ASD & Highly Sensitive Person Question

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Is there anyone here who is on the spectrum and a Highly Sensitive Person?

What are you biggest issues and how do you cope /deal with them ?

If you also have alexithymia how does this complicate matters ?

I'm both. I think my biggest issue is getting stressed out easily. Being on psych meds helps some but I genreally try to avoid stress when possible but there were lots of times in my life when it wasn't. I think working helped me get over it some because I was forced to deal with being busy & having alot to do & management on my back.

Thanks for your answer Nick.

I am learning so much from this forum. I had never heard of Highly Sensitive Person, so I had to google it and found a test here:

http://hsperson.com/test/highly-sensitive-test/

If you score higher than 14, you are likely HSP. My score was 23. So I have something entirely new to think about here.

In terms of how it affects my life: not having the diagnosis, but reading the "characteristics," I can say that I have adjusted by: limiting my exposure to loud, large groups of people, getting tougher in the relationships where I needed to be tough. I'm not sure how this differs from ASD though, except maybe for the empathy part? I pretty much have closed that part off now. But when I was younger, and probably through most of my life, I was so empathic as to be able to give up my interests so others would not feel pain. Extend myself so far that I endangered my own existence. Being tough, however, has its own costs in my humanity. The tougher I got, the less I "cared" about others and this has not been a comfortable place for me. I have to limit my exposure to others' painful situations in order to preserve myself. I have mixed feelings about that.

As for alexithymia, I only just found out what that is and still requires some extensive thought...

Aren't all (or most) people with ASD Highly sensitive?

Thanks for your post Blazing , I have learnt so much about myself via other members here , my self awareness is terrible.

I dunno , there definitely appears to be a big overlap from the limited knowledge I have

I certainly seem to be highly sensitive, and I scored 21 on the test that blazingstar posted. However, whether it is something separate from autism, I wouldn't like to say, though I can see that those traits could exist without any of the other things associated with autism.

Whether alexithymia makes a difference is an interesting question - I know for sure that I'm very alexithymic. I think it's probably the case that not understanding my emotions does lead to secondary anxiety; how am I supposed to know how I should act when I can't properly assess my own reaction to something, for example, or deal with impatience when I need time to decipher my feelings? These could make us especially vigilant in situations that provoke strong, but unidentifiable emotions, perhaps. It's interesting that I've heard many alexithymic people say that frustration is one of the few emotions that they can always recognise and commonly feel.

I scored a 16 on that test but I know I would of scored much higher when I was younger. Being in stressful situations & loud noises at work kind of helped me get used to things; not entirely used to it but more than I was.

I think I understand why you would get need to get tougher with relationships blazingstar. I tend to be a giver & very supportive within my friendships & romantic relationships. I have a strong sense of loyalty & devotion. I was diagnosed as codependent when I started seeing a psychiatrist cuz of a sever depression after my 1st relationship ended. I felt I gave a lot in the relationship & it got to be kind of one-sided after a while. I'm NOT blaming her cuz I kind of let it happen. Then I got upset over it & blamed her at the time which caused lots of problems. I doubt I would be diagnosed as codependent nowadays thou because I grew from the experience & I'm on anxiety & OCD meds so i'm not worrying as much in my current relationship. She has issues that I try my best to be supportive of but I have more than my fair share of issues too & she does alot for me.

I scored 24 on the quiz. My friend also took it and he got 20. I would say that I'm probably a HSP yeah, as for being on the spectrum...eh....well I'm not diagnosed or anything, and most people consider me fairly typical albeit a bit strange at times. Personally, if I am then I'd probably be considered a borderline case. Maybe BAP (Broader Autism Phenotype) I don't know. Or maybe not. *Shrugs*



Mainly through a series of small things. When going to places that have the potential to overwhelm me, I often bring music in case it becomes too much and I need an escape. Also, as for taste I find that lemonade and other fizzy drinks can have a bit of a kick to them so I sometimes shake them with the lid on and then very slightly open the lid (but not too much, don't want it to explode everywhere) and let out the fizz so then it settles down. I also tend to put water in my lemonade, much to the confusion of the people around me.

Regarding my sense of smell, if I know that there is going to be a food with a strong smell on the table then I usually get some soap and rub a bit in just below my nose then wash off the soap in the hopes that the soap will overpower the other smells. I also put a bit of soap on my hands so I can pretend to cough when I'm actually sniffing my hand to focus on that smell. Plus, sometimes I will get a cup of juice and will smell that to focus on it and block out everything else. Usually though, I just choose to eat in another room if my family is eating a food which I find overwhelming.

One time we went to see a music show, and the music was so loud that the sinks in the toilets were literally shaking. Thankfully, my family anticipated that it might become too much for me and brought me earplugs. You could still hear the music through the earplugs, but with the earplugs in it was actually at a more tolerable volume.

Another event we went to there was a really loud singer, and just being in the same building seemed to be too much. I tried retreating into a toilet stall and calming myself down, but I couldn't seem to stay comfortable. This was at a caravan site so I talked to my parents and they let me into our caravan and went back to the show. I stayed inside the caravan and watched a film instead. Guardians of the Galaxy. I'd say it worked out for the best.

When I went on a school trip, they told us that they'd provide lunch but I brought a sandwich just in case since I'm a fairly picky eater. It turned out that I didn't like the food they gave us, so I ate my sandwich instead much to the annoyance of the food tech students who had made that meal. A teacher lightly chuckled and remarked "Good planning".

One time on another school trip we were given food that tasted off to me, so I decided to bin most of it, but everyone thought I was just being over-sensitive. Nearly everyone who ate that food got ill afterwards. Turned out the food was out of date and had gone off. Guess I was right after all.



Well, I am sometimes a bit out out of step with my emotions. However, I have certainly improved over the years. My main issue issue is separating other people's emotions from my own and recognising which ones are my own. I'm not completely blind to my emotions though. Overtime I seem to be getting better at it.

I scored a 23 & I'm also quite alexithymic.

Guess I should be thankful I'm ever around people at all.

I'm autistic, highly sensitive, and I have mild alexithymia. Sometimes I just randomly get upset and I don't know why, which could be a sensory or emotional thing. I can have meltdowns from sensory overload and from emotional overload. I actually don't know how much emotional empathy I have. I tend to be more empathetic to people who are also on the spectrum because I have similar experiences I guess. Sometimes I worry that I don't have enough emotional empathy because I don't always react to things. But sometimes I react to things that no one else reacts to. I think that a lot of the traits of highly sensitive people overlap with autistic traits, especially "female" autistic traits.

I scored 22, so I guess am both. Most of my senses are hypersensitive, but sound is the most triggering for me. I have some alexithymia also.

That sounds just like how I am. I often have times where I get upset and stop functioning properly but I can't figure out the cause or what upset me.

yyyyyyyyyyyep. takes me weeks sometimes.

Hi Ferris, I'm back!

Yes, I'm pretty sensitive and can cry several times a day over the silliest of things, good or bad. When I say cry, I mean that I silently tear up, I don't just burst into uncontrollable sobs! It's still a real pain when I'm at work and end up rubbing my eyes red. I generally know what is causing the emotion (a news story, a piece of music, something someone said) and a lot of the time they are not what would cause enough upset or joy in others to cause tears. What the emotion is that I'm feeling at the time? I have no idea! I've never been specifically tested or diagnosed with alexithymia but assumed that I have it once I knew what it was.

Hi Andrew , glad to see you back. Hows your climbing going?