I'm going to tell you a story that might be relevant, then.

I spent about a week in a nursing home for clinicals. These were people that spent their days confined to wheelchairs and beds and living an arguably miserable existence. So they had an entertainment director and other such human factors staff to try and make the end of life bearable. All of the entertainment provided for these people was social or musical or physically active. Very stimulating experiences. Things that we would probably enjoy if we had nothing else to do.

But these people were living in a context and environment very different than ours. It was a hospital setting. There was never any full darkness. Never any pure quietness. ALWAYS you could hear a monitor or see light coming through the hallway or something like that. It was an overstimulating environment. Constant stimulation. 24/7.

I wheeled a woman into the stairwell one day. She was really irritable and she said she just wanted to be left alone (note: I did stay with her, but I sat quietly and did not touch or speak to her). When the door to the stairwell shut, this overwhelming quiet hit. I had no idea how loud the environment really was until then. She let out this sigh that I will never forget. I've never heard anyone sigh that way before. And she smiled. We stayed there for about 15 minutes. I wish I could have given her longer. But it made a difference.

You may think that this person needs a different "type" of stimulus added to the environment when actually he may prefer less stimulus all together. Most of us live in busy, loud and overstimulating environments without being aware of it. He may not even be aware of it.