jumpy & spastic = hypersensitivity?

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For as long as I can remember, I have always been SUPER jumpy and "spastic". I always just considered it to be a part of my nature and personality, but I am starting to think that this may actually be a sensory issue, and an indicator of a hypersensitivity to touch and sound.

When I was little, everyone always wanted to tickle me because I was SUPER ticklish in my entire body, and my intense laughter and squirmy reaction was a huge contrast from my usual low-keyed and quiet demeanor. However, I always HATED it and would often get really upset afterwards. Despite the impulsive smiles and laughter, it was NOT fun at all for me.

A CONSTANT occurrence during high school was people trying to be friendly with me and randomly tapping me on the arm, sneak-attack hugging me, gently "hitting" me to indicate that something is funny, or, the worst of all, poking my belly... I would usually sport a DRAMATIC reaction to these (especially to the poking) and would often "jump ten feet" and either squeal, shout, or make a "dinosaur noise". (I am still trying to figure out what they meant by "dinosaur" noise?) Of course, this was always REALLY funny to everyone else, and once it was discovered that such a "fun" reaction was guaranteed, my "friends" were constantly trying to catch me off guard and jab me in the gut so that I would jump and they could all laugh. I didn't really ever consider it "bullying" (although it sort of was now that I think about it), I just don't think they realized how terribly unpleasant it really was for me.

Tickling and poking has obviously became less of an issue as I have grown and become of college- or adult-age, but up to this day, I am still VERY jumpy and respond very intensely to unexpected touch and sound. Friends or family will casually bump into me, tap me on the shoulder, gently "hit" my leg to suggest humor, hug me, reach out to feel the texture of my jacket, or any other number of casual and everyday ways that people come into contact with eachother, and I ALWAYS jump ten feet, without fail. I have overcome the squealing or shouting for the most part, but I still make a little "AH!" sound most times. It's really REALLY annoying and often really confusing to the other person; some people, particularly my mother, often take offense to this and think that I am disgusted or annoying by their attempted contact with me. Most of my friends get a kick out of it when I jump, and they often make it seem like this is a quality that they like about me, but just because it's something that makes them laugh does not mean it is a positive thing for me. My heart is always racing afterwards and I have to take a few minutes to take some deep breaths and recover from the "shock" of it.

I always tell people, "PLEASE give me a warning before you touch me!! !" They ALWAYS laugh really hard and reply jokingly, "Banana, I'm going to touch you now...." I will admit, it IS kind of funny and I usually laugh about it with them, but they never seem to realize that I REALLY WOULD appreciate them doing that. Haha :/

The same thing happens to me with unexpected sound as well - PARTICULARLY the vibration of my phone. I've had the thing for several years and still jump so hard when it goes off. SO annoying. My best friend's mom claps her hands or makes this weird noise in her throat in order to get her dogs' attention or stop them from jumping, barking, etc, and even though I have been around for almost two years and have been exposed to these noises (and sometimes even used them myself on the dogs), I jump EVERY single time she does them. There are still many many other normal sounds in my daily life that catch me off guard and make me jump.

Is anyone else super jumpy and sensitive like this? Is this something commonly related to aspergers or autism? And what, if anything, do you or have you done to get a better handle on this?

I have always been very jumpy.

sorry.....I realize this is SUPER long.....I guess I got a little carried away in my explanation....... ha

Yes, I have had this problem all my life. I jump from loud sudden noises, so sometimes I think that it's not always that I don't like loud sudden noises, but the way I react to them is actually the real problem. I think part of it is also Misophonia. I can easily say I have something like this, because my fear/hatred of sounds actually takes over my life.

When I was at school, I had a fear of the bell. Even if I knew when it was going to ring, I still avoided being near it when it was due to ring, because I knew I will still jump. And when I jump, my arms spaz out and it's a very noticable reaction, and also I didn't like jumping myself because sometimes I would even uncontrollably lean over and heave, like I was going to be sick. I HATED this reaction, but there was nothing in the world that would make me stop doing this, and I think I'm set to do it for the rest of my life, because I'm still no better now. I don't want to work at a place where there are bells going off, and I don't want to work with dogs either because I get the same reaction when dogs bark too, even if I know they're there.

I didn't like to put my fingers in my ears at school because I was self-aware and it did matter to me what others thought, and I'm not being funny but I did feel quite ret*d walking around with my fingers in my ears. It was easier to do that at primary school because the other kids didn't really notice or care, but at secondary school obviously they got to the age where they took more notice of eachother's body language. I did take some earplugs but it didn't really work, and other kids noticed and asked what I had in my ears. It was so difficult to avoid the bell in disguise because you just get noticed all the time. And I felt too embarrassed to tell the teachers or other children that I was afraid of the bell, especially when I got older.

I am very sensitive to touch and sounds in this way. I do jump and scream a bit or immediately close my ears with my hands. I easily startle even if certain sounds or occurences are to be expected.
What I don't like at all,....the sound of popped balloons. I will always close my ears in advance.

Anyway,...to the point: I think sensitivity is commen in AS. And what can you do.....I don't know, some people say, use earplugs. I've got noise cancelling earphones. Listening to music and nothing else, that's what I do.

Last edited by Mayel on 08 Mar 2012, 6:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I startle easy, but I can laugh about it. Today I was in a busy restaurant and I called my mom on the cell phone. I've got it pressed against my ear, the ring ring is barely audible against the din of a busy buffet, so I'm straining to hear and all the sudden "HELLO?" in my ear, I scream out loud. I jump and scream at drive thru windows sometimes too. I'll be sitting just staring out the windshield when they pop out the window like a jack in the box. They always feel bad, but I always laugh and say, I'm just jumpy!

Same with me, no matter how much anti-anxiety medication I take I'm still very jumpy and sensitive to both sound and touch.