I know it is common among autistics to not be able to recognize or express feelings, of course I have that trouble with emotions but lots of times I can't tell when I am hungry or in pain or simple things like that. Like I'll burn myself and not realize til hours later, and not remember how it happened but now that I am aware of it it hurts a lot. I guess that happens to everyone occasionally but this will happen to me a lot with somewhat severe injuries (I don't mean just like a paper cut), and I'm very clumsy and always have injuries from hurting myself somehow. Or I'll forget to eat actual meals (just random snacks here and there) and not realize that I was hungry until a week later when I see I've lost 5 pounds because I have eaten literally nothing that entire week except some crackers and pudding here and there. Even though I think I know how hunger feels I can't always tell when I'm feeling it and I'll just not eat at all... I'll have phases like this, despite being very hypersensitive in some ways (to textures, being touched by other people, and I'm hypsersensitive to pain also) yet then I'll have these periods of time where it's like I don't realize what I'm feeling at all, despite the fact I *should* know what hunger or pain feels like, it's like I don't realize that I'm feeling it until much later. Does this happen to anyone else and what should I do about it? It's like until I am dizzy and feverish I don't think that "oh yeah, I haven't eaten today". And sometimes when I do hurt myself it's like I don't register it even though I am very weak and sensitive to pain. For example I was sitting on my friend's lap in the car and she shut the car door on my hand. So I was saying her name to get her to open it, but I said it in a very calm and casual way so she ignored me thinking I was whining about something because she was talking to her brother. Then a couple minutes later she's like what do you keep saying my name for and I let her know my hand was stuck in the door. She said I should have spoken up shouting "HEY! My hand is stuck in the door" but because I said it so quietly she didn't think it was important. Or when I stepped on a saw and was bleeding I just didn't say or do anything, like as if I was still processing I was hurt? And people were like umm what's going on wondering why I wasn't reacting. I'll do stuff like that all the time, put my hand on something hot but not move it until a few seconds later because it's like I must think about it first, I don't just react. And I keep forgetting to eat. Is this normal?
20 Jul 2015, 10:29 pm
