Synesthesia

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Hello! (Not sure where to put this, please forgive me if I have posted in the wrong area)
I was reading about Synesthesia and I feel as though I may have it.
I have always seen numbers and letters in colour but I assumed everyone did this.
Is there anyone on here with it? I'd like to know more about it. Has there ever been a situation where it has affected you?

not specifically gifted with the stereotypical version of such, but i do see human "faces" in analog clock faces, depending on the juxtaposition of the hour/minute hands. it is no more than a curiosity for me.

It's possible. Do you see/think of colors or tastes when you're hearing music?

Grrr.

This annoys me. I have 4 types of synesthesia and only ONE of them has anything marginally to do with color.

Not mad at you, but at the fact that people don't realize that there are at least 60 types of it.....I run into it all the time.....

"Do you see color when you read words?" "No, I hear sounds when I see movement." "Huh?"

Yes, I see colours when I hear music, like certain chords have colours for instance. Although I've never tried to note which chords correspond to which colour or whether or not the colours I see change on what instrument plays the chord or in which position the chord is in. (I hope that makes sense!)

I'm sorry for offending you! I honestly had no idea there were so many! What are your four types if you don't mind me asking

When I close my eyes I see shapes.

It's ok - you're cool.
I have motion > sound which means that I hear a sound when I see any type of motion.
I have ticker-tape synesthesia which means that whatever I hear said appears in my vision like words on a page....that one has background color but the words are always black.
I have the opposite of motion sound, which means that when I hear a sound I get a perception of spatial motion...not sure what it's called.
Then I have kinesthetics - sound, which means I hear a sound when I move my own muscles.

And OP - can you describe your experiences in more detail?

[/quote] I'm sorry for offending you! I honestly had no idea there were so many! What are your four types if you don't mind me asking [/quote]

It's ok - you're cool.
I have motion > sound which means that I hear a sound when I see any type of motion.
I have ticker-tape synesthesia which means that whatever I hear said appears in my vision like words on a page....that one has background color but the words are always black.
I have the opposite of motion sound, which means that when I hear a sound I get a perception of spatial motion...not sure what it's called.
Then I have kinesthetics - sound, which means I hear a sound when I move my own muscles.

And OP - can you describe your experiences in more detail?[/quote]

It's quite difficult for me to describe the exact colours I see as I don't know specific names so I can only describe them in general colours like 'light blue' for instance. For me personally it's only letters, words, numbers and music that cause me to see colour. When you say you get a perception of spatial motion whenever you hear a sound is that only when you hear musical noises like a note on a piano? Or can it be any sound like a door slamming for instance? The reason I ask is that I only see colours when I hear music and not general sounds. I've never heard of 'ticker-tape' synesthesia? Are you saying when you see words on a page you know they are in black (for instance) but in your mind they can be any colour? I'm just wondering because I think the way I see colours is very similar, I read a word and in my head it's a specific colour but on the page it's black, for instance, and I know it's black. Is that ticker-tape synesthesia?
Do you ever encounter any major problems with your synesthesia?

I have lexic synesthesia, which is where words, letters, numbers, and sounds have colors and geometrical patterns

I love it, as it makes me extremely gifted in math.

you all are so lucky. it is like god gave you extra bonus entertainments to enliven your lives.

I'm sorry for offending you! I honestly had no idea there were so many! What are your four types if you don't mind me asking [/quote]

It's ok - you're cool.
I have motion > sound which means that I hear a sound when I see any type of motion.
I have ticker-tape synesthesia which means that whatever I hear said appears in my vision like words on a page....that one has background color but the words are always black.
I have the opposite of motion sound, which means that when I hear a sound I get a perception of spatial motion...not sure what it's called.
Then I have kinesthetics - sound, which means I hear a sound when I move my own muscles.

And OP - can you describe your experiences in more detail?[/quote]

It's quite difficult for me to describe the exact colours I see as I don't know specific names so I can only describe them in general colours like 'light blue' for instance. For me personally it's only letters, words, numbers and music that cause me to see colour. When you say you get a perception of spatial motion whenever you hear a sound is that only when you hear musical noises like a note on a piano? Or can it be any sound like a door slamming for instance? The reason I ask is that I only see colours when I hear music and not general sounds. I've never heard of 'ticker-tape' synesthesia? Are you saying when you see words on a page you know they are in black (for instance) but in your mind they can be any colour? I'm just wondering because I think the way I see colours is very similar, I read a word and in my head it's a specific colour but on the page it's black, for instance, and I know it's black. Is that ticker-tape synesthesia?
Do you ever encounter any major problems with your synesthesia?[/quote]

I'm going to try to answer them in list form:
-I get the perception of motion with any and every noise, from musical noise to yes, slamming a door. But I "see" the motion, I don't feel it. I don't know how else to describe it. I'm positive that it can be just restricted to music, and that one can only see colors when hearing music. That's a very common type and one of the more famous types.
- Ticker tape synesthesia is very rare, and no one studies it a lot....which bothers me...and makes me a potential research candidate.. It's usually triggered by sound, which means that when I hear someone speak, their words float in my vision as if I'm reading them while hearing them. For some, the words can have color, for me, the background BEHIND the words has color and the words themselves are black. I don't see anything special when I read a book - words are words only.
- If you read a word and in your head the word is a specific color, then that means that you have a form of grapheme> color synesthesia, not ticker-tape, and you're an associator, meaning that the color is in your head, not on the page itself. And no, that's not ticker tape, because it's not triggered by sound. Think of ticker-tape as a teleprompter in your head, or a script at the bottom of a tv screen running words.

- Synesthesia does not come with problems on its own....but if you have trouble processing senses, then it can aggravate that issue. For me, I have Sensory Processing Disorder, and my sense of hearing is astronomically sensitive. Thus, I hear EVERYTHING. So, my synesthesia can aggravate it and make me overstimulated. But it's not the synesthesia that is the issue.

Am I making sense?

[/quote] I'm going to try to answer them in list form:
-I get the perception of motion with any and every noise, from musical noise to yes, slamming a door. But I "see" the motion, I don't feel it. I don't know how else to describe it. I'm positive that it can be just restricted to music, and that one can only see colors when hearing music. That's a very common type and one of the more famous types.
- Ticker tape synesthesia is very rare, and no one studies it a lot....which bothers me...and makes me a potential research candidate.. It's usually triggered by sound, which means that when I hear someone speak, their words float in my vision as if I'm reading them while hearing them. For some, the words can have color, for me, the background BEHIND the words has color and the words themselves are black. I don't see anything special when I read a book - words are words only.
- If you read a word and in your head the word is a specific color, then that means that you have a form of grapheme> color synesthesia, not ticker-tape, and you're an associator, meaning that the color is in your head, not on the page itself. And no, that's not ticker tape, because it's not triggered by sound. Think of ticker-tape as a teleprompter in your head, or a script at the bottom of a tv screen running words.

- Synesthesia does not come with problems on its own....but if you have trouble processing senses, then it can aggravate that issue. For me, I have Sensory Processing Disorder, and my sense of hearing is astronomically sensitive. Thus, I hear EVERYTHING. So, my synesthesia can aggravate it and make me overstimulated. But it's not the synesthesia that is the issue.

Am I making sense?[/quote]

Yes you are making sense That's really interesting, I'm going to have to research this condition more I think. Although that grapheme > colour synesthesia sounds exactly like how I see words. Did you always know you had synesthesia or did you find out when you realised other people didn't have it?

Apparently the videogame called Rez tried to achieve this effect

EstherJ, as you know, I'm pretty positive I have "ticker tape" synesthesia. I found your description interesting, because you focused on it being triggered by sound/hearing others speak. I'm curious if you also experience a ticker-tape phenomenon when YOU yourself are speaking or mentally/silently thinking to yourself. I do, and I'm interested if you do, too. I "see" words like a teleprompter whenever I hear any spoken words, including silently "hearing" words when I think to myself. Looking forward to hearing your response!