Sensory therapy

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Is it worth it? Has anyone consulted such a specialist? I have found a psychologist who helps adukts build a "sensory profile". If you already have basic knowledge about sensory issues, is it helpful? I experience overstimulation, but don't quite understand why, I would want to find out why.

I have not heard of this sort of "therapy". However, if the result is a "profile", it sounds like you would be paying someone to defined your sensory abilities more than aid you in mastering them.

It seems there are two ways to deal with sensory issues, decrease sensory volume input, or work at developing sensory "sorting" so that you can differentiate between that you have to process and that which can be ignored.

This free psf booklet might be helpful

http://christianpioneer.com/blogarchiev ... e_2017.pdf

Yes, and it is my problem that I don't know what to address.

I do avoid high volume input and I get the feeling that sorting types of input won't help, because I have an organised environment. Sorting input also might be focusing on one input, and I can focus, but I would rather not force focus, but try to avoid whatever makes it hard to focus, because distractions don't distract me, they make me tired, if that makes sense. However, at this point I'm not aware of why I feel overstimulated / extremely tired and like my mind of clogged with sensations that don't make any sense and stuck trying to get rid of them - sensations, arousal, feelings, memories, not information such as what to do, at which time, in which order, what to buy, what someone said, what I've read, what I engage in etc. It feels like I come into contact with things that cause that or do things in a way that causes the overwhelm and don't know how to do it differently.

I once attended a technical training session with a guy that had retired from the Navy as a radio chief. We were playing cards in his hotel room with the TV on in the background. A scene came on where someone was supposed by be sending Morse Code. The ex-chief's attention was instantly turned to te code. He cocked his ear and in a few seconds declared, "garbage" and continued card playing.

I thought this an interesting example in sifting through sensory information. The ability to quickly identify low value information and dismiss it seems a useful skill.

Oh, I see. I think I have no problems with that.

I don't think it would help with overstimulation. I think it's more about improving sensory processing. The sensory problems I get are to do with sometimes being unable to screen out relatively mild pain and discomfort, which can get quite overwhelming. The only way I can screen it out is to hyperfocus on something else (if I'm lucky enough to be able to find something I can hyperfocus on at the time). But I've never had sensory therapy so I don't know for sure.

I tend to ignore unpleasant signals from my body such as pain and hunger until I reach a breaking point. I can injure myself and not realise it until I see it or a body part doesn't move like it's supposed to.

Then I probably misinterpreted what you meant by "overstimulation."

Oh... yes. There are different kinds of overstimulation, which is confusing. Being unable to ignore a stimulus would be one. The one I have a problem with is like I feel "clogged" and exhausted, I feel different experiences playing on repeat in my head and taking up memory, and the lack of available memory makes it hard to function. Fatigue has the same effect, but is more calm. The overstimulation without fatigue keeps me up at night and doesn't let me sleep, makes me stim a lot, I need to move, I feel like I need to be on my own and somewhere peaceful - I crash at home, don't really do much. There is also another kind of overstimualtion that I don't have a problem with right now - when it's too loud, bright, crowded, smelly, I have panic attacks. Apparently avoiding eye contact is overstimulation too ("I can't hear you when I'm looking at your face"). And not hearing in loud environments. And having to leave because of smells. Or being unabke to focus if you have too many tasks. There are a lot of ways in which it can show.