Can you handle crowds?

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Sort of. Usually I need my noise-cancelling headphones and I either shut down or melt down when I get home or lose abilities in the crowd, such as speech, movement or visual processing, but I don't actually melt down in the middle of the crowd.

This might sound a bit weird but I love going to gigs. The crowds there I'm generally ok with but I do have to go with at least one person I feel safe with. So long as I have a point of reference I can turn to for reassurance when I get jostled and knocked out of drifting I'm ok. For some reason if I'm listening to wonderful music (and especially if there are flashing lights too) I just tune everything out and float on the music and lights to the point where I sometimes imagine things so intently I can *almost* see them, like plants growing at supernatural speeds and covering the stage, or the rain falling over us and splashing on the ground, or bubbles bursting and leaves spinning. It's magical.

Generally there is no point in people trying to talk to me in crowds though, I'm too distracted for that. If restaurants are crowded I can generally only relax and concentrate if I have my back to the wall so no one can come up behind me.

No.

I can handle crowds. When I'm near them, I just ignore them. It's good practice for when I go to London, in a year or two.

I have never been able to stand crowds well. There is simply too much going on around me to deal with it. In school during parties (which I rarely attended---the parties that is) I would end up in the corners trying to find a safety zone. As an adult, when my family used to get together with a large group at a relative's house for New Year's Eve, I would often retreat to a bedroom, shut the doors, turn off the lights, and try to recuperate. After my diagnosis of AS, my wife understands the reasons for me not going to social events. Shopping malls can get to me if they are crowded and noisy. We have had to leave shopping malls before because of this. Sometimes, I have tried to find a niche with a seat so that I can get out of the over-stimulated environment. I am not afraid of people or crowds---it's just the sensory and stimulation of it that bothers me---it makes me shut-down, or yell out and bang a wall or something.

I can handle them, certain crowds are exciting like in concerts or parties because there's a buzz of excitement and adrenaline.
If people are shoving past and pushing and stuff it does piss me off to no end but I can handle it.

I can't stand very heavy crowds and being in very tight spaces... It makes me feel very uncomfortable and it occasionally makes me feel very insecure and I can't do it very well on my own....

At times, I feel like shutting down completely because it seems like a sensory overload for me and in some social situations, I would most likely to panic.

If I'm with some mates then it doesn't bother me at all. However, if I haven't been out for a long time, I'm completly on my own or I haven't been bothered to make myself look good and have a few spots then I tend to get VERY anxious! I'm also going to a heavy metal concert next month with a mate, the crowd will be fxcking insane and there'll be moshpits but it doesn't really bother me 'cause I'll be with my mate plus the band I'll be seeing (Trivium) are one of my fave bands \m/

I can't handle crowds. For me it's a sensory overload thing. The sounds, sights and smells overwhelm me. Too much of it and I'm likely to meltdown.

Crowds are fine for me; however, in very large crowds I may be overwhelmed and not as observant as normal. In fact, I am quite the opposite of many here, whereas many dislike various loud sounds and such, I find quiet to be an abomination and nerve racking. I find restaurants with increased levels of background chatter to be somewhat, for lack of better word, comforting.

yes, although it has gotten harder to do so over the last few years. i used to be able to shut myself off alot easier in crowded areas but now i find myself getting a bit more overwhelmed by well everything really. hasn't gotten to the point where i cant handle it but it has made shopping alot more stressful.

If I am unlucky enough to get stuck in a crowd, i'll speed up like you wouldn't believe and i'd be VERY aware of where my valuables were!

Crowds?

Yes and no. A crowd of well known people? Yes... maybe. I will be silent but I will not speak much.

Random Strangers? I will make random noises and beatbox to tune people out.

A packed place?

NO. If I have to venture in i'll get by looking at the patterns on the carpets and beatboxing/humming/some other type of thing that distracts me.

Crowds are fine as long as I am able to see wher I'm going.

However the worst place for me to be crowded is in tight or small spaces, like OP said a subway. Also don't like being in crowds for too long.

Ha! That's like asking me if I can handle having my heart ripped out of my chest. The people in the crowd might as well all be thieves with knives . That's how much I'm scared of being in a crowd. Not only is it the closeness of the people, the various noises and smells, but I can't look up. I'm so scared of making eye contact with strangers, I keep my eyes on my toes. You won't believe how many times I ran into things.

It is interesting that my wife - more people-centered than I am - handles crowds worse than I do. Not that I am good at them. Too noisy, too touchy, too pressing, too confused. But I can - up to a point - focus down and shut them off. Tunnel vision on the floor or my destination.

Depends a lot on how much recharging I have had.