Unusual sensory experiences.

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Before my diagnosis, at times I'd think I was going mad due to the unusual sensory, especially visual, experiences I'd have.

Here are a few examples;

Colours appearing different depending on which other colours they're next to; hence I'd see movement where none actually existed.
Parallel horizontal lines refusing to stay still and appearing to be pulsing, thus causing me great distress...I don't any problems with vertical lines though.
Hyperlexia; spelling mistakes on the sides of vehicles, on advertising posters or shop windows etc. appearing to get bigger and travel towards me.
Difficulties in judging people's ages, especially women [I'm male.]


Just a few examples - I'm wondering if people have other examples to contribute.

Me and my Dad both get that thing with horizontal lines. I hate it when they have those kinda ribbed entrance ways to shopping percents that appear to move as you walk over them and also walking on escalators or travelators when they're not moving but they still seem to move. I also get scary things with patterned steps where they appear to curve upwards as I walk down them very scary... I dont know what causes it...

The parallel lines (such as escalator steps) that appear to 'shimmer' are most disturbing. I wonder if everyone sees that?

The parallel lines cause me particular problems, whether it be steps or escalators, or as Marsian mentioned the non-slip surfaces at the entrances to shopping centres - I have to either close my eyes or walk across them diagonally.

Narrow stripes on clothing make me dizzy. It hurts to see red and blue next to each other, it looks like it's moving. Certain things I hate to smell: mayonnaise, ketchup, bread.

I hate going into one of the entrances to a bulding on my college campus because the bricks on the floor always look to be moving, I guess it is a kind of trippy pattern but it makes it hard to walk across that floor without feeling dizzy so I use the other entrance.

I have been having quite a few detatched moments...that is probably the weirdest feeling ever, because I will feel detatched from my body and this can be bothersome if i have something to do because it sort of impairs my movements. For instance I might have to get off the bus and if that feeling hits me then I will go to get up and then can't unless I put extra effort into it. Like my brains command to get up to get off the bus has to fight through a wall before I am able to move.

Also random movements, on this forum the words might appear to be sliding a bit on the screen...like maybe to the right or left a little bit or both kind of hard to explain but yeah it appears to be movement.

Oh and this one has not been recent last time was a few months ago but a few times when I was alone at my friends house(when he went out of town) I kept feeling like someone was sitting in the chair across the room, there was no one there of course but it was a creepy feeling....I was rather high so it was not as creepy as it is when this happens when I am in my normal over-analytic mental state.

Those are some of the main ones that come to mind.

Yip Mayo and salad cream make me wanna vomit, I cannot touch them, ugh, I don't like ketchup but I think salad cream is the worst for me, beyond gross.

I also hate it when carpets have certain types of pattern that appear to move. Most people don't seem to be bothered by it, goodness only knows what is wrong with them hehe

Yep, yep. I had that (although mine included both horizontal and vertical lines). I don't remember feeling distress, though. I think I just accepted it as something that was part of the world, and nothing to fret too much about.

I vaguely wondered if anyone else experienced this or was it just me? It never occurred to me to ask anyone else about it, though, and I certainly never mentioned it to anyone.

I'm pretty sure the colours and the lines things are nothing typical to autism. I'm not entirely sure about the second, but I know for a fact that the first is a standard optical illusion. NTs have that as well. Check out some Youtube videos with optical illusions. Perhaps you'll notice more.

Its possible some are more sensative to that then others though.

It took me a while to realise what you might have meant. Are they pulsing when you are moving? How are they when you are still?

How about old CRT computer screens or TVs, can you see them flashing? And fluorescent lights?

They're much worse when I'm moving, approaching them; but parallel lines on wallpaper or other objects annoy me even if I'm stationary. Another problem I have, possibly related, is that I'm unable to repeatl long strings of numbers such as telephone numbers, or account numbers when looking at them. I have to first break them down into groups of three digits, crossing out each original number as I copy it.

I know I do...

Flashing lights feel like they're boring into my brain and forcing me to look at them. That's one of my least favorite parts of Christmastime - the lights everywhere.

The most annoying for me is the point at which dark lines not really connected intersect. Whenever I move my head it looks like there is a rat running there.

I always assumed everyone saw high contrast bright colors as pulsating/moving/flashing. I wonder if this is really the case.

And I do not like them at all.