What sensory issues do you have and have you any remedies?

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I’m part of a team trying to build some technology aiming to help with some of the difficulties that autism/AS can cause (as discussed here http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt213047.html). One option is trying to reduce sensory issues. Although I’m autistic I don’t have any sensory issues so I’m hoping for input from people with sensory issues, just a description of what sensory issues you have and any information on ways that you've managed to reduce them. I’ll see what issues people have, what solutions are possible and discuss them with the guy who is building the equipment to see if anything could be practically done.

Also, for those who posted in the other thread, more details would be most welcome!

I think it's good you point out that not all people with Asperger's have sensory issues. I know I don't. But, I think that movie about Temple Granger made by HBO seems to have done a good job describing it, for what I get...

My sensory issue is that I think that high definition televisions are too blurry to meet my sensory immersion needs.

I have lots, but my worst trigger is the sound of my toddler son crying/whining/screaming/screeching/etc. I can only stand to listen to it for 5 minutes or less or else I just go into a total melt down and end up breaking something or hurting myself. The only way that I've found to combat this is to use ear plugs, construction hearing protection, noise canceling headphones or really loud regular headphones. I have yet to find any way to be able to tolerate hearing the noise. Actually, right now, as I type this, he's in a different room with my husband screaming, and the feeling that is going through my entire body is similar to the same one I would get if someone scratched their nails on a chalk board, even though the sound is muffled through the walls.

I can't stand the flicker of an old analog TV

I seem to have the biggest sensory issues with anything relating to sound. Anything really high pitched, sudden, or yelling sets me off. I really can't stand yelling at all. I have always wished I could take yelling like an NT could but after 27 years it's just impossible. I wish my mom would figure it out because when she gets mad she starts yelling and it makes me shut down. The yelling doesn't even have to be directed at me and it will still give me that almost painful feeling in my head. Children screaming is another one. Certain sounds just really get to me. The ironic thing is I love complicated sounding electronic music with hard bass. I think that's because the brain processes speech and music differently.

Another sensory issue that I seem to have that isn't as pronounced as my sound issues is the position of my clothes on my body. For example, I cannot stand how my pants feel if they are pulled up to their proper place on my waist. It just feels "wrong" to me. I have to wear them under my belly button/around my hips and have done so since I was a small child. I also can't stand the feeling of long sleeves around my wrists (which is why I still wear t-shirts in the fall/winter) or the feeling of anything snug around my neck so I avoid turtlenecks at all costs.

My main problem is that I can't filter sensory input. That has been tested and confirmed. I notice *everything*. If the *everything* gets too much, my stress levels rise and I 'freeze' (indecision of what to react to). I deal with this by blocking out as much as I can. I have an e-reader with comfy earphones and listen to interesting audiobooks or beautiful music to block out everyday noises like passing vehicles and noises from the neighbours' houses. Visually, I deal with overload by looking at the ground or restful things like trees and plants when I'm outside. The visual distraction isn't an issue in my own house, because I know what I'm going to see.

I cannot fall asleep if anything around me is moving. I hear something move I need to look and I hear everything single little conversation.

Also light during winter is just horrible.
Does anybody see waves coming off those high powered lights, not looking directly at the of course.

Hi, I may not be on the spectrum, but I have been diagnosed with sensory processing disorder. If you are developing technology or anything for helping with sensory struggles, please consider those with SPD/SID as well if you can. Some of us with severe cases live life in a lot of pain.
So where to begin...

I've felt the need to play with something in my left hand since being a very little kid. Currently I just play with binder clips. This also helps me to stop just touching other objects around me. I also walk in circles and pace a lot. As a kid I also stimmed by swinging a ton and spinning on the hardwood floor.

I have also always had trouble with the feeling of grease. I wash my hands before touching my stuff, even if they're clean by everyone else's standards. I only will put lotion on my hands if I'm not home or if it's right before bed, so as not to get my things greasy feeling. But when younger, I refused to use lotion at all, which meant I had very, very dry hands throughout the winter.

Eating has maybe been my biggest struggle. For a long time, I really struggled to eat any meat, vegetables, and fruits. Now I can eat most meat, vegetables as long as I mix them with noodles or rice, and all fruits except for melons. If I just stop chewing and pause for a bit, it gives me a little bit more of a sense of control eating foods I have trouble with still. I still haven't managed to take pills yet though. Whether this is sensory or not I am unsure, but I have little to no desire to eat. I have been that way since a baby even according to my mom. It causes problems with me knowing how often to eat, so I try to time myself.

I also had trouble knowing when I was applying enough pressure when I brushed my teeth, combed my hair, put shampoo in my hair, etc. I had to actually be shown. And sometimes I notice that I tend to hold things weird. For the longest time, I thought the correct way to hold a cup was with my thumb wrapped around the same side as the rest of my fingers :s And it took me quite some time to learn certain things. I learned to tie my shoes in 5th grade, and to ride a bike in middle school. I had to learn to tie a ponytail at age 16 with an occupational therapist, b.c it was very difficult to learn through trial and error b.c I had to go off of only tactile sense. But the occupational therapist helped me learn by doing the tieing on a tube in front of me first so I had visual information to go off of.

I don't know if this is b.c of my SPD, but I have trouble telling when my food will be too hot to eat too. So I burn my mouth maybe once every 1-2 weeks. People give me advice, but I still manage to burn myself. I stir my food, or I'll consider the steam, but nope, still burn myself. Seriously, how do people tell? :0

As a little kid, I also feared escalators, which can be a sign of SPD.
I've also always had little muscle on me. Probably b.c I had trouble with various physical activities such as a sports, so I wasn't near as active. It might be helpful to consider tech that helps with all or most possible sensory problems. There are 7 senses including vestibular and proprioceptive senses, and people can be hypo/hypersensitive or both to any of them. So for learning how to interact with an object, allow kids/adults to be able to approach it from various senses if that makes sense.

If you want to see current products helping those with SPD/SID, here is a link: http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/sensory-processing-disorder-store.html

Okay, this is all that I can think of off the top of my head. I'll edit if I remember anything else. Thank you.

Aside from avoidance, which I do as much as is possible, here's two of the most frequently used coping mechanisms I use:

1. Foam earplugs for sound. When I am at home and not doing anything that specifically requires me to hear, I have them in. I may invest in a set of custom molded ones in future as the foam variety tend to itch a little bit after an hour or so.

2. Repetitive handwashing as response to texture. I also have some OCD issues related to handwashing when touching particular public things like elevator buttons, door handles, but that's a separate thing. For instance, if I touch a particular type of glossy paper I will feel the need to immediately wash my hands. Not a thorough washing, mind you. I have managed to realize through therapy that what I am doing in this instance is mostly just getting them wet. By getting them wet I erase the unpleasant feeling of the paper gloss. The texture sensitivity includes chalky/dusty things, certain consistencies of rubber, anything that will leave a residue on my fingers, squeaky things like glassware that has been washed in a dishwasher. The glossy paper that bothers me is the, i'm not sure how to describe, like, the squeaky kind. The kind that will provide friction when you slide your finger across it, as opposed to the slippery kind that wouldn't provide resistance. Magazine style glossy paper is okay. Travel brochure glossy paper is not okay.

also, will add a third here, 3. low wattage bulbs and thick curtains in my apartment to keep the light level as low as possible.

I wear loose fitting, cotton or cotton blend clothing because I am sensitive to synthetic fabrics and tight fitting clothes. It's a minor issue and one that I can control without any other kind of help, so I don't really see it as affecting my life much.

I don't know what sensory issues I have, per se, but... I've always been picky with clothing and fabric texture. At the same time, I like to feel objects, and I love the weight and coziness of sleeping under a lot of heavy blankets, so there might be something going on there. Ultimately, all this means is that I wear T-shirts, shorts, jeans, and sweatshirts almost exclusively. It's not a huge deal except for when I have to dress up.

I've got some proprioception issues that crop up from time to time; it usually involves me side-swiping walls and doorways and such. Not a whole lot I can do to offset that one...

Though I do not think this qualifies as a strictly sensory issue, I cannot tolerate pants that sit at waist level. I do not wear "saggers," but I do make sure my pants are able to be worn below the waist (what I have heard as being referred to as the "fat/drunk b*****d cut" in the utility kilt market). Other sensory issues I have and the way I deal with them have already been discussed enough, so I will spare everyone here.

Noise. I am hypersensitive and on top of that some particular sounds are painful, but all sounds are distracting. Earplugs are ok-ish, but some noises you can still "feel", and with ear plugs you cannot hear a person talking.More effective is listening to music with ear-buds for blocking sound, but you still cannot hear speech. If there was a way to block out all sounds but human speech that would be great.

Earplugs are also not ideal at night, when I find the pressure in my ear to be uncomfortable, or they pull on the tragus of the outer ear. Some way to block sounds at night is needed. White noise machines are distracting and sometimes painful, so that is not a solution, and music is not either because then I start to follow it intently. Outside the ear headphone like things get taken off, and are very uncomfortable when you sleep on your side as there is now an extra inch on the side of your head.


EDIT: Mack's silicone earplugs that go on the out side of the ear and not at all into the ear canal are better than regular ones (just discovered them ). I also use two layers of light/sound blocking window shade cover things that are okish (less sound from outside than with out), but a more effective way of blocking out sound from windows, or even better a way to block out sound from doors would be useful.

My biggest sensory issue is with sound -screechy noises like the buses and subway trains sometimes make when they stop for example and "little noises" like people chewing, swallowing, breathing loudly ect. distract and annoy me a lot - also loud sudden noises scare me and startle me more than most people. My main way of dealing with this is to make more noise myself to cover it up-hum, sing, talk to myself, read books outloud to myself ect. This gets me in a lot of trouble sometimes. I also wear earplugs but they're often not enough. I also have issues with certain smells (lunch meats, certain cleaning products and perfumes or scented beauty products (like artificial coconut products) make me feel sick. To deal with this I just run away from or avoid places with these smells. Flickering lights make me nauseous. Also I get really bad sensory overload when too many different noises and smells combine in horrible ways -like at a concert or club or festival or party or on crowded buses or in shopping malls-too many different conversations at once and then little noises of machines and then music and different food smells and perfume smells and such mingling together- it's just sensory chaos. I can't concentrate and converse with people in these situations and sometimes I get really anxious if I'm "trapped" somewhere like on a crowded train and I actually have panic attacks. My remedy for this-avoid crowded places or gatherings of large groups like the plague! When I have to endure this because in the past I've had jobs and had to be in crowded places or work would get crowded at certain times I would talk to myself and make noise to focus myself and cover up noise or go hide in the bathroom and avoid for a certain period of time.