Does this have anything to do with Asperger's

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CambridgeSuperman
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29 Mar 2009, 2:13 pm

Since summer is now upon us (well in the northern hemisphere anyway) I've re-noticed a weird thing I do.

I'm completely obsessed with shielding my face from direct sunlight. I mean things like I deliberately cross the road to walk on the shaded sidewalk. When i have to walk down the road facing direct sunlight I hold my hand over my face with the pretence that I am propping my glasses up.

Its just a habit i've developed over many years but i suspect it stems from when i was younge and not wanting to freckle cos I saw/ still see freckles as an irreversible change to your appearance that i have no control over.

Yeah i'm sure thats it. Its not a narcisstic thing cos i find girls with freckles really pretty.

Does anyone else have the same quirk?



Fnord
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29 Mar 2009, 2:24 pm

It is neither a "quirk," nor exclusive to Aspies. Many fair-skinned people, and most of the asian women that I know tend to avoid direct sunlight. I had a bad experience with a second-degree sunburn (blisters) as a teenager, so I try to avoid direct sunlight as well.


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protest_the_hero
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29 Mar 2009, 2:25 pm

I'm not really freckly but this sounds like weird obsessive behaviour. Sounds AS related or related to a comorbid disorder.
If I were you I would just try and face the sun for your own good.



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29 Mar 2009, 2:29 pm

It depends on the weather, but you see people avoid sunlight by choosing alternative routes.

But being an Aspie could make the behaviour more strong?



Emor
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29 Mar 2009, 2:32 pm

When I look outside and see then sun I get quite depressed, being reminded of summer and the unsuccessful attempts to get a long with people in my neighbor hood, so I just generally don't go out in the sun if possible, and always prefer being in the shade when I do.
IDK :P.
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29 Mar 2009, 3:56 pm

I do know that most of us are hypersensitive to light.


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melissa17b
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29 Mar 2009, 4:33 pm

I find the light of the midday sun during the high-sun season intolerable, even when there are thin clouds in the sky. If I must be in it, my eyes are tightly shut, opening only for little peeks just enough to not walk into things. I will go to great lengths to avoid this painfully bright light, affecting what side of the street I walk on, what side of the train I sit on and whether I deviate from my preference of facing forward, whether I get off at the Tube station just after rather than just before my destination so the sun is at my back, etc. If it were overcast but not raining all summer, with sunlight only during the early morning and late evening, I would be perfectly happy.

Not only is the bright midday light bothersome, the heat of direct sunlight is excessive to me at all times except right around sunrise or sunset, or near the winter solstice when the sun is below the treetops most of the day. And the UV is murder even in midwinter. All in all, the sun is not my friend. However, I cannot be completely nocturnal - as daylight fades, all of my sensory sensitivities heighten markedly, and the only opportunity available for sleeping is consistently the second half of the darkness hours.



EnglishLulu
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29 Mar 2009, 4:42 pm

I like being out in the sun! :)



pakled
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29 Mar 2009, 6:27 pm

Me too...I was born in El Paso, so we get way more than our share. Tends to make me feel positive. Although it does make me hit the air conditioner button...;)



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29 Mar 2009, 6:55 pm

CambridgeSuperman wrote:
Since summer is now upon us (well in the northern hemisphere anyway) I've re-noticed a weird thing I do.



Summer upon us? Summer does not start in the North until June 21. So you have all of April, all of May and 2/3 of June to wait.

ruveyn



dougn
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02 Apr 2009, 9:49 pm

I'm certainly hypersensitive to bright light. I can't go outside during the day without sunglasses unless it is very cloudy.



pensieve
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02 Apr 2009, 9:53 pm

CambridgeSuperman wrote:
When i have to walk down the road facing direct sunlight I hold my hand over my face

I do that. I don't pretend to be doing anything, I just cover my face. I burn easily and have had enough of having cracked and dry lips. I must look weird but I rather that than being sunburned.



redplanet
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03 Apr 2009, 2:01 am

I'm the opposite - I head straight for the sunlight! I always wear sun block though, as I fear getting burnt.

I think a lot of NTs do what you describe, but if it has become an obsession then it might be due to your AS nature.