Anyone else have minimal or no sensory issues?

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TheAP
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23 Oct 2017, 9:34 pm

I don't really have many sensory issues. I mean, I sometimes get annoyed or freaked out by loud or sudden sounds, depending on my mood, but loud noise itself doesn't bother me that much. Bright light shining right in my eyes does bother me, but I don't know if it's more severe than normal. I used to get grossed out or bothered by certain sights, but that's better than it used to be. I've never been a picky eater, and I hardly have a sense of smell. As for touch, it does bother me when my pants are too tight or my shirt rides up too high. But compared to a lot of Aspies, I don't struggle that much with sensory things.



Insania2016
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24 Oct 2017, 6:24 am

AspieSingleDad wrote:
Insania2016 wrote:
Sometimes a lack of awareness plagues those on the spectrum. By that I mean to say, are you sure those things don't bother you?


I'm going to go with the above. Reason I say that is when I realized my assessment was right and that I definitely do have Asperger's, if you would have asked me in my first week if I had sensory issues, I'd have thought I didn't. But after reading a lot of threads, I've now realized how subtle sensory issues can be. What I did was I started to pay attention to myself, almost like observing myself, and I realized I do have sensory issues.

But generally speaking, I'm not a picking eater. Loud music doesn't bother me unless somebody turns it on unexpectedly. If there's a fire alarm going off at school it's extremely loud, but not enough to freak me out or cause sensory issues. So basically, I can give a similar assessment just like you. But you might want to just try to observe and see what you might come up with. And, it might well be that you're right, you don't have sensory issues.


Yeah that's how it was for me. In times past things would build up and I would just feel exhausted (or hyper) for no reason. Even aches and pains. That's the cumulative effect. I wish I knew then what I know now for sure!



Roo95
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25 Oct 2017, 7:21 pm

I have severe problems in busy supermarkets, I get extremely overwhelmed and uncomfortable, so many people, trying to work out where they are going so I advoid people getting close to me as I hate this, Wondering If my supermarket issues could be sensory issues without realizing it



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26 Oct 2017, 1:42 am

I honestly have no idea if it's just anxiety I am feeling or if it's a sensory issue I am having. I also get moments where I just space out and it feels like I am not all there and I have felt light headed and things going in slow motion.


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26 Oct 2017, 5:19 pm

Apart from sound sensitivity, I guess, mine are in the minor department - but changing in strength according to my state at the time and day - my stress level and all that.
Some days a soft cotton tee-skirt will scratch me and some days I am almost hypoesensitive (apart from sound).
It depends....but age has certainly softened things up. I was pretty extreme as a youngster.


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26 Oct 2017, 7:44 pm

AspieSingleDad wrote:
I can't sleep with a dripping faucet either. Is that an autistic thing? Can't some of that be something NTs have as well?


Well assuming you know how to fix the faucet, that could actually be a good thing. There's nothing like a dripping faucet to waste water.

I think my sense of smell and taste are pretty normal, as is balance. If I've any issues (not that I'd consider myself to have significant sensory issues) they'd be undersensitivity. Especially smell. I accidentally put hexanes in the dichloromethane bottle once and couldn't figure out why the DCM was sitting on top of the water (it shouldn't). I literally couldn't tell the difference between hexanes and DCM. As for touch, that's also undersensitive, leading to a great pain tolerance (sorry, ladies -- I think you've met your match when it comes to tolerating pain!). Proprioception (IDK how that's spelled) is also rather undersensitive (a.k.a. no spatial awareness -- fun!). The only sense that is a bit oversensitive might be hearing, as I used to be scared of anything that exploded, (i.e. fireworks, rifles, cannons), but now I quite enjoy working with loud equipment (chainsaws, other power tools, and even the odd bang at times).


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Roo95
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30 Oct 2017, 3:41 pm

League_Girl wrote:
I honestly have no idea if it's just anxiety I am feeling or if it's a sensory issue I am having. I also get moments where I just space out and it feels like I am not all there and I have felt light headed and things going in slow motion.


Those things you have felt sound like what I feel in the busy supermarkets. My mum is exactly the same, experiences the same things in supermarkets. She thinks it's anxiety but she doesn't know she is autistic so it could be sensory related or a mix of anxiety and sensory issues. I do get bad anxiety too but I think that just affects me when im going to social events like a family BBQ or Christmas.



Roo95
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30 Oct 2017, 4:01 pm

shilohmm wrote:
Roo95 wrote:
I do have certain parts of my body that are extremely sensitive to touch, friends would poke me because they thought my reaction was hilarious. Im not shure if problems with crowds, eye contact and being unable to cope with people standing too close to me are related to anything sensory but other than that, I have no sensory issues that seriously impact my life. Can anyone else relate?


I would consider being extremely sensitive to touch a sensory issue, and my problems with eye contract, crowds and not liking (most) people standing too close to me are sensory issues to my mind as well. Eye contact is visual, and vision is one of our senses. I don't like crowds partly because I don't like being touched, touch is one of the senses. I don't like people standing close because I don't like the smell, heat, or touch -- all three involving senses.

I'm also don't like crowds because I'm sensitive to noise and whatnot, but even without the noise, those sensations I listed would be enough for me to not like crowds.

I have more sensory issues than you do, but few of them seriously impact my life, because I am fortunate enough at this point to live a life where I can mostly avoid those things. Or, if you were my husband talking, because I don't care that these things limit me. :P I do recognize that these issues would be severely limiting for someone with higher social needs. Point is, the fact that you don't feel your sensory issues are a big problem says nothing about whether you have sensory issues. Might be more accurate to say your sensory issues have minimal or no impact than to say you have minimal or no sensory issues.


My touch issues aren't bad, if someone puts their hand on me or brushes past me it causes me no pain, it just makes me a little uncomfortable. But I have one area below both ribs that if poked even lightly, I get an extremely intense, overbearing feeling in my whole body, I can't help but let out a loud scream no matter where I am, my legs seize up causing me to fall over sometimes. My friends find my reaction hilarious so they will poke me there for entertainment at work. Many people are sensitive in these places but not like that.
As for eye contact, I have that issue too, I get a overwhelming feeling looking into someone's eyes, no matter who they are. I can look for a second, but any longer I feel like I'm going to burst into tears and have a meltdowns. But no one has ever moaned at me for my lack of eye contact so that dosent cause me significant issues. Crowds are just overwhelming to be in and people standing too close make me extremely uncomfortable. For example, me and 2 friends were out one night by the beach. They both sat on a bench, plenty of room for all of us but I sat a few feet away on a separate one because I couldn't cope being so close to them. Everyone thinks I'm weird because of this.
I never thought about it that way. Maybe I do have sensory issues but either I've gotten so used to them they are normal to me or maybe they just sensory difference's and not issues for example, I'm fascinated by trees, waterfall's, plants, the moon and so on, I see beauty in pretty much everything, and when I point out something to someone else, like the other day the sky looked amazing during sunset, the colour of the sky and clouds, I could have stared at the sky for hours. And I pointed this out to my friends they weren't interested. They never are interested by the things I am, so maybe I see things differently to how they do?



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30 Oct 2017, 4:11 pm

I am not sure what "sensory issues" are.

But as far as I know I don't have any. So I guess that I am an aspie with "minimal or no sensory issues".



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30 Oct 2017, 6:05 pm

naturalplastic wrote:
I am not sure what "sensory issues" are.

But as far as I know I don't have any. So I guess that I am an aspie with "minimal or no sensory issues".


Sensory differences - National Autistic Society


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31 Oct 2017, 9:12 am

I would say my main issue is with smells, but only if they are really obnoxious. The dripping faucet thing is a pretty universal annoyance.



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31 Oct 2017, 9:37 pm

You sound fairly similar to me. I've never had severe sensory issues. But like you, I really hated loud noises (i.e. vacuum cleaners, fire alarms, etc.) when I was a child. I can tolerate being in public places with a lot of people, but I do get frustrated if it's so crowded that I can barely move, or when someone tries to talk to me when there's so much noise and so many other people chattering in the background, because I can't focus and listen to what the person is saying to me. I'm not a super picky eater, but a lot of foods with stronger flavors are just too much for me. I can't eat anything with garlic in it (other than garlic bread/toast - that's usually not as strong) and I hate all of the creamy salad dressings that most people like. People think it's weird that the only two dressings in the world I will eat are raspberry vinaigrette and certain honey mustards (because some are stronger than others), and that I hate ranch. I do remember being a bit more picky about textures of food when I was a kid. I didn't like rice for the longest time because of the texture, and I remember trying coconut flakes once and I just could not tolerate how they felt on my tongue. Smells of certain foods being prepped/cooked can also make me gag.

I'd say the biggest sensitivity I have is probably light. I can't even tolerate the light at the dentist's office being above me and I have to wear shades when I go. I also remember hating having to do sit-ups in P.E. class, because of course we were facing the ceiling and the lights up there blinded me.

Also, this one might sound weird, but I have always absolutely hated the feeling of having a stuffy nose. I mean, I know nobody enjoys it, but when I get a cold, I just can't stand it and seriously contemplate chopping off my nose. I will purposely sleep as much as possible just to put myself out of my misery. If I had to be sick and have some sort of illness, I would gladly take a stomach bug and puke for a couple days, rather than have a cold and have to deal with that horrible stuffy nose for several days.

So it seems like I do have sensory issues, but they just don't seem severe. I never get overwhelmed/upset enough to where I have a meltdown or anything. And I am not actually diagnosed with ASD, but have suspected that I might have it and plan on being assessed next month. I guess this is the one thing that makes me have doubts that I'm really on the spectrum.



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31 Oct 2017, 9:51 pm

I didn't know what sensory issues were until I've read an article on them a decade ago. I guess that means I have minimal sensory issues.


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02 Nov 2017, 11:03 am

Typically I don't have sensory issues, but I had them when I was recovering from a severe illness that required months to recover. I think Aspies are more likely to have them when they are in a stressful environment.



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02 Nov 2017, 11:10 pm

Sensory issues all over the map.. from mild to extreme, hypo and hyper within the same sense (allegedly this is not uncommon), spatial issues.. I've gleaned this from my diagnostic discussion, causative effects, some from observed and reported differences between myself and others, some are hunches, it's clearly subjective.. some might be normal but I get experiences which cause nausea or brain freezes so there's defiitely a neurological thing going on, well outside normal rnage.. Definitely filtering and 'noise' are big factors here..

Sound.. can tolerate fairly loud sounds, I play and record loud music, but 'chatter' eg background noise in restaurants* extremely difficult to cope with (cannot follow a conversation with a person talking in front of me even though they are audible and I can hear what they're saying). Certain noises are intolerable.. a particular Dyson vac requires me leave the room. It would anyway because of the smell it produces! Prefer some sound to none - compulsively listen to talk radio or ambient music throughout the night including during sleep.. which is really bad for me. I get the ASMR tingles. I have mild tinnitus too!

Pain.. I'm hyposensitive to most pain, easily tolerated broken bones in the past including a broken leg, which I walked on for about a mile.. thumb broken into a right angle, broken jaw, but gut sensations including gas are so extremely intense. :| I also get visceral type sensations so organs wibbly wobbling against each other inside. Cuts don't bother me either, but I get visual overstimulation from the sight and smell and taste and warmth of blood so that's a problem.. :roll:

Vision.. hyper mostly... contrasting dark and light - simultaneously or alternating - causes cognitive interference, flashing of tree shadows in a moving car probably a classic example, walking from a dark to daylit room, lighting in places like supermarkets.. and with the spacial thing ASDA supermarkets in particularly seem excessively bright, visual noise from the array of products, but aligned into congruent structures (shelving), too expansive and too much information, usually get overcome with nausea and have to leave.. the visual noise* thing is exhausting

Touch.. hypersensitive to touch, it's like my brain only notices one focal area at a time and hops from one focus to another, don't like the sensation of a watch, love a back/neck/head massage, upper legs almost numb.. but if I get even a tiny barely visible molecule under a toenail, that will keep me awake so I'll get up to deal with it. Excessive gag reflex, going to the dentist is hard work

Taste.. not sure about flavours.. have a thing for textures, I like crunchy croutons with everything :D Can eat hot foods, but the sensation of chilli passing through is unbearable.. I understand most people don't feel that (except at the point of exit :D)

Temperate.. I need indoors to be 18-21C.. I can deal with colder, but higher than this makes me want to puke up

Smell.. brain becomes accustomed with sustained exposure so that's normal.. but stupendously sensitive to certain smells and becoming spontaneously aware of a new smell... that's often overwhelming.. I have to concentrate.. sometimes walk past strong smelling thing = instant nausea..

Spacially, don't mind open air, but big wide open enclosed spaces are disorientating.. stadiums, large shopping mall, big caves!

Hypersensitive to most medication, and drugs! Feel the effects hard and fast. I notice the tiniest amounts, below effective doses, and quickly.. SSRIs were intolerable.. Valium I reckon I'd notice 0.25mg..

* Noise.. visual /audible "noise" is the worst. I don't mean somewhere like a woodland.. where the stimuli is naturally harmonic, but discordant combinations.. so a hard walled restaurant with contrasting dark and light areas, with clattering cutlery and people chattering with music on, this is hell on earth... and visually... my own kitchen can get messy, with brightly coloured food packets scattered about, makes me feel dizzy and nausea.. and if there's bits on the floor.. I've noticed that just sweeping the floor lessens the 'visual noise' and I feel SOO much better.. it's weird.. tidying and having things visually coherent makes my brain feel much.. "smoother" ? It's catch 22 as I struggle to keep it that way.. :?

Be interested to hear if any part of this echoes with anyone ??

Anoter horror scenario.. Those enormous, brightly lit echoey swimming baths, with people shouting, splashing sounds, all sounds reflecting off the hard surfaces, watery reflections visuals, wet feet.. intense chlorine smells..



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03 Nov 2017, 10:24 am

I have a problem with taste and odors. Either I don't smell or taste something or I can not identify it. Mainly perfumes can overwhelm me. I hate win people put their arm around me or hugs. Unless I am in a relationship then I can't get enough. I drove my ex wife crazy because I wanted to hug and kiss a lot. I also hate game noises, I have to mute the sound when I play a game.