Hyper/Hyposensitivity

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Does anyone has increased/decreased senses? I think that I may be hypersensitive to sound.

How do others manage with their senses and what are some signs to confirm whether someone has this?

I seem to be hypersenstive to some things aswell especially to sound and light, sometimes it drives me crazy. Haven't really found ways to deal with at the moment though unfortunately. :/

I'm hyper sensetive to sounds and physical contact :o I can cope with the sound most of the time though due to my meds, but i haven't found a way to actually touch a person without getting all disturbed :x I don't know if not being able to touch or be touched is something related to ASD, i never really looked it up. But oh well, anyway you're not alone :D

I don't mind being touched, but most people just do it the wrong way.

i can hear humming from transformers and badly made wall warts, i have a router that can keep me awake,

my neighbour couldnt hear it nor could my family, with the notable exception of my brother.

it might just be age related hearing loss coupled with the fact that my neighbour has bad hearing on one ear, but i dont know.

I for one am very thankful that CRT TV's and monitors have almost totally gone the way of the Dodo. The flyback circuit in them drive me insane. Of course those were replaced by cheap chinese compact fluorescent bulbs that scream and howl.... More of them than there were of the old Tv's now.... I wish computers were quieter electrically, I can hear the gates in my CPU switching when it's under load if the room is quiet. Small high RPM computer fans do a number on me, which is why I bought a case with the largest slowest fans I could find(cooler master HAF 932 ). I can smell electronics too, that ozone smell you get from a toasted piece of electronics, they actually smell like that all the time to me. I can sense electricity, that ones harder to explain.... I can feel "hum" of power going through a bundle of power cords. When I'm sitting at my desk during a blackout. During a blackout I switch off all the powerbars to all the computers to protect them from surge. The power comes back on... It's like an all encompassing flash of light slams into me, I can feel/hear this very large snap, my eyes are open but all I see is light, then it's gone, takes less than a second. Jolts me everytime it happens.

Harmonic vibrations bother me a lot. I get listening to music rather loud (because it feels good) and things start to vibrate in my office or car, I have to hunt it down and make it stop. I have little pieces of foam tape stuck to the back of almost every picture/toy/piece of art in my office and livingroom to stop/absorb the errant vibrations, in the car/van I use foam tape, expanding spray foam, silicone caulking etc. The Jeep I don't bother, I just turn the music up louder, the Jeep has no carpets, sometimes no doors/roof/windshield either. I'm not a good person to take for a drive in your new-to-you used car, you will be upset by the time you drop me off. I start doing the "Sound like it needs a....." "Feels like it needs", "Did you know they recalled this car for XYZ problems". Sorry.

With the windows open in the house, I can hear the moment they start the police helicopter at the city center airport, I can hear the starter whine. That's about a kilometer away with a major highway, railyard and locomotive repair shop between me and the helicopter, it's very distinctive, it bothers me. With the windows closed I can't hear when they start it but i can hear it the moment they throttle up and the rotor is getting lift. When they are testing engines and horns on the trains it's enough to make me visibly agitated. They run up the engines and I can't get away from it, the house feels like it's in an earthquake to me, it's like standing beside a jet APU during run up. It's three blocks away. They also test the horns too... Sometimes they play single note songs with them.. I think they employ children there. I still can not figure out why they stuck a repair shop there, why not at the edge of town? That would be somewhat more tolerable. I can not be around people using power tools. Screaming kids. Screechy little girls. Yappy high pitched dogs. Large heavy machinery. It goes on forever. My boyfriend says he can't wait till next year when we sell this place and move to the country so I'll stop bitching about it all.

I'm really sensitive to heat and cold. I walk by the stove to get to the fridge to get a drink half an hour after I've shut the burner off, it still feels like the burner is on, so I look to see and it's off. I can't smoke a joint to the roach, it's too hot on my lips and fingers. I leave long cigarette butts for the same reason. I can feel how cold surfaces are just by hovering my hand over them. My face is the most sensitive I think because it's the most exposed. I get a shiver and the hair on my arms goes up at the slightest temperature change.

I like textures, well most of them. I'm picky about the textures I have to interact with on a daily basis. I like a combination of smooth and slick and the micro pebbled plastic surfaces for my mouse and the keys on my keyboard. Clothing is a constant battle between my boyfriend and myself. He does all the shopping, he likes that type of thing. He buys my clothes, he picks them out. He likes me to try new things.... I do not like to try new things, like wool anything or cashmere or bright loud colours and patterns and prints. He mostly has it figured out now thankfully. I am incredibly lucky to have someone that is willing to do this for me.

My sense of taste and smell are less acute than they used to be, due to smoking I'm sure. But I still love a rousing game of Find That Smell!! My sense of taste has been muted but textures in food still make me gag and spit out whatever offending bit I disagree with.

Visually, I see everything. With my current glasses Rx I have 20/15 vision. Bright lights at night, like animated LED billboards, everytime I see one I have to make a comment like "Those f***ing things should be illegal!" They always place them at busy intersections and I find that I have to focus on the street lights to see it turn green or I'll miss it because I'm staring at the billboard. Xenon or the new LED headlights... I can not help but to look right at them then look away immediately, blinded. Like a moth to a flame. Small animals moving in the ditches or lost car parts in the ditches, out of province license plates, "their a long way from home"... Birds and animals, I moo when I see cows I like to just sit and watch 3D fractals. Makes my brain feel like candy, I get really amped up watching this 3D fractal pattern generating software that comes with Winamp media player called Milkdrop. Some of the patterns make me feel giddy, others make me feel relaxed, some of them bore me so i skip them. Combine that with loud clean clear dubstep with enough bass to knock things off walls in another room on another floor... Makes my body and brain feel like J.E.L.L.O. It's like heaven, if I believed in such hokum.

I guess that's a partial list, but it gives an idea. Looks like I've written another book. Sorry.

I feel intense pain combined with a feeling that I want to jump out of my skin whenever someone touches me. I am extremely sensitive to light, heat, chewing sounds, silverware scraping, children crying or screaming and crowd noises (clapping, people in large groups all yelling or talking at the same time), etc. but sounds like machine gun fire or air raid sirens do not bother me in the least. I am also insensitive to pain.

Increased. Everything is majorly turned up. I'll be watching other people who are around the same sound and they probably won't even react, while I'll sit there holding my ears. Smells will be the same, too. Some people even get offended if I cover my nose around them, since they think I'm not liking their scent when it isn't that at all. I think the best example is when I'm at college and the fire alarm goes off for testing purposes. I'm holding my head and in pain, and others just look at me oddly. My professor gave me the strangest look. Same goes for touch, though, I barely react when people do it, I still freeze-up and it makes me feel uncomfortable.

I'm hypersensitive to loud, unexpected noises, such as loud sneezes, car engines, and motorcycles. I'm also very ticklish around my waist area.

Yes. I teach college. It is often a struggle for me to tune out the sensory information I receive so that I can focus on teaching. Students re-crossing their legs, moving slightly so I detect cologne, blinking too much, shifting in their seats, whispering, chewing gum, swallowing air, tapping their iPhones, scribbling, erasing, etc - I pick up all of it and regularly have to breathe through potential sensory overload. Fluorescent lights are evil, especially when they flicker. Sometimes, I turn around and write something on the board (whiteboard, thank God, not a chalkboard) so I can center myself. Physical contact does not bother me as much as the other four senses, although I dislike handshakes.

Somehow, I'm still one of the most highly evaluated teachers in my program.

I don't seem to have any heightened senses, but I do have a pretty bad sense of smell.