"You've got to control your jumping at loud sudden noise"

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I was always the "unmanly" one in a group when someone had to start/rev a powerful (and therefore loud) vehicle. So I spent a lot of time suppressing my startle reflex.

Then, one year a group came into my school to do a demonstration that involved "surprising" someone in the audience. I was that someone. I didn't budge. I was proud. Then they gave me crap for how weird it was that I didn't flinch.

Sometimes you just can't win these silly games. It's better to just listen to your body when it's trying to protect you.

the last time a loud sudden noise surprised me, i jumped up 2' in the air and shouted "JUMPIN' JEEZUSSS!!"

my NT sister is usually in wonderment why i am so jumpy, i guess she has to be in my body to understand how i feel.

I've always jumped at sudden noises or anything sudden really. I hated being told to simply "get over it" or "don't be so dramatic". You deserve to feel supported, as this is not your choice. It will only make you feel more isolated and self-conscious if someone (especially your boyfriend) is telling you to behave more "normally" to sudden noises. You are perfect the way you are and the jumping is a physical, unconscious reaction to a sudden stimulus. That, in and of itself, is normal.

ableist NTs picking fun of me or upbraiding me for my natural nervous reactions to sudden stimuli, remind me of how these cats must feel at the humans laughing at them-