Can't handle watching hands moving

Post Reply New Topic

I've been failing at google-fu in trying to find a name for my extreme dislike of watching people's hands move, whether they're tapping, rubbing, petting, using sign language, or they're just very active speakers... I can't stand it. It's something that makes me very upset and I feel anger almost to the point of rage sometimes. Does this have a name?
Of all the sensory things I'd like to get rid of, I think this one probably tops it along with noises...

That's interesting, as I'm the opposite - I often focus on people's hands when they talk, especially if they gesture, as it's an alternative to looking at their faces to gain understanding of what they're saying. It's acceptable to NT people to focus on these gestures too, which is also a plus.
I wonder though where autism ends and other psychological influences begin. For an un-PC example, I can't stand to look at pregnant women. When I see a pregnant woman out in public I have to look away I find it so repulsive. I'm not proud of this, but I don't relate this to autism though, it's more likely an effect of my own body/gender/sexuality issues being projected outward onto that person, rather than a neurologically-based response. Maybe your aversion to moving hands has some psychological origin?

I have actually heard descriptions of Misophonia where Misophonia is extended to include the movement of whatever is causing the trigger sound. I have Misophonia and I have issues with gum noises and mouth and eating sounds to the point where if someone's mouth moves in a certain way, I can sometimes get triggered just by the movement since I associate it so much with the sound.

But Misophonia is an auditory issue. So if the movement is not associated with a sound, then it probably won't fall under condition of Misophonia. And Misophonia is not the rage hatred of all sound, just certain specific sounds or specific types of sounds so if you are affected by all hand movement then it might be something similar to Misphonia but less specific. Do you know if there are sounds that are associated with the hand movements that trigger you or if it's just the movement itself?

But Misophonia is the only thing I can think of that is close to what you describing, where you have that extreme rage, you want to rip the person's face off response. I have never heard of a strictly movement version of it so it will be interesting to see if more people have that.