Category: Safe Haven
Hi all,
when someone mentioned a tone of voice that makes you think a person gave you a certain look, it got me to thinking about voice sensitivity. How voice sensitive are you? me, I'm sensitive to the slightest tone, if there is the slightest irritation, the slightest annoyance in your tone of voice, I will pick up on it. so, since I can pick up on the slightest tone, an extremely loud and angry voice makes me want to run and hide and not speak to that person again, lol. I have that voice sensitivity in almost everything, daily life. even when I'm listening to television, when someone asks someone for something, something in the other persons tone will make me think, no, he/she really doesn't want to do it. Isometimes think I can pick up on things noone else can pick up on. On the one hand, voice sensitivity can come in handy, makes you more intuitive to others feelings, but when you are a fairlysensitive person, it can be rather unpleasant. So what about you all, how voice sensitive are you? and how does it affect the way you feel?
wonderwoman
I do think we, as blind people, tune in to voice tones and inflections since we can't look at someone's eyes or watch other facial expressions or body language.
I am the same very voice sensitive, I am always telling my mum to stop shouting. Then she will say I am not shouting. All my mum's side of the family have loud voices. I don't like it at all.
agree becky
I think to get the whole picture of how someone feels or what they are really thinking, you need to be able to both see body language and facial expressions and hear the voice. But blind people can't do that which i a real shame. It would be curious to know which realy gives away more - voices or facial expressions.
my parents both have loud voices and when they're tired, they sound really grumpy (to me) so dad started holding my hand when he was talking to me after a sleepless night or hard day at work so that i knew he wasn't upset with me. I too am extremely voice sensative and i get really sad if someone speaks harshly to me.
My boyfriend has a really um...how do i say this? his voice is like low and not very bubbly so sometimes when we're talking the answers he gives me are kinda rude and while he's joking and i know he's joking, i can't help but feel just a little uncomfortable.
I new somebody like that, well he had a quiet voice but very strict. He tried to joke a few times but I couldn't tell if he was joking or not some times.
Danielle and Becky, agreed. My stepdad's like that...his voice is sort of harsh anyway, and when he's tired or stressed it comes across as being angry, and sometimes, even though I know he's not, I'll find myself wondering if he's angry with me for something I've done and then forgotten about. My mom's side of the family all have loud voices, and they tend to raise them when they're nervous, excited, stressed, angry, happy, worried...pretty much any strong emotion you can think of. It can become a little nerve-wracking.
I was watching a TV show the other night, and I remember thinking the lead actress didn't show much emotion in her voice. What psychologists would call a flat affect. Anyway, I've heard people talk about what pretty eyes and what an expressive face this actress has, but when she doesn't use her voice properly, a blind person doesn't get as much out of the show. Instead of concentrating on the plot and what the character was going through, I just kept thinking she didn't sound upset, angry, or whatever I thought was called for at any given moment during the show.
becky,
I think because they can see, most sighted people don't notice if an actors' voice is flat, probably because if the actors' face is expressive enough, he or she feels like they don't have to be concerned about the voice, since I think most people don't even consider that the blind listen to tv whether they can see it or not. I was watching a movie once, and the father in th emovie had a flat somewhat expressionless voice, but i just thought that was th epersonality of th echaracter he played, but my mom said he wasn't a good actor, so I suspect his facial expressions weren't very good either, otherwise she might not have noticed the flatness in his tone.
wonderwoman
I can sometimes associate voice inflections with facial expressions. (I mean, I can't see at all, but I know the particular emotion that the person is or may be trying to express.)
I think people emotions show in different ways. for instance, I may notice a tone in a persons voice and say something about it to another sighted person, but the person might say something like, well I didn'tnotice that. that may be because the person's feelings showed up in their voice and not their facial expression, and because most people can see, the person may be trying very hard to hide his or her facial expressions, while not even considering to try and hide their tone of voice. But it might go the other way also, the person may not have any particular tone in his or her voice, but it may show in facial expression and the sighted person would be th eone to notice and I might nnot. I've always felt I was the most voice sensitive person in th eworld, even more so than other blind people, because when i am in chat rooms, it always seemed i picked up on something in someone's tone that even other blind people missed, so when a couple of people sensed something in my tone reguarding another person who had been in th eroom, I was a bit surprised they picked up on it. wonderwoman
I can recognize people by their voices and can usually tell different tones of voice.
I am very voice picky I guess. I do not like whiny or very high vhoices. They just sort of grade on my nerves.
I don't think I have much voice sensitivity, though I can usually tell when someone is lying, annoyed etc. I only use it when I need to. Otherwise, I don't pay much attention to anyone's tone. To be honest, people who do that all the time drive me crazy. I'm also not much of a sensitive person. This is not to say that I don't feel things, but I wouldn't go to pieces if someone sounded upset etc. I might stay away from them so they could calm down, or if they were a relative or friend, I'd see if I could help.
Actually, let me add something. I have two exceptions. I'm very sensitive to my mother's and my boyfriend's tone. I can always tell when something's bothering them and am alert to changes in their voices. They're that way with me too.
When I was pretty young, my Mom told me that listening to people's tone of voice was going to be my best way of telling people's mood and give me an alternative to facial expressions. I really do think you can pick up a lot about people and how they're feeling and thinking from their voice.
well, I don't go around listening, trying to pick up things in people's voices, it's just there. I don't jump all over them thouigh if i detect something in their tone, but if im around someone who is either depressed or crabby, i just want to get away from them. it's not something i can just turn on and off.
wonderwoman
Hmmm! All very complicated. I'd say I was probably one of the most voice sensitive visually impaired people. I can tell when people're worried, angry, upset, happy, excited, smiling Etc Etd, but I'm not very good at telling whether they're joking or serious. I can also pick out well-known famous people, or people like my family or friends who have very distinctive voices, especially my mum, Gran and Lou (Robbie's mum) who I know very well, out in a croud. Watching favourite soaps or films on the TV, I know who's speaking and who's doing what where almost instantly. I'm so glad I don't live over in the states though because guys, you all sound the same, especially the women. The only differences being the higher or lower pitch of your voices. Same with Australians or New Zealanders. The women certainly all sound the same and talk the same. I was watching Neighbours just now and in a soap like that, it's almost impossible to tell which two women or which two men're speaking.
Jen.
lol. thats pretty funny.
i am extremely voice sensative because of what happened to me as a child. now when my husband sounds the least bit mad at me, i just want to run and hide. i need to break myself pof that habbit, but it is very hard to do.
I am voice sensative as well. I remember we had this supervisor that even when he was joking he could be stern sounding. I can tell most emotions as well. It can get confusing sometimes, cause we can't see a smile or whatever.
somanea, I thought i was the only person who wanted to run and hide when anyone sounded mad or irritable lol. I don't know why i'm voice sensitive, guess it's just something i was born with.hey headwig, don't i remember you from accessible chat? I have a pretty good memory for things, and if you are the same headwig, seems i remember a lot of people being in my room at one time when it was public, and i had to go at one, and there were still a lot of people, so I asked if therewas trouble, likerowdies and roughians coming in and causing trouble after i left, if someone would let me know. you volunteered to let me know how things went after i left if i gave you my email address. of course you may not be the same headwig, lol.
wonderwoman
nope. you r not the only one who feels that way. if my husband yells at me for something, i start crying.
he is withdrawing from cigarettes, so his temper is high these days. he has not got me to crying yet ever since we have moved down here.
the last time he got me to crying was when my dog, who was a 4 month old puppy at the time, peed on the carpet. my husband was getting sick of the dog going in the house, so he starts yelling at him until the dog started crying. when my dog started crying, i yelled at my husband to stop. then he yells at me, well this dog is your responsability. then i start to cry and go into the bedroom and lock myself in. my husband is not a violent man, but when he starts yelling because of one thing or another, it scares the living daylights out of me. he hasnt yelled in months though. he has just gotten a bit irritated because of the lack of nicotine in his system because he is quitting smoking.
Yeah, sometimes. If they are talking monotone, than I can't tell. I get confused, and often get really angry. I am short tempered, so that actually doesn't help. I start yelling, and telling them off. Today in my math class for example. I sensed that this girl was giving me this atitude, so I screamed at her and told her I didn't want no fucking attitude from her. Lol! It doesn't help. I just wish, you know, I can have a little more patience. One thing if I could wish for something from a fairy might just be patience.
yes sometimes that is what i wish for as well. like when my sister would start playing death metal in the car on our way to school, my nerves would stretch really thin.