Question about how Autism affects senses

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I have a question regarding how bodily senses are affected by Autism.

I have an immensely overactive sense of smell, as well as an overactive sense of hearing. My sense of hearing doesn't pick up "more" than normal, as far as I can tell (not that I have anything to compare it to), but sounds appear to affect me moreso than they appear to affect others. Things like the sound of people continuously talking at normal volume is tortuous, and things like repeating noises that others would find easy to ignore are unbearable. I've taken to wearing earplugs 24-7 (they literally almost never come out anymore) just to alleviate the frustration and give me some relief.

My sense of smell, however, is where things get bad. This is one sense where I feel I really do pick up more than normal, but the real problem is that I seem to have exaggerated reactions to normal scents. Things like food cooking, or a person's skin or hair will send waves of uncontrollable disgust through me. Regardless of how clean a person is, the "human" smell sets my reactions off badly. I am certain that most people don't even know a "human" smell exists; but it does. The smell of animals like dogs, cats and birds disgusts me as well, though the scents of other animals generally don't.

Organic smells seem to be the primary culprit; things like household chemicals, colognes and perfumes appear to have no affect, in limited quantities. I also have a minor but persistent issue with food textures and tend to have food "fetishes" that I eat to the exclusion of almost all else. If a food has a bad or unpleasant texture, then eating it will make me sick even if it tastes good or if the taste doesn't bother me. I can also enjoy a food with a "good" texture even if I don't much care for the flavor (Those Reese's FastBreak candybars come to mind I find the flavor repugnant but became obsessed with how they "felt" when I ate them).

I don't know if I have Autism or not. I'm trying to narrow down the possibilities before I have anyone assist me in making a conclusion (I don't want to jump in uneducated or letting people lead me around). I honestly suspect ADHD moreso than Autism, but I also know that the two conditions are not mutually exclusive. Does anyone else have experience with these phenomenon? If so, are they common features of Autism, in your opinion?

I'm also interested in hearing about how the condition may affect your senses as an individual, if you experience something other than these (or more than just those), if you're willing to share.

Thanks in advance.

I'm not normaly hypersensitive to smell, but I am very sensitive to sound, and touch, and moderately to sight. From what I've read it's common for people with autism/aspergers to have sensory issues.

I am hypersensitive to sounds, especially eating and drinking sounds. I am also mildly sensitive to fluorescent lights, smells like oranges being peeled, and some repetitive visual stimuli, like jiggling legs. I also find crowds of people walking around a bit stressful.

As far as I can tell, I have almost no sense of smell. I am not sure why(though I suspect it's due to the 2 years in a plastics plant I spent a decade ago) but I can't smell anything unless it's overpowering to most people. I still have hypersensitive hearing, I can listen in on a normal volume conversation from hundreds of feet away. Also it's weird, but I am shortsighted in my left eye and farsighted in my right, so when I look normally I can see everything like normal, but when I am reading, I can see the grain in the paper.

my sense of smell is just about normal in strength, although when cooking food; i can actually taste the food by only smelling; making me a good 'spices improviser', as i can identify what is needed and what fits by just combining the smells.

my touch is more sensitive then that of an NT; the light, unintended touches hurt quite a lot, but it is not the hypersensitivity you'd expect from an autistic
my real hypersensitivity is in my hearing and vision. i indeed hear conversations hundreds of feet away while listening to music, and i hear the buzzing of a fluorescent light near all the time, sometimes trough a wall.
also, i have a darkvision that allows me to read the newspaper in an amount of light that isn't even enough for an NT to prevent hitting a wall; meaning i wear polarised sunglasses most of the year, and still squint my eyes against the hurtful light intensity; there were moments i wore a second, normal, pair of sunglasses over my polarised ones...

I feel offended by perfumes and get sick (Im not exaggerating) when I have to smell the same smell in more than 30 minutes, if it is strong.
Any contiuous sound drives me crazy, e.g. the ultra high tone from electrical devices, or the buzzing from the frequency between electric devices and the floor etc.
If Im surprised by a loud sound, e.g. emergency cars, I can scream along.
In crowds with a lot of background noise I hear everything else when people talk to me, and zooming in on the voice is an effort which can make me dizzy.
I cant stand it if any part of my body touches somebody elses slightly, e.g. the foot by just sitting next to somebody.
Sometimes I have to compensate when somebody touched me, by pressing or pinching the part I was touched.
I tear any wash lables off my clothes because they hurt and itch.

I like good smells, nice sounds, music and the touch of my boyfriend a lot.

My hearing is exceptional, I have regular hearing tests in work, so I have an absolute measure of my hearing. (One time the lady testing me thought the test had gone wrong because I finished it so quickly - it is an automated series of sounds, getting louder, you press a button when you first hear the noise - I heard every noise immediately at its softest)....but despite having exceptional functional hearing, I still find it difficult to "hear" as I cannot filter noise, so I can't pick out a voice against background noise. The irony of this is I also get accused of eavesdropping because I accidentally hear things I shouldn't. As a child I hated the electrical buzzing, but I have got accustomed to it these days.
In testing I also have perfect pitch - although I am NOT musical ...I can recognise people by the sounds of their steps or the features of their voice.
I am very startled by unexpected, sudden noise (like a car horn) - although I'm fine with anticipated loud noise these days (like fireworks) it was not always so. (by 'very' I mean I have in the past been hospitalised, as I have apparently passed out).

I also have excellent sense of smell, but unlike you I am ok with organic smells, it is manufactured ones bother me. When pregnant and my sense of smell was even more heightened, and I couldn't handle any perfume, scented soaps, deodorant etc. I'm fine with the smell of human waste - but air freshener makes me dizzy. (combine the two, which many people do, and I have a real problem!) I have smell memory, and I recognise things by their smell, including people.

I have very light sensitive eyes and can still see when it is too dark for others, I can't see in bright light - all I see its white and blur. Human recognition interests me, as I said I can recognise someone from the sound of their voice or footstep, and from their smell, but I cannot even recall what my husband looks like when I am away from him.

I have always felt my individual senses are very different to NTs, but when you put it all together, they work fine for me.

This is called Sensory Processing Disorder. It is separate from autism but most people on the spectrum also have some forms of SPD.

I am very sensitive to smells too, and like most autistic people I am really bothered by chemical smells. I can smell someone smoking a cigarette from two blocks away. But sounds bother me the most, especially low frequency sounds or the sound of car stereos throbbing and vibrating. And the sounds of trucks and large vehicles and machinery in the distance makes it sound like the sound waves actually converge at certain moments at my location and make little sonic booms in my head.

Has anyone ever had this experience before? If I leave sunscreen on my face all day long I feel like I can taste it by the end of the day, and it is unscented sunscreen.

Hypersensitive sense is a strong sign of autism.

For me it's hearing. Unwanted repetitive noise drives me insane.