I don’t know much about autism but I recall reading an article, decades ago, about a child who displayed what we call autism now but it turns out that his hearing was so acute that normal noise like rain sounded like explosions to him (just imagine what thunder or sirens did to him). Hence he avoided a lot of normal interactions which involved noise. Apparently he was one they could train to somehow dampen his hearing and he was fine afterwards.
I was interested in this because I have a daughter that has super acute hearing and has to withdraw from time to time but she is the opposite of autistic and successfully engaged in all aspects of life. Perhaps there is something the opposite of hearing aids like non-hearing aids.
Simon Cowell’s kid often is seen with noise cancelling head phones
After working with so many with such variety, the description that I thought made the most sense was this - imagine your brain is processing all the information it is receiving from all of your senses without any sort of filter on them. Every sound, every sight, every touch on your skin, etc. - all demanding the full processing power of your brain all the time.
To me, it made sense of some of the strategies I've seen help those on the spectrum cope. Things like wrapping them in a mat or noise cancelling headphones or music - things that break apart or break through the constant din in their heads.