Does synesthesia get in the way of everyday life?
Many people think that it must be very confusing and distracting for a synesthete to walk around all day with these colors, shapes, and sensations bombarding them. The truth is that they find their synesthesia enjoyable and not a hindrance to normal life. In fact, they pity non-synesthetes for having what the synesthetes consider one-dimensional sensory experiences. To understand this better, think of a deaf person with new cochlear implants. He or she may find the constant rush of sounds, from crashing trash cans to the ticking of a clock, disorienting and difficult to process. However, save the occasional loud sound, those hearing since birth have little problem tuning out extraneous noise. Similarly, synesthetes have long since grown accustomed to their synesthesia and the extra experiences are not distracting for the most part. Just as a firecracker would startle a hearing person, though, a sudden bright light triggered by a loud sound may startle a synesthete. The only time a syne
