How severe are your sensory issues?

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I am unusually sensitive to light and sound, but only rarely do they affect me to the point that they cause meltdowns. Visual cues that can stress me out include too much movement or too many colors being thrown at me at once. For audio, if the noise is too loud, or if there are too many different sounds at once, I can be overwhelmed. I am more likely to have a meltdown from audio stimuli than from visual ones but am at my most vulnerable in environments that have both issues.

Bad for both odors and touch.

How bad? I don't know the scale- so worse than some, better than others?

I have one or two things- sounds- that will make me fly into a blank rage to do whatever needs done to stop them. It's my shortest fuse and I don't know why... I hate it. It's any 'licking' type noise like from a dog or cat grooming, the other is a certain 'pop' noise from people eating or drinking. I dont' get angry... but it's rage of a sort. I don't want to hurt whatever is making the noise- I just have to have it stop or I start screaming and flailing. I throw whatever is nearest me and just lose it. I don't know the right way to say that without using ableist language

I hate bright lights- sunshine is ok as long as it's from the North- so mild. I don't like over head lights or flourescent. I get migraines from them. I can see the wavering in them and it slowly drives me to overload. I light my room by christmas lights- the incandescent ones. The warm pink glow is perfect for me. My parents often come in and flip on a light switch when I ask them not to- very annoying.

I don't like extreme hot or cold anything- food, weather, water, clothing.

Food- I'm just super-picky and there are no real rules. Well, there are but there are too many rules for me to put down. I have them all in my head though. It's like a giant flow chart- "If beef over four ounces- onions yes- onions cooked yes- ketchup no" vs "Beef under four ounces- onions no- tomato yes- ketchup no- mayonaise yes-only with fork"

Size of food, color of food mixed with other food, onions yes/no, crunchy vs mushy ratios.... it's complex. Needless to say I don't eat out at restaurants.

Clothes- I wear long skirts and soft t shirts and hoodies. That's about it. So I eliminated everything else I didn't like- like tight pants. Nightmare.

Sounds really are my biggest issue and I have shame over them sometimes. I wear ear defenders but they're not working as well as I would hope. I don't know which ones to try next. These are for guns, so maybe there are better ones. I don't know.

It varies. I never have screaming or crying fits; everything is internalized. Bright lights bother me, like the ones in the lobby at my workplace; I always turn them off when I begin my shift. The sun always seems too bright and I instinctively look for shade.

I listen to music on earbuds when I go out because I am severely agitated and distracted by certain sounds, especially alarms, loud bangs, motorcycles, crying babies, bass-heavy car radios and shouting voices. I can't stand certain smells such as B.O., marijuana, and burning plastic. The worst issues come up when people are addressing me. It's nearly impossible to focus on them and follow what they're saying, especially in a loud or busy environment. Feelings of dread and panic overwhelm me.

I don't like tight clothing and the feeling of tags used to drive me nuts as a kid, although not so much now. Eating fresh apples always makes me feel nauseous afterwards, but for some reason any other method of preparation (like applesauce) is fine. Most kinds of mushy food bother me; squash and tomatoes are unbearable and I still resent my mother for forcing me to eat them as a child. I still can't cook or prepare my own meals from scratch; I just can't handle it.

on average, very mild, dont even notice them, but when i get stressed or over exposed, very VERY severe.

My sensory issues are very light, if not absent.

Severe, constant, and all sorts of issues. My sensory issues vary from getting near instant migraines from things most people don't notice, to getting jammed up to the point where I can't think, speak, or move, to having delayed processing, to having a need to claw my own skin off if I don't get certain sensory sensation or because I have gotten other ones, to getting sprained ankles walking 50 feet on flat ground because of not understanding where my body is in space.

I have severe hypersensitivities, in the same senses as hyposensitivities, and without a question seek specific input. I can't process some input at all (such as certain types of visual input), or some combinations of input. I get delays of others. I deal with dissociation, overloads, shutdowns that put me to completely frozen in space, and meltdowns. I can't do anything without paying attention first to the environment, and carry a backpack full of various tools, on top of what I've taught myself to do constantly. If there's a sort of sensory issue, I probably have it, even if it seems contradictory with other ones. I've tried to list things for my therapist before, and wasn't able to :/

The two biggies for me are light and sound. But I'm not constantly affected by over sensory stimulation. Only at certain points. Tell a lie, florescent light, and direct sun will ALWAYS cause over stimulation. I have to wear sun glasses (thanks to a suggestion from a member on here - and it works!).

Sound is often a problem. Background noise is disturbing. Especially chatter. Although, I am very warm, content, and comfortable when the background noise is the humming sound of a PC. I love that noise.

I've started to get sensitive to touch too. When someone touches me it feels like I have to get them off me. I get the same feeling on the area being touched, as you would if you was slightly sunburnt. And mentally its horrible. Like scratching nails down a blackboard. I had to explain to my partner the other day that I wasn't feeling comfortable about her lying on my skin. Thankfully she understood.

• Sound: I used to have a phone that, when it would ring, would cause me to have a seizure----now, my phone is almost NEVER turned-on, and I have an external answering machine, so when I hear who's calling, I pick-up. Also, like others have said, I don't like sirens or motorcycles----and, the one about a dog licking itself, I had forgotten (I don't think I've ever heard a cat licking itself). I also can't stand the sound of someone jingling their keys.
  
• Light: I have been living in the same apartment for going on 16 years, and I have never had to change my overhead kitchen light----I just HATE it. I ALWAYS wear sunglasses during the day----even when it's overcast, cuz overcast can be too bright.
  
• Smell: A LOT of odors give me headaches----like, when I first open a magazine, I'll go-through and rip-out all of the perfume sample pages. There's a couple of perfumes I'm actually allergic to, and they can make me terribly sick----like, I-wanna-throw-up sick, and/or, nauseous. I can't stand the smell of coconut----I have a helluva time at the beach.
  
• Taste: I think the only things I have a real problem with are mushrooms, and coconut----I can't stand the texture of either. If mushrooms are cut really tiny and mixed-into something, I can handle it, though. Coconut: I can't see it, taste it, smell it----I can't even stand for someone to talk about it----it's making me a little nauseous just writing about it.
  
• Touch: I don't have, usually, a problem with people touching me----I like to hug, for instance. Some people (very few), I get a funny feeling from----like, they're evil, or dirty, or they're making me dirty, feeling. I also don't like the touch of some fabrics----but, absolutely LOVE the touch of others. I don't like things around my waist, and roll-down my waistband on my pants ("trousers", to Brits).

I'd call mine "severe." I was originally diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder. One of my aversions is to fruit - mostly to the smell of it, but also to touch. Not only will I not touch fruit, I will not touch anything else that touches it. That's just . . . bad.

I don't know how they compare to other high-functioning people, but if I had to guess I would say my sensory issues are mild, but they are still present. I am a lot more jumpy than most with sudden loud noises, some of which may even cause me to stim involuntarily, which doesn't happen much with other situations. I also usually cover my ears to fire alarms, sirens, and I would also do this in school assemblies because they were just too loud for me. The noises that are especially bad are the sharp or high-pitched ones. I immediately notice extremely high frequencies and they make me very uncomfortable.

I also really hate bright lights, so I hate sunny days and I love overcast and rainy days. Bright light, especially for an extended period, make me feel irritable and in some cases even pretty angry. Also, I can't handle strobe lights. They make me feel like I'm having a dream, and I am watching myself being extremely disoriented and confused. I will walk into the same wall over and over.

As for touch, I hate light touch, and it causes me to freak out a bit. None of my shirts have tags, and I usually only wear 100% cotton clothing. I don't wear shorts or short sleeves often, I like being totally covered even when it is hot.

That's pretty much the extent of it, I don't usually have meltdowns from sensory issues, I did when I was little though. If I can't get away from it I might have a minor meltdown, but this hasn't happened in a while as usually I can either grit my teeth and deal with it, or find some way to lessen it (like covering my ears or eyes). So I don't have huge difficulties, most people wouldn't even notice, especially if I made an effort to hide it.

I have severe hypersensitivities in every dang sense. It's by far my most impairing and distressing autism symptom. I also have a few hyposensitivities, some of which have landed me in the ER with raging infections that I didn't notice until (insert gory details here). I think it's pretty uncommon for someone who isn't low-functioning to have senses as disordered as mine. They torture me, although occupational therapy has helped with both the hyper- and hyposensitivities.

I would say mild enough to have to watch a sensory overload video made for NT's to appreciate what most members experience.

Others touching me from the shoulders to neck
Rain can feel like be bees

I can taste if chicken or bread is over a day old and if they are 4 or 5 days old they make me nauseous.
Dogs barking, loud phone ringing

While mild I had a sharp reminder last week that they do exist. I had an eye exam where they dilate your eyes and poke, prod and shine lights in them. They told me it would be bright, I would have some fuzzyness up close and I would be back to normal in 2 hours. The ophthalmologist had a very hard time getting me to be still. Definitely one of the most difficult things I have dealt with. It seemed as if there was this painfully milky white film over my eyes. Weird feeling being under a blanket and it is still painfully bright. And it took over 12 hours to undialite They next day despite being undialated while not as severe was still uncomfortably bright. All my senses seemed to be off. Every little jerk or noise really bothered me. Instead of 2 hours it took 2 days. I think I know why

Mine seem to be getting worse the older I get, unfortunately

If I hear people grind their teeth or clear their throat I can feel intense rage.

It's horrible because I feel like doing something very bad to the person making those noises. Usually if it gets so bad that I have to leave the scene to calm down, I keep feeling rage and I'd even cry just at the memory of those sounds.