Aspies with synesthesia?

Post Reply New Topic

I've got graphemic synesthesia, which is seeing letters, numbers, and other sequences of ideas or objects(from the Harry Potter books to my school history!) as a kind of 3D map in your head. The closest I can come to describing it is as a number line, but it swoops and curves and makes sharp turns. I've had this as long as I can remember, some of my earliest memories involve the map of my family I have in my head.

Scents and touches also trigger 'typical' synthenaesia reactions for me. When I inhale my mother's perfume, I 'see' three brown dots with black rings aroung them, and textured wallpaper, when I run my fingers across it, makes me hear a bell in the distance.

Do any of you get these sensations? Or anytrhing like it? Do you think it has something to do with AS? I got both my synesthaesia and my AS from my mother's branch of the family.

hm. how very interesting

i got a tv in my head that i can visualize things but nothing like that, that sounds cool though.

When I was a little kid I can clearly remember seeing colors when I heard certain sounds. Sadly though, when started to hit puberty, this ability started to fade. I no longer experience this today.

I have mild grapheme-induced chromaesthesia - but I don't physically *see* the colours; I just see them in my mind. Though for some reason I visualise a red inverse parabola for the word 'hyperbole'

Dito. I could see red, violet and orange patterns as well with open as with closed eyes.

Yes, I have colored hearing (see certain colors and shapes when I hear certain sounds), and lately have noticed that I also see colors for certain tactile sensations. I strongly associate colors with letters and words, but don't actually see them.

I read somewhere that synesthesia is more common in people on the autistic spectrum than in the general population. There are a couple of other threads on the topic around here somewhere.

Wow, this is fascinating! It reminds me of someone I knew who took LSD. Ever since they took it and looked at a specific painting of a butterfly, the person would see it 'moving'. That's the only thing I can relate.

From very early in childhood, I associated colors with the days of the week. During this same time, I imagined the 12 months of the year laid out in a certain line or track, with segments joining each other in a certain way, like railroad track. To this very day, when I envision the calendar, I view it this same way from my childhood.

I generally "see" sounds, although what i see doesn't always correspond with what i hear. Generally i just see what resembles "white noise" or "static" from a television that isn't picking up anything. That goes on 24 hours a day regardless of what i am hearing. Most of the time(but not always) i see black dots floating across my field of vision. Sometimes if i stare at something for a minute or two i can see what looks like "waves". I'm not sure if that is sound waves or something completely different, but that is what i see.

Okay, now this is more of what I can relate to. I associate colors with each letter of the alphabet and the numbers from 1 to 20. Not sure if it is an early memory of a classroom alphabet border or what.

OK
I'm getting a little braver about opening up some of my *?...ism* lockboxes, after reading about this stuff you guys are sharing.

I also see sounds. Sometimes a blur like when you see the heat from a distance, but in certain environments, which are well defined and echoic, it's more like a complete visual picture of the various sounds and shapes in the room. It can be so clearly defined at times that I can be blindfolded and the aural picture takes over sufficiently, that I can win bets throwing darts in a bar, blindfolded (the only use I've ever found for my ability after I got out of concert sound business).

I was about 25 when I figured out that I had some odd ability that made my work in sound reinforcement more fun. Notice I consider it an ability, not a dysfunction. What the Hell do I know.

I also get an extremely unpleasant aural sensation in response to an unwelcome touch, or smell. I was about 12 when I realized that touching me didn't really make much of a sound. Any surprise touch would make me climb up the wall butt first trying to wiggle away from the sickening 'sound' of being surprised by a sudden 'contact'. I decided to keep it to myself as much as possible and become a little more aware of my surroundings, the way an alien imitates a native to improve their chances.

It actually feels strange to express this and not wonder if I will be allowed to still be friends, tomorrow. I'm a fairly intelligent fellow and just because I have this in my head and others don't, doesn't make me crazy. (Hey, that was the hurt little boy talking) It simply means that my analytical and interpretation processrs are a slight bit more involved or refined than some people's. I can still figure 5hit out on my own. Just don't expect a long handed, paper written proof to justify all my conclusions, like in math class.

Does any of that seem similar to the topic?

Last edited by DirtDawg on 26 Aug 2006, 9:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

An intelligent friend of mine who is Physics major has experienced syntheasia . It's really very cool, supposedly gives you a superior memory. incomprehensible to people like me who have never experienced it, lol.

Just yesterday I was listening to my Beatles Anthology, and the making of the song "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite". The producer George Martin has said that John Lennon would say "give me an orange sound", very visual. You can sense that when you here the organ rolls and calliope sound. Yes it's quite ORANGE. Now whenever I hear that song, I see and taste (in my head) Life Saver orange candies. Thanks John.

Superior memory, eh? I wish it worked for me! (Though I have to say it can sometimes come in handy for vaguely remembering words and numbers ... but only vaguely. For me, anyway.)

Certain smells, sounds or spacial invasion can arouse fellings of anger and violence in me.
The anger and violence is due to not being able to remove myself from these unpleasent stimuli.

I had a man wearing Joop standing right next to me on the underground. my rage level was maxed out to a point where I started to intimidate the guy. In the end it was he who removed himself due to my actions.

Joop makes me hear grating sounds and feel brown, it makes my skin crawl and I think of dead bodies.