A person describes an unusual pairing of sensory experiences. Before revealing the answer, decide how you would explore whether this is synaesthesia.

Ask specifically whether the cross-sensory experience occurs reliably and automatically whenever the triggering stimulus is genuinely present, since this dependence on a real stimulus in a different modality is the defining feature. Ask how long this has been present, since it is often a stable, lifelong pattern present since childhood rather than a new development, and ask about any current or recent substance use, since it can also be induced or intensified by certain psychoactive substances. Establish whether it is causing the person any distress or functional difficulty, since lifelong synaesthesia is generally considered a normal variant of perceptual experience rather than a sign of illness, and this framing matters for how the finding should be discussed and managed.