It was hard for me to get my boyfriend to understand that a lot of the time, moderate-volume music is painful. He never spends much time in silence, so first thing in the morning he'll put a record on or there'll be something really loud playing as I walk in his front door. I get anxious but also guilty because this is his home and what right do I have to turn down his music blah blah. So I shut myself in the bathroom, talk too quietly for him to hear (I hate having to yell), go out on his balcony for a smoke. I've gotten it through to him that "loud music hurts me sometimes" so the volume has gone down, and he apologized last time I showed up and it was loud. But I don't think he understands how that minute and a half of loud noise put me on edge for hours. One of his best friends is on the spectrum, male, and my SO sometimes mentions how autistic he is. He's very stereotypical, though he has learned through imitation. It makes me want to scream that my boyfriend can see it and accommodate for it with his friend, but not with me. I just want to tell that I'm not less autistic, I'm also doing the imitation that the friend is doing and I'm just better at it!