Worst sensory issue?

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My biggest issue is with sound. I can't stand it when people talk at the same time or too loudly. If something falls too the ground, the clattering noise drives me insane. Don't get me started on those metal chairs clanging together.

I only really have a problem with touch and not any of the others. The problem I have with touch is pretty bad though. There are a lot of things I just can't wear and I freak out if someone touches me in the wrong way. I like being touched by my partner, but if I don't like it at the wrong time.

Sound, then touch.

1. Sound
Sounds annoy me very quickly, it makes my ears hurt and with the slightest background noise I can't hear what people telling me. But at the same time music calms me down and I tap my fingers on the table to make songs when I'm excited or stressed.

2. Touch
I don't like it when strangers touch me and I can still feel it when they let go of me. I only accept hugs from my closest friends (not even my own family) and I get panic attacks in crowded places (until I'm used to that specific place).

3. Light
I like to keep my curtains closed, hate to go outside in summer, but it's just annoying and I don't get panic attacks from it.

4. Taste
I don't get bothered by taste (and I love to eat really spicy food) but sometimes annoyed by how the food feels like in my mouth. The only thing I really dislike is candy.

5. Smell
No problem.

I voted for sound, I'm very sensitive to loud noises.

I'm unsure if anyone understands but there is a feeling with things being sudden and unexpected. Where someone touches you when your not expecting it or if something makes a loud noise. Most people just briefly tense and focus. But I tend to be floored at times and lose some motor function for a few moments, or shake uncontrollably.... almost like waking from a dream mid fall?

My sensitivities would be:

1. Smell

2. Touch (texture)

3. Lights

No sound sensitivity at all. I actually enjoy making all sorts of awful noises that grate on even NT people's nerves. (Say rubbing or popping balloons) Must have toughened up by playing with fire crackers all the time when I was little. This is very lucky for me as both of my parents talk very loudly and I have an autistic kid who's got my mom's voice. His screams during meltdown make ears hurt.

1. Sound
I feel like the sound is inside of me and I can't escape. I get confused very quickly and is my most likely reason to meltdown. I recently got a pair of noise reduction headphones and I wear they are my new best friend

2. Light
Really close for second. I have massive problems with artificial lighting, especially fluoros, but I'm not so bad in natural light. If I am in bright artificial light I get extremely agitated and distressed. I also have my computer screen on so low that you can barely see anything at all.

3. Smell
Very bad with certain smells (especially bleach and other chemicals).

4. Touch

5. Taste

1. Light
2. Sound
3. Smell
4. Taste/Touch

I voted for sound. I never leave my apartment without my ipod. I have trouble with loud chewing, eating, slurping and snoring. People chewing gum on the subway is the worst. I feel really irrationally angry at them and sometimes briefly and intensely want to hit them (I never do, of course) just to make the sound stop. The ipod helps a lot.

Also, as far as touch is concerned, cotton balls and tissue paper drive me up a wall. Touching cotton balls brings me to tears. I can't think of a worse sensation. I've been carrying a cloth handkerchief for years.

I have an acute sense of smell which can bother me (but it's not all bad. It makes the good things even better). It was much worse when I was a kid.

I'm not so bad with anything else, but sunlight hurts my eyes. Synthetic lights shone right in my eye aren't a problem, I think it's the glare with sunlight that makes my eyes ache. It's the same with any glaring lights.

Last edited by rabbitears on 04 Mar 2012, 2:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I voted on sound, because I hate any kind of loud and/or continuous/repetitive sounds, appliance sounds (blender, vacuum cleaner, etc), sudden/unexpected sounds, loud music (unless I'm at a concert, where the only thing I'm doing is listening to the music), etc. I can not think at all when my environment is noisy.

My most severe sensory issue was not listed, and it's interoceptive, which is any sensation felt on the inside of my body, like hunger, a need to use the restroom, hot/cold sensations, sensation of body organs functioning (lungs expanding, heart beating, blood coursing, etc), and so on. These sensations frequently lead to panic attacks, and one particular sensation (blood coursing in veins) has led to an intense and peculiar phobia of the 'elbow pit' or inner elbow area, from which blood is usually drawn. I can literally feel the path of the blood as it's being pulled from my veins, and am at this point in my life unable to even touch or graze that area of my arm, or see anyone else touch that area of their arm. Even talking about it, as I am now, makes me incredibly nauseous.

Pregnancy, I'm sure, will be my worst nightmare.

Sound, closely followed by smell.

My only sensory issue is sound. Although my hearing is very underaverage, I seem to hear anything as though I am alert for sounds all the time. But my problem is I listen out too much. I even always hear when people are talking to me, probably because I've developed good listening skills.

It's strange because the other day I was surfing the internet with my cousin (she is NT and the same age as me) and we came to this sound test thing, where it plays long long beep going lower as it goes on, and we both couldn't hear anything at first, then my cousin suddenly said, ''ouch, I can hear it now and it is hurting my ears'', and about 2 seconds later I said, ''oh yes, I can hear it now'', but it didn't hurt my ears as much as it did with her, and I heard it just after she did. But yet, NTs don't get bothered by sounds like plates clanging, dogs barking, and the school bells ringing. Well, sometimes they might jump, and I have seen people cover their ears once or twice, but those were just one offs. Otherwise, it doesn't generally bother other people.

But that might just be my nerves, not my actual ears.
My sensory issue with sound takes over my life. I avoid getting jobs where there is going to be a loud bell ringint without warning (like in some supermarkets there is a loud bell that rings when there are deliveries, and sometimes deliveries come at random times). I can't tell NTs this though, because they will just laugh at me. I suppose avoiding places where there are bells is a bit extreme I suppose, and I don't blame them for laughing, but still I'm not happy with it.

The sensor what I am hyposensitive to is taste. Light, touch and smell is just average. Well, smell is slightly underaverage due to sinus issues, or I might just be able to filter smells out.

Me too!! I can feel the blood being sucked out of my vein and am completely panicked. The last time I had blood drawn my doctor knew I was hyperventilating while they were taking blood because of the level of oxygen in the blood I suppose. *giggling

I picked sound, but smell runs a close second, followed by bright light and being tactile defensive, in that order. If someone drives by playing bassy music, I come close to melting down if it doesn't stop in 30 seconds. Same with ambulance or fire truck sirens. The other day, my fiance had some guy's jacket in his car. It reeked of cologne. I came close to gagging and started feeling a headache coming on almost immediately. A co-worker had forgotten his jacket and my fiance was keeping it until he could return it to him. I begged him to at least put the offending thing into a plastic bag. That helped!

Last edited by hartzofspace on 04 Mar 2012, 4:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.