BirdInFlight wrote:
beige37 wrote:
Of all my sensory issues, noise is the worst for me. That's saying something, too... The sound of people chewing makes me furious and I can't tolerate it. In fact, my IEP states I get to eat lunch in a separate room by myself because of that intolerance. People who don't know me think I'm overdramatic about noise (putting my hands over my ears in public, having to leave loud rooms, etc.) but they don't understand what it's like.
I can relate to that, beige37. I know I've annoyed people by the reactions I've had to situations I can't handle well even while trying to, and the so called friend in question couldn't understand what the "fuss" was about.
I know that new friends or acquaintance's (and even some old friends') level of regard or respect for me has dropped off a cliff following the first time they've seen me not cope with a sensory-overload situation, and that in itself is a bad experience too. Even someone I thought loved me deeply lost all kindness and respect for me when he first witnessed a meltdown I had, and it was downhill for that relationship the rest of the way. This was before I even suspected that my issues were related to something knowable and tangible such as AS or even the Highly Sensitive Person condition, which I now know I am too.
Going forward I think I'm armed with more information so that I can at least partially explain or give notice, not that that might change some people's reaction, but it's better than what I had before, which was not even being able to explain it to myself!
It seems impossible for most people to understand the intensity of, no matter how it's explained. I feel like if people could understand how powerful sensory overload was, they would be more understanding. It gets written off as an over reaction and that's where people start to lose patience.
It has helped me to know and accept what is going on and that it's not just me being "immature." Even if everyone else distorts the truth, at least I know why I do what I do. Like I said, I do get sensory accommodations at school, so for me, it was worth knowing and addressing so things like that could be adjusted. Not everything can be "adjusted," though, and so there are bound to still be more sensory overloads, and I've accepted that.