4:29am July 29, 2014

What do you listen to when you need to concentrate?

I’m curious what music/sounds other autistic people listen to when you’re studying or working. I find I concentrate best with things that are repetitive and are low on lyrics, so I’m wondering if this is the same for other people.

Edit: also why do prefer the things you prefer?

Country music: Lacy J. Dalton, Dolly Parton, Kathy Mattea, Loretta Lynn, Pam Tillis, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, Gail Davies, Rita Coolidge/Kris Kristofferson duets. They are the people on my main playlist anyway. My favorites are Lacy J. Dalton and Kathy Mattea.

I like country because I grew up on it, my earliest memories of listening to music are country. We listened to so much country, that I didn’t realize it was all one genre, I thought the different types of country I heard were all entirely different types of music. It reminds me of home, it reminds me of the best parts of my childhood, it makes me feel whole and comfortable and connected to the world. Lacy J. Dalton especially has this weird effect on me where when I listen to her music, I can actually feel my body better, and I feel more connected to my body, more physical, more connected to the world in general. So I listen to a lot of her. Some of Kathy Mattea’s latest music (especially the stuff where she comes back to her Appalachian roots, instead of singing more generic country) can have a similar effect on me. I also like the way country usually has to do with telling stories, at least all the good country is like that.

So I listen to a lot of country when I’m doing projects of various sorts, or just while I’m on the computer. I’m listening to Kathy Mattea right now – “Gone, Gonna Rise Again”.

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