SENSORY WISE one thing I feel affects all AS individuals....

Post Reply New Topic

that's funny. I use to hate to hear my ex-husband breathing and snoring at night. Once I told him how noisey he was and he recorded me snoring the following night.



I get to hear the birds sing, barely. The noise is so bad. I cannot wait until I can move. It sounds so nice as you describe where you now live.

It just dawned on me that it would be interesting if an autist were to join one of those paranormal seeker groups and see what our sensory will catch.

But goofy thoughts aside, there are times i wonder if Autism is a result of the sensory. Face it, when you're taking in more information than your brain is designed to handle, the stuff people take for granted socially would be missed by us since other factors are distracting our attention. Its hard for me to take a nap when my brother and/or his wife is visiting my parents (because it gets loud), I dont usually turn on the light in my room because i cant stand the brightness, and im not one for hugging/physical contact.

There were times when my own breathing sounds were irritating me And when I had to wear earplugs because couldn't stand neighbour's TV, I had to listen to my own heartbeating and didn't know what was worse.
I too don't like loud continuous noise, I always wonder if am going to loose my hearing I hated birds singing but now I love it. That means it is not to loud to hear them (and not too loud for them to stay ).

My senscory issues are strange. I can't handle loud crazy places packed wit people. though I have learned to "endure it," as in not freak out for a while though I find I mentaly seem to detach to do this. Then when I get home my my head and eye are killling me. For ssome reason my headace consontrate in my left eye and thhe rest of my brain. I can't eat mashed potattos because of thier texture and have very scencitive taste buds. I am not sure why but when people sneeze really loudly I get a surge of anger and annoyence. My scence of smell is also hightened. I can't breath if someone near me is smoking and if a person is wearing perfume it irratates me and most of the time it is so strong I get a headace from it. Unlike most autistics (from what I understand) I LOVE light touch. Though I have to ask for it. I get this incredible scencation when my boyfriend lightly runs his finger nail on my skin. though I HATE being touched if I don't expect it! Especaily if it is from strangers. I also love to cuddle and tight hugs.

Two things many people seem to associate with overload are anxiety and pain. But I found that those are not fundamental parts of the experience. I got rid of the anxiety and treated the pain, and overload and shutdown still happened. Only they weren't announced by fear or pain anymore. Information would just pour in, get to be too much, and then I would start losing my ability to function just as much as before. So be careful not to equate such things with anxiety, they happen just the same without it.

I have trouble going to anyplace with alot of people, malls are the worst, its the constant noise of people talking that gets to me the most, it almost feels like drowning. Now I have gone to football games with huge crowds and never had the problem, I am thinking that its to do with the inclosed spaces in a mall

Sometimes sensory overload results in distraction for me, sometimes it results in anxiety. Those are the two most common reactions.

My biggest area seems to be tactile sensitivity. I'm not as sensitive as other folks, but I am really sensitive when it comes to areas of my body...mostly feet, legs, and back. I also don't do well in *moving* crowds (you know, the kind at festivals) because I feel too pressed or closed in, especially with a lot of different kinds of noise. I.E. I'm okay at theaters, concerts, and plays because the noise is only coming from two directions -- the stage and the audience. I am not good at festivals, fairs, etc...so I tend to either a) hyperfocus on what I want to check out (i.e. booths, exhibits) or I get horribly distracted.

I do feel we have a different type of intelligence, the mind being the most complex thing I feel on this planet so open to all sorts of endless possibilities... many I know on the spectrum senese as much as say, I call it a kind of sense of knowing, unspoken words.! We seem to be more in tuned with the world around us and I do feel that in part often not being embraced for who we are when younger, the wrong parts of our brains are processed and who knows what we may be capable of, if we all used our senses more, as spectrum-wise individuals seem to have more heighten senses than the non spectrum individuals and I feel maybe a reason for this, who knows.!