contained works, western notation, and sonic customs in its gestural and choreographic approach.
The second project ‘The Negative Form’, a photogram exhibition at Ropes and Twines, Liverpool 12/24 – 04/25, revisited the sculptural sonic elements from the album as a means of questioning – what remains? What artifacts can be captured as a means of extending the sonic, past such defined environments of the acrylic disc and concert hall.
Alongside these concrete works, I will introduce my vision for a tinnitus choir and installation work which is currently in early research and development phases and undergoing ethical approval. In addition to vibrating air, my practice approaches hearing and listening through visual and tactile means without diverging from surround experiences or assembly. Approaching difference laterally, I propose we choose to devise for audiences beyond the pre-conceived ‘normal listener’ with ‘perfect’ hearing, who I would argue does not exist, in an effort to move toward a taboo-less, more accessible human listening.

The Need for Music-Free Spaces in Patients with Pain Hyperacusis
Onurcan Çakir, İzmir Democracy University, Faculty of Architecture, Department of Architecture, İzmir, Türkiye.
onurcancakir@gmail.com
In daily life, people are exposed to numerous sounds that they are sometimes not even aware of. Patients with pain hyperacusis have reduced sound tolerance to everyday sounds. Sounds which are perceived normal for other people can cause pain for pain hyperacusis patients. Thus, it is hard for others to understand and empathize with this condition. Besides causing physical pain, one of the most significant disadvantages of this rare hearing disorder is social isolation. Life in cities is quite noisy and even walking through an area with heavy traffic can cause significant pain for a hyperacusis patient. Therefore, patients often choose not to leave their homes. When they force themselves and decide to go out, restaurants and cafes where they might socialize or go for a drink / meal often play background music. Even individuals without auditory problems may not want to be constantly exposed to background music throughout the day. For instance, a person might not want to listen to music at a restaurant after a busy day at work. Similarly, people might be bothered by the background music they dislike during grocery shopping. But beyond all this, the situation is much more difficult for patients with pain hyperacusis. This is more than just a dislike, and amplified background music from loudspeakers is causing pain. Therefore, patients with pain hyperacusis need markets, shops, cafes, restaurants, indoor and outdoor public spaces where no background music is played. In this paper, the needs of pain hyperacusis patients regarding music-free spaces have been revealed, the current international situation has been documented, a literature review has been conducted on the preference for music-free spaces, civil society organizations with the goal of eliminating background music in public spaces have been listed, and suggestions have been made for future actions on this issue.

Evaluation of classroom acoustical descriptors with focus on the accessibility of autistic students in the university context
Fernanda Caldas-Correia, Bruno Masiero
Lab. of Communication Acoustics, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp)
fernandacaldas0@gmail.com
A striking feature of autistic individuals compared to neurotypical ones is the likely presence of hypo- or hypersensitivity to any sensory stimulus (hearing, touch, smell, taste, or sight). Here, we focus on auditory hypersensitivity. In classroom acoustics, it is well known that the acoustical characteristics of enclosed spaces affect speech intelligibility and understanding regardless of a person’s neurological condition, which is essential in learning spaces. For autistic persons, high reverberation time and loud background noise may lead to sensory overload. This situation can be mitigated through assistive technologies or with appropriate acoustical design. The literature on the impact of room acoustics on autistic individuals is still limited, and specific guidelines aimed at people with auditory hypersensitivity are lacking in most countries. But a change has been noticed in recent years with the growing awareness surrounding autism and other neurodivergencies. In this project, measurements are being conducted with autistic and neurotypical adults in the university context in two different acoustical configurations. Here, we are evaluating how two room acoustic descriptors (reverberation time, RT, and residual noise, RN) influence the electrodermal response (via galvanic skin response, GSR). The methodology includes an audiometry to check for hearing loss, followed by GSR monitoring. Each participant listens to a simulated classroom environment in two conditions: ideal according to the ANSI S12.60 guideline (RT: 0.7s; RN: 35dBA), and real according to measurements made in some Unicamp classrooms (RT: 1.6s; RN: 55dBA). There has been a noticeable difference in responses between the two conditions so far. With this research, we expect to contribute to discussions about acoustical design as an accessibility issue.

Background Music, Urban Soundscapes, and Small Listening
Meri Kytö, University of Turku, meri.kyto@utu.fi Anne Tarvainen, University of Eastern Finland, anne.tarvainen@uef.fi
This paper examines the experiences of background music in urban spaces from the perspective of aural diversity. We study the experiences of individuals whose temporal or permanent auditory capacities, sensory experiences, or interpretations of soundscapes differ from prevailing socio-cultural norms of listening. Our approach draws on Marja-Liisa Honkasalo’s concept of small agency, which, in our study, highlights the small listening strategies individuals employ to navigate challenging sound environments. The data consists of sound diaries and interviews, analyzed through a transactional lens. The findings reveal that listeners’ agency is dynamic and situational, and that unmanaged elements of background music can either constrain their agency or foster creative responses. We argue that these aurally diverse experiences and their small listening strategies provide valuable insights into our listening cultures and challenge the auditory design of urban spaces to better accommodate aural diversity.

Posters
Improving music mixing for audio engineers with hearing differences
Lorenzo Bonoldi – University of Salford – Acoustic research centre
Supervisors: Prof Trevor Cox – Dr Adam Hart
L.Bonoldi@edu.salford.ac.uk
Background: Hearing loss among audio engineers presents unique challenges in music production yet remains underrepresented in academic discourse. This condition affects critical auditory dimensions such as pitch, loudness, timbre, and spatial awareness, impacting both the creative process and the listening experience. As the population of hearing-impaired professionals and audiences grows, inclusive audio engineering practices are increasingly necessary.
Objective: This study investigates how hearing-impaired audio engineers can mix music in ways that reflect their own auditory perception. It also explores adaptations in the mixing process that support aural diversity among music listeners.
Methods: A mixed-methods design was employed. Participants were recruited via an online questionnaire targeting hearing-impaired audio professionals. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed using thematic coding in NVivo.
Results: Mixing decisions were found to be highly personal, shaped by genre, cultural background, and artistic intent. Hearing-impaired engineers adopted various strategies to overcome auditory limitations, including spectral visualizers, memory compensation, and peer feedback. Common challenges include high-frequency loss, tinnitus, stereo imaging and pitch detection difficulties. Participants emphasized the need for improved hearing protection, targeted education, and accessible technological tools.
Conclusion: The findings underscore the importance of inclusive practices in audio engineering. The study proposes the development of tailored mixing processes to enhance the production experience for hearing-impaired engineers and improve listening quality for diverse audiences. Future work will focus on designing solutions that promote aural inclusivity and diversity in music perception.

Everyday music listening, emotion regulation, and mental health: a scoping review to determine how adults with hearing loss are represented within research.
Adelaide Beckwith, University of Salford
Supervisors Dr Robert Bendall, Dr Duncan Williams
a.m.beckwith@edu.salford.ac.uk
Background: 1 in 3 adults in the UK are deaf, have hearing loss (HL), or tinnitus. HL in adults is associated with poor mental health (MH) including depression, loneliness, and poor quality of life. Engaging with music is known to have a positive impact on MH and wellbeing in a range of contexts. Everyday music listening (EML) is an accessible way of using music to self-regulate mood and MH. However, the current literature suggests that people with HL have often been excluded from studies relating to EML and MH.
Aims: To identify, explore, and map existing research where adults with HL have been included and / or excluded from participation in studies. It was hypothesised that explicit and implicit exclusions would be evidenced, and that hearing health would not be recorded.
Methods: A preregistered scoping review following PRISMA guidelines searched 7 databases for eligible studies. In addition, targeted searches of grey literature and citation searching was undertaken. 28 studies were eligible for inclusion.
Results: Of the included studies, 8 concerned clinical/patient populations; 15 non-clinical populations – the remaining 5 studies were conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most studies (n = 18, 64%) were quantitative. There were 22,531 participants, with a weighted mean age of 36.21 years. Female participation, weighted by sample size, was 55.66%. Explicit (n = 4) and implicit (n = 5) exclusion of adults with HL was evidenced. 6 studies specifically recruited older adults (60+). Hearing health was only reported in 2 studies.
Conclusion & Implications: The results will be used to design a survey to gather the views and experiences of people with HL on how they use and engage with music. This will help shape recommendations around the therapeutic use of EML, and future studies on how this can be tailored specifically for people with HL.

Impact of Environmental Noise on Autistic Adults with Hyperacusis
Steven Mitchell, Robyn Birch, Dr. Robert Bendall, Prof. Antonio Torija Martinez
Leverhulme Aural Diversity Doctoral Research Hub, University of Salford, England, United Kingdom
S.A.Mitchell1@edu.salford.ac.uk
Research has shown that everybody hears differently. This is called Aural Diversity. Noise sensitive people are known to have an increased perception of sound which can impact their day to day lives, including the environments in which they feel comfortable in and how accessible or inaccessible different environments can be. Noise sensitive individuals are not currently considered within government policy, guidance, British Standards, ISO’s, Codes of Practice or assessment methodology for environmental noise. It is believed that approximately 80% of neurodivergent individuals suffer from auditory processing issues. Autistic people are believed to have a susceptibility to hyperacusis, a reduced tolerance to sound which could cause discomfort or physical pain. Due to the reduced research focus into this condition relating to environmental noise, the current understanding of how individuals with hyperacusis perceive sound is simplistic when comparing to the research of ontologically “normal” individuals. This paper will outline the results of a systematic review, which will look at peer reviewed publications relating to environmental noise, autistic adults and hyperacusis/ noise sensitivity. This systematic review aims to discover research gaps as well as analysing pre-existing research and guidance to refine experimental assessment methodology for future studies and reinforce the rationale of the thesis.

Keywords
Autism; Hyperacusis; Noise Sensitivity; Environmental Noise

Aural neurodiversity: Understanding transdiagnostic patterns in Autism and ADHD through music
Silvia Castellano, University of Salford
S.Castellano2@edu.salford.ac.uk
Background: The concept of neurodiversity has gained increasing visibility in mainstream discourse, yet public narratives often remain reductive or deficit-based.
Neologisms like “AuDHD” reflect the frequent co-occurrence of autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but empirical research exploring these neurotypes together, particularly in adulthood, remains limited. Both are associated with atypical auditory perception, diverse music preferences, and unique cognitive profiles. However, examining these neurotypes separately overlooks shared and distinct patterns. Aims: Using a novel transdiagnostic approach, this project aims to capture this variability and overlap by exploring how individuals with autistic and ADHD traits experience music in everyday life. It investigates sensory sensitivity, emotional responses, and musical enjoyment to better understand aural diversity across neurotypes. Methods: The project comprises three studies. Study 1combines self-report measures and cognitive tasks to examine how autistic and ADHD traits relate to music enjoyment and daily use. Study 2 will extend these findings by examining participants’ enjoyment and curiosity during music listening. Study 3 will use electroencephalography (EEG) to measure brain activity during music listening across neurotypes. Measures include sensory experiences, cognitive functioning, reward responsiveness, curiosity and adaptive uses of music, alongside tasks assessing inhibition, attention, working memory, and emotion recognition. Results: Data collection and analysis are ongoing. A data-driven, transdiagnostic approach will identify participant clusters based on perceptual, sensory, and cognitive profiles, as well as music preferences and emotional responses. Conclusion: This research addresses a gap in autism and ADHD studies by examining auditory and cognitive profiles through music, a structured yet ubiquitous and emotionally rich domain. Music affords insights into how auditory perception and cognition shape attention, memory, decision-making, and social interactions. Implications: Findings can highlight both challenges and strengths in autism and ADHD, helping to inform more inclusive support strategies and encourage a broader cultural shift toward acceptance and equity for neurodivergent experiences.
Keywords: autism; ADHD; aural diversity; cognitive psychology; neuroscience of music; transdiagnostic approach

Exploring hedonic sound features for non-verbal autistic children in collaboration with autism stakeholders
Valentin Bauer and Isabelle Viaud-Delmon
Ircam, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Ministère de la Culture, Sciences et
Technologies de la Musique et du Son, STMS
valentin.bauer@ircam.fr
Autistic people often display an atypical auditory perception, leading them to perceive some everyday sounds negatively (e.g., toilet flushing) and others positively (e.g., car engine). Negative auditory experiences largely hinder their daily functioning. These experiences depend on the perception of both acoustic and semantic features, which remain largely unexplored. This study examines the acoustic and semantic sound features relevant to hedonic auditory perception in autistic children with limited verbal abilities. Drawing upon prior research, we identified six acoustic features relevant to hedonic auditory perception – warm, round, low-pitch, repetitive, harmonious, and fluctuating – along with four semantic categories – geophony, biophony, technical sounds, and music. To validate and enhance these features, workshops and online questionnaires were conducted with therapists, families, and autonomous autistic adults. First, participants listened to sound examples for each acoustic feature paired with definitions, and rated and commented on their perceived relevance. Then, a similar process was followed for the semantic categories. Results suggest that all semantic categories were positively received, with the geophony category being especially well-received, particularly for water sounds. Among acoustic features, repetitive, low-pitch, and warm sounds were rated as especially relevant. Therefore, certain sound features consistently seem to be perceived as more positive, despite the heterogeneous nature of autism. The acoustic and semantic features identified will then be validated through behavioural testing in care centres with autistic children, using a time-to-contact paradigm with looming stimuli.

Brief talks

Cochlear Diversity Beyond the Audiogram: Otoacoustic Emissions as Measures of Aural Diversity
Natasha Winge, Christos Chousidis & Russell Mason, Institute of Sound Recording, University of Surrey
natashawinge@gmail.com
This PhD project explores the idea that distortion-product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) may offer a window into individual hearing variation not captured by pure-tone audiograms. I’ll briefly share early observations from a study with musicians, highlighting the potential around what these emissions might reveal about inner ear diversity and how it may relate to music perception.

Experiences of Sonic Detachment within the Acoustic City Community
Katie Chatburn, PhD researcher, Leverhulme Unit for the Design of Future Cities, School of Digital Arts, Manchester Metropolitan University.
KATHRYN.CHATBURN@stu.mmu.ac.uk
The city soundscape is co-produced and as such can tell us what is means to ‘belong’ or feel excluded, it can also be used creatively as a tool to explore and reimagine collective experience. This study is a sonic ethnography of the collective experience of the city through sound, working with a range of community groups across Manchester. Creative approaches were used for soundscape assessment including sound sitting, graphic scoring/body mapping and composition. These approaches have highlighted ways in which many, typically aurally diverse, individuals experience detachment from the city community through their unique experiences of soundscape.

Aural Diversity in practice – How to approach Acoustic Design in real life
Lise W. Tjellesen, Mayer Brown
ltjellesen@mayerbrown.co.uk / lwtjellesen@gmail.com
Aural Diversity has always existed. However, the research and work with Aural Diversity did not really begin until more recently, with the main research being carried out through the Aural Diversity Network, led by Andrew Hugill from University of Leicester. The research took the first steps to formally acknowledging and categorising Aural Diversity, leading to the call for more research into the phenomenon and for more disciplines to be involved in addressing the identified issues.
While the research is still very much in its infancy from a formal point of view and much more work is still to be done, there is one important thing that has not yet been widely addressed; how does design in practice take Aural Diversity into account and how is Aural Diversity incorporated in design solutions in real life?
As part of the initial initiatives, Arup and the Aural Diversity Network developed a first of its kind tool kit to address design considerations. This tool kit is a step in the right direction and a good initial start, but it raises more questions. This Paper / Brief Contribution seeks to highlight the needs for and implications of taking Aural Diversity into account when carrying out acoustic design of spaces.

Specialist interest stimuli and experiences of young autistic children in audiology clinics
Anisa S. Visram, Iain R. Jackson, Michael A. Stone, Amber J. Roughley, Kevin J. Munro
Anisa.Visram@manchester.ac.uk
Background
Paediatric audiologists often see young autistic children to rule out hearing loss as a cause of communication differences. However, these children often do not perform well with traditional hearing tests such as Visual Reinforcement Audiometry (VRA), which requires a head turn behaviour in response to sound. This can lead to distress and management delays.
Aims

To compare the efficacy of infant hearing testing using specialist interest auditory and visual stimuli (e.g. the child’s favourite TV theme tune and video) with standard testing.
To compare the outcomes of hearing testing using the two methods.
To investigate use of the test and catalogue the wider auditory and audiology-related experiences in young autistic children.

Methods
Sixty-one infants from the general population (8-24 months) took part in experiment 1, comparing the total number of VRA responses to standard and specialist interest stimuli. Sixty-nine infants from the general population took part in experiment 2, which compared hearing thresholds to standard and specialist interest stimuli. Pilot work in an NHS clinic investigated using specialist interest stimuli with neurodiverse young children.
Results
When tested with specialist stimuli, responses remained reliable for longer as the test progressed, with a trend for more responses overall. Specialist stimuli were particularly effective for older infants. Hearing thresholds using both methods were equivalent. Piloting in an NHS clinic showed promising results with neurodiverse young children responding more consistently to specialist interest stimuli than standard ones.
Conclusion and Implications
Results show promise with the specialist interest stimuli being effective and giving reliable results in a typically developing population, whilst being more engaging for neurodiverse children. We propose to extend the NHS pilot trials to quantify the efficacy of the test in neurodiverse populations and to better understand early auditory experiences of autistic children.

Aural Diversity and Soundscape Perception: A Two-Phase Study Linking Online Affective Mapping and EEG
Paul Magrath
P.A.Magrath@edu.salford.ac.uk

This doctoral research investigates how autistic, ADHD, and neurotypical listeners perceive and respond to spatialised environmental soundscapes. The project follows a matched two-phase design. Phase 1 is an online, headphone-based validation study in which participants rate Ambisonic field recordings using the ISO 12913-2 Circumplex Model, which maps affective responses along Pleasant–Unpleasant and Eventful–Uneventful dimensions. The recordings are reproduced through a custom ambisonic-to-binaural pipeline that maintains spatial fidelity while meeting broadcast-quality loudness standards for web-based browser delivery, ensuring ecological validity for remote headphone listening.
Phase 2 replays the same stimuli in their original first-order Ambisonic format through a calibrated loudspeaker array in the laboratory, with EEG recorded during a focused meditation task. This design enables direct comparison of perceptual and neural responses across remote and in-lab settings, providing a rare opportunity to link affective mapping with objective measures of attentional engagement.
In the first year, the project has delivered a fully tested experimental platform, a reproducible audio processing chain, and two custom Python tools: CircumplexPro, which applies fuzzy-logic classification to circumplex responses, and CircumSpectra, which supports scene detection, loudness auditing, and synchronised waveform–spectrogram analysis. Although participant recruitment is pending due to funding release, the entire workflow has been tested from capture to analysis, achieving stable loudness targets (−18.0 LUFS, −1.0 dBTP) and consistent spatial reproduction.

By integrating perceptual, neural, and descriptive data, the research aims to determine whether immersive soundscapes can facilitate meditative attention, particularly for individuals who find sustained focus challenging. More broadly, it advances an inclusive model of soundscape evaluation that places aural diversity and sensory variation at the centre of perceptual analysis, offering methodological innovations that are reproducible, open-source, and adaptable across both research and applied contexts.

The impacts of short-term noise pollution on toddler cognition and behaviour
George Wright
g.wright7@edu.salford.ac.uk
Noise Pollution is an inescapable reality for the majority of the planet. Whilst there exists a collective effort to quiet our bustling world, there are currently more sources of noise disruption than at any other point in human history. It’s been well understood for millennia that these disruptions can have a negative impact on many aspects of life from declining workplace performance to sleep disturbances. As such, over the years there have been many studies to develop our collective understanding to the effects noise pollution can have on adults and later school aged children. These studies have shown that noise pollution can negatively impact upon behaviour as well as cognitive function in the forms of decreasing levels of focus. However, there exists a large gap for preschool aged toddlers, which this study attempts to fill. Utilising Shared Book Reading as an educational tool this study assesses both the child’s short-term cognition through both auditory and non-auditory answers, as well as overall behaviour and attention during the experiment through monitoring of body language. During this timeframe the toddlers will have didactic adult speech played in the background, similar to what could be experienced in a preschool; thus, simulating one of the most common learning practices and how it can be impacted by the surrounding environment. In synthesising a pre-school learning environment in the listening room it allows for the isolation of sounds, preventing overlapping distractions, compiling any potential effects. This current project is a masters designed to prove that noise is a key inhibitor to optimal pre-school learning and is currently incomplete, however early results are indicating the hypothesis to be true.
Keywords
Developmental Psychology; Environmental Noise; Education

The Numinous Ear: Autistic Listening and Aural Diversity as a Gateway to the Divine and Sublime- Exploring Sonic Consciousness through Phenomenology, Panpsychism, and Process Philosophy
Xsara Helmi
x.helmi@edu.salford.ac.uk Website: www.xsara.co.uk/academic
This presentation explores the intersection of aural diversity, autistic listening, and the numinous, positioning auditory perception as a site of relational consciousness. Drawing on Rudolf Otto’s mysterium tremendum et fascinans (1917/1923) and Carl Jung’s concept of the numinous as an archetypal force shaping the unconscious (1958), I examine how neurodivergent auditory perception challenges conventional understandings of sound, revealing its role as a dynamic, affective, and transcendent force. Autistic listening often involves heightened sensitivity to sonic textures, patterns, and intensities that neuromajority perception filters out. These experiences parallel Otto’s numinous qualities- overwhelming power (tremendum), profound mystery (mysterium), and compelling fascination (fascinans). The autistic experience of being simultaneously overwhelmed by and drawn to sound mirrors the paradoxical nature of numinous encounters, inducing awe, reverence, and even terror beyond ordinary sensory experience. From a Jungian perspective, numinous encounters activate archetypal forces in the unconscious, facilitating individuation. Autistic listeners’ heightened receptivity to sound’s affective qualities may represent a more direct engagement with these archetypal dimensions, where ordinary sounds bypass cognitive filtering to trigger profound psychic responses. These experiences characterised by overwhelming intensity, sublime revelation, and ineffable meaning suggest that sound operates not just as sensory stimulus but as an active agent in the co-creation of consciousness. By reframing neurodivergent auditory perception as a form of knowledge rather than disorder, we uncover how sound mediates between perception and the vibrational substrate of reality. This discussion is further informed by Merleau-Ponty’s embodied perception (1962), Ihde’s phenomenology of listening (2007), and Nancy’s resonance (2007). Engaging panpsychism (Chalmers, 1996; Goff, 2019) and process philosophy (Whitehead, 1929), I explore how sound actively shapes experience, inviting us to reconsider: Is sound an external force, or is it a co-creator of inner reality?
References
Chalmers, D. J. (1996). The conscious mind: In search of a fundamental theory. Oxford University Press.
Drever, J. L., & Hugill, A. (Eds.). (2022). Aural diversity. Routledge.
Goff, P. (2019). Galileo’s error: Foundations for a new science of consciousness. Pantheon.
Ihde, D. (2007). Listening and voice: Phenomenologies of sound (2nd ed.). State University of New York Press.
Jung, C. G. (1958). Psychology and religion: West and East. Princeton University Press.
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1962). Phenomenology of perception. Routledge.
Nancy, J.-L. (2007). Listening (C. Mandell, Trans.). Fordham University Press.
Otto, R. (1923). The idea of the holy. Oxford University Press. (Original work published 1917)
Whitehead, A. N. (1929). Process and reality: An essay in cosmology. Free Press.