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mewtwo55555
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14 May 2014, 6:03 pm

So I was wondering is it possible for an aspie like myself to become more sensitive to stimuli? Cause if i remember correct in high school I didn't have so many stimuli problems and such but memory could be misleading. But now that i am living on my own I seem to have them more.



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14 May 2014, 6:13 pm

My experience with sensitivities is that I had no defenses against them as a child, so overstimulation was like sever weather--it just happened and there was nothing to be done about it but hurt--and the photosensitivity was connected to migraines, no fun at all.

Later, when I was a teenager I felt like I had to tough it out, overcome. It seemed to be easier to control, but I think this was focused attention. I chose to pay less attention to some stimuli.

Increasingly, from young adulthood to middle-age, the sensitivities would come back. First, it seemed mostly connected with Asthma or fatigue. Now it seems prolonged stress also causes an uptick in sensory issues.

I think what is happening is that I habitually use a certain amount of willpower to filter out the distracting stimuli. But when fatigue, stress, allergies or other complications take some of that willpower, the unfiltered stimuli claim my attention again. I notice that sensitivity to external stimuli seems to correspond to the intensity of my tinnitus.



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14 May 2014, 6:20 pm

My sensitivities can change with my stress and energy levels. I think I am more sensitive to certain things now because I have more responsibilities now as an adult person trying to care for a husband and a household. These are not stresses that I had in my teen years or my childhood so since they are newer to me I find that I have a hard time figuring out how to deal with them sometimes. And since I am feeling them and they are strong and since I am now responsible to feed and rest myself as opposed to mommy and daddy feeding me and providing me with a bedtime, it is easier for me to mess that up and let my energy levels drop. So because of things like this, some of my sensitivities are much more pronounced than they were before.


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starkid
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14 May 2014, 6:35 pm

mewtwo55555 wrote:
So I was wondering is it possible for an aspie like myself to become more sensitive to stimuli?


I wonder about that too because the sun has seemed to be too bright ever since I was a child, but it didn't begin to give me migraines until my mid-twenties.



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14 May 2014, 7:43 pm

LOL, for a bit I thought you were wanting to make yourself more sensitive.

If unfiltered, sensory input requires processing. Call it coping.
Add in any other things that that require coping also uses up processing. Just like running too many programs on your computer.

A computer locking up or lagging out might be the equivalent of our brain meltdown.
So yeah, you're likely to notice it more the fuller your cup gets with coping demands.

Don't mind the mixed metaphor.


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14 May 2014, 7:45 pm

I had a cup full of RAM when I was a child, and began spilling it as I stumbled into adulthood, much like a drunk spills beer.