How do you respond to sensory overload?

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If it's visual sensory overload? What do you usually do?
If it's auditory sensory overload? What do you usually do?
Other than leave the situation, or have a melt down/shut down.
Do you always know you are having sensory overload?

I work at a middle school...so yeah, plenty of sensory overload.

- At the beginning of each class, I have the students put their heads down for a "moment of silence" to calm them down/stop their previous conversation.

- After my sixth class, I shoo the students out the door, then turn my lights off and listen to music.

Sometimes you can't always walk away from something that's giving you a sensory overload, like if you're on a bus and there's a loud toddler screaming. You can put your MP3 on, but sometimes you may still hear the toddler screaming over your music, however loud it's on (because toddlers are louder than World War 2).

But anyway, only loud sounds cause sensory overloads, and when I have one, I just feel all disorientated. I can stay cool, but when there's a spoilt brat screaming near me, I cannot keep my cool. My heart thumps hard, I go all hot with anger and hatred, and if I'm on my own I give off non-verbal language to show the parents that I'm frustrated with their kid, or when I'm with someone I sometimes say, loud enough for the parents to hear, something like, ''good job we ain't on a 11-hour plane journey with this'', or just something like that. I know the parents knowing I'm frustrated don't stop the kid from screaming, it still just makes me feel better .

Loud noise doesn't just cause sensory overloads with me. Ordinary noises can aswell, like when I hear people talking or shuffling about outside my room, or the cat miawing in the kitchen, or somebody walking about in the room above me, or someone's telly murmuring from the next room. With this type of sensory overload, I either put my earplugs in, or march out of my room and tell my family off for disturbing me. And when they say, ''we often hear you talking loud when you're on the phone, or walking about when you're upstairs!'' and I say, ''yeh, but you have better filter systems than me!''

Funny thing is, I never realised it was sensory overload what I was feeling. Only lately I could identify it and be able to intervene. Though, my options are still very limited.
I would always choose to withdraw, but if I can't I would try to immerse myself in something else (i.e. a book and/or headphones, though something - anything - to read would do most of the time. Then again,a pink novel or a celebrity journal won't do). Having a book handy have carried me safely through many a potentially meltdown-eliciting situations so far.
If I can't even do this, I would constantly jerk my head away from the source of the visual overload (to the point of spraining my neck) and clap my hands over my ears in cases of auditory overload. This won't sustain me for long though and I will eventually have to get away or have a face-on meltdown. The latter would happen even if the trigger is removed but I am not allowed alone time to recover.
Typically, if I can withdraw on the point of a meltdown I would go into a shutdown state in which I would be fit only to go to bed and sleep but if I can't, I usually recover after a couple of quiet hours. Any persistent attempt to get me out of shutdown would promptly result in another meltdown.

Last edited by Severus on 14 Sep 2011, 1:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Have a kit of things you carry with you that help in sensory overload situations, in case you can't get out of there.

I need to order some earplugs, because so far I've only used noise isolating headphones and I need something better than that.

For vision, I have goggles that restrict my field of view drastically, which definitely help me, because I physically see less. I also in extreme cases, might cover over the lenses with leather.

For sound - headphones, earplugs, music, etc.

For other senses - it varies but I carry something for my other senses as well.

Usually, if its bad, I just leave. If I can't leave, then I'm a lot more prone to a shutdown or meltdown than if I can and choose not to. But if I don't want to leave, or don't think it's necessary yet, I do what I can to reduce input and try to focus on something that I care about.

I Twitch and cringe. Ahahaha. I find theres not much one can do while in public places and you are on a train for example and a child or adult makes a certain noise which sets your sensory issues off, or if there is something with the lights. For me it affects me right away.
That happened to me today, I had to bury my head and ended up twitching uncontrollably, because a child was blowing raspberries and egusogusogjsg, even thinking about that vibration sound sends me into a complete spasm and pain. Also with touching the material on the train seats. Its always harder in public areas to deal with it without people staring at you and running away with their children to safety

I never get visual overloads but sounds yeah. I just cover my ears and start rocking back and forth. I also close my eyes. Sometimes I have outbursts if it's with people I know. I have used ear plugs in the past but I don't end up in these situations often so I never bring them.

I usually know that I'm overloaded, but it's kind of up in the air whether I'll when I'm becoming overloaded.

For me, it's either prevent the overload from happening or ride out the shutdown/meltdown.

Most of my overload situations involve people - noisy groups of people or aggressive, belligerent bullies or social interactions that are forced on me with little or no warning. My reaction is usually to verbally shut down and remove myself from the situation as rapidly as possible.

Visual: I close my eyes until it calms down and if I can't do that I'll leave the room.

Audial: I'll plug my ears.

The best way I have found to mitigate sensory overload is to avoid situations where it's likely to happen.

I get away, whatever the cost.

I get emotionally overloaded. It can go in both directions too. I can be so overwhelmed with bad feelings that I just shut down completely and become close to catatonic. But when I feel too much joy or happiness I actually want to end the feeling because it is too much for me. I just shut down and go to sleep as fast as I can. I know when I wake up I'll be rational again. But if they bug me, I am almost incoherent and I don't remember what it is I say.

It's hard to say since my life is built around avoiding situations where sensory overload might take place. In other words, I try always to be in environments I control. When I fail and sensory overload takes place anyway, I might experience irritability, anger--including anger acted out, physical rigidity, psychological withdrawal, and/or abrupt flight. Reading or performing simple physical tasks (cleaning up, rearranging books and papers) might get me through a temporary overload situation, but if it's going to be repeated, I'll just have to find a way to permanently shut it out/off.

Put on some sunglasses or close my eyes. I get really pissed off.



Nothing, I just get a big headache that won't go away and I get royally pissed off.



Yep.

Went to the gym today and I don't know if it was little kid day or what but there was a million kids on the basketball court and in the pool. Anyways...not a lot of fun -.-

It seems the only "sensory overload" thing I got problems with are like, if I'm driving, and there's lots of people in the car and they're all talking. Maybe driving in itself is very hard for me, due to sensory/perception/whatever issues, but I've trained myself I guess to get over it all. For me, driving on the street is as hard as playing like, a racing game like Forza 3 or something mentally (I'm good at Forza 3 btw, but it took lots of practice.) I love driving if I'm alone/not on a deadline to get somewhere, but with people in the car trying to get to a destination in X time or whatever, it changes the game.

With people, I can't not listen to what they're saying, in case they're saying something to me, then that'll be construed as rude. But at the same time, I gotta drive, I take driving seriously and need to concentrate. However, with multiple people in the car talking and yelling or whatever, it just gets to be way too much and I'll just get inexplicably mad and when I get home, and go to my room and try to sleep at like 7:30PM.

But then again, I'm NLD, so it's somewhat a different ballgame compared to Aspergers (though I do have Aspie traits.)