SENSORY PROBLEMS- Do share yours

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Smell- big deal for me. I hate the smell of chemicals, hostpital smells (you know how hostpitals smell weird?) and any other overbearing smell/conflicting smells. It used to make me get panic attacks or really sick and anxious is general. In fact, when I suffered from an anxiety disorder, you couldn't get me anywhere near the science department in my old school because of all the smells and I would have a meltdown. It's not so bad now, but it's still very annoying. I was once dragged to a soap shop called "Lush" and it was horrible because there was an inescapable smell of different soaps in a tiny crowded area with loads of different people and noises making it more claustrophobic. This leads me to the next bit. I also like to smell my food before I eat it. I do this without noticing I'm doing it.

Sound- I love the city, but I hate the sounds. I hate walking down the street and being distracted by different voices and noises all mixing up with each other. It's difficult to pay attention to what someone is saying in a crowded resturant. It drains me so much. It's one reason why I can't get a job; most vacancies these days are in supermarkets, which are loud and upsetting. I can bearly walk into a McDonalds because of the sounds of the kitchen. I have gone to more parties and have made improvements in dealing with mixed up noises, but I usually don't like parties (and I'm so glad that I didn't have to go clubbing with my sister and her friend because I can't go near clubs).

I don't like a lot of types of music because of the way they've manipulated the voices to sound so unnatural. When I was a child, that song "Blue" by Eiffel 65 and it made me feel physically sick. I love the song now because of nostalgia, but it used to distress me so much.

I don't like my environment being too loud or too confusing, but I don't mind listening to my MP3 really loud because at least I can control the volume on that and it seperates me from the noises around me.

Sight- this is becoming less of a huge problem (thank goodness). I usually get upset when I see flashing lights, though. I'm very sensitive to light and I'm usually the one turning lights off (even when I was at school). When I was young, I had a particular bedtime routine and summer really messed up my biological clock because I would be going to bed at 7 while the sun was still out (that was the time I demanded to go to sleep- no earlier, no later than exactly 7pm). Also, the lighting in school and in shops are headache inducing nightmares.

Touch- I don't like hugs and I don't like to give hugs (unless it's my dog). I used to overreact to pain (and I mean like going Incredible Hulk after stubbing my toe), but now my sister has helped me to reduce that. I hate needles because I don't like the sensation and it has caused me to have a phobia of them (so if I need a blood test, it has to be a big deal). I sometimes ask the doctor of they could restrain me somehow. I asked for numbing cream, but I didn't get it. Don't know why. I'm very tickleish as well. Everytime I have ever been checked in airports and similar places for weapons and such, I'd have to fight my temptation to roll into a ball because of people touching my ribcage. Very stressful. I knew that if I freaked ot, I'd have hundreds of police men and women pointing guns at me, so I tried to not freak out.

Taste; this doesn't bother me at all, as far as I'm aware. Well, not anymore than most people, anyway. I love mixing my food up. I love trying different foods and drinks and I usually don't dislike many foods/drinks. If I don't like something, you KNOW it's bad, let's put it that way....

The smell of food can be annoying if I can smell different kinds of food (fast food stand and food markets are bad for this), but the taste doesn't bother me. Taste and smell are so similar, and yet smell distresses me horribly, but taste doesn't bother me at all.

Weird, eh?

My sister makes up for the taste thing, though. She's so picky!

So, when I'm in a place like a supermarket or in the middle of the city, I have to worry about the smells, the sounds, bright lights, people bumping into me on top of having to talk to them. GRRRRRRR! It's so exhausting!

So, what about you guys? What's your sensory issues and what are they like?

I'll try to keep this short as possible.

Touch-- Biggest one. Hugs bumping/brushing against me or too many people in a room hurt. I like tight clothes because baggy clothes would rub against me. Animals are even worse.

Smell-- N/A

Sound-- Voices. Multiple voices. Someone talking too "authoritative-like" to me. And somedays everything is loud to me and I'm covering my ears. I don't have a problem with just in general loud noises, only when there are multiple different noises. I seen you mentioned music. Classical music overwhelms me or anything with too many instruments at once. Otherwise I love music. I have a problem with listening to my music too loud.

Sight-- Bright lights and sunlight. Must wear sunglasses or shield eyes unless it's nighttime. Can't process much visual, so close eyes when out in public a lot. Have to have hear or sunglasses or something over eyes so it's not bad.

Taste-- Nothing other than I'm a really picky eater. Same foods over and over, have to be same brand, etc..

Hard to say which annoy me and overwhelm me more-smells or sounds. I think they are equally hard to take. Once, I had to take a bus to see my counselor. The passenger in front of the boarding line was a lady in a wheelchair. I could smell this horrible smell coming off her, like unwashed butt. I started to gag, and was tempted to wait for the next bus. But that would have made me late. So I rode the bus, with the window open and tried not to cry. By the time I reached my counseling appointment, I broke down crying. She didn't understand how a mere unpleasant odor could do this, and asked me if the smell "reminded me of something unpleasant."

Sounds are the worst for me, and this problem has been getting worse the older I get, as I am an old hag now (or so my kids say). I hate the sound of motorcycles, especially when I'm driving and they come out of nowhere. I also hate it when my son (also AS) turns the TV up loud, especially pointless commercials. When people ask me something and there is background noise, its hard to sort out the sounds.

I know what you mean. Me and my dad have that problem. When our focus is drawn to something, it's almost like we turn deaf or something and I can be very distracted if there are several things going on at once.

I hate sitting inside cafes sometimes, because there is background noise, the warmth is uncomfortable, and the food smells make me feel sick. I prefer to sit outside and get cold.

I hate crowds, because of all the people milling around into my personal space and the corners of my eyes.

Smell: Used to bother me when I was younger. Certain smells would give me a headache or make me sick, like if I walked into Subway I'd have to leave or I'd get a migraine. Now, not really. Haven't encountered any problems with this for several years.

Taste: I don't like raw tomatos or raw onions, among other things. They don't make me sick, but I just don't like them. I like onions if they're cooked, or salsa.

Sight: I wear dark sunglasses outside to avoid having to squint heavily. Enough said.

Touch: Doesn't really bother me, although I'm not normally a fan of physical contact. I cannot stand being tickled, though, because I was tactile defensive when I was very young and they used that to desensitize me. I do sometimes squeeze my head when stressed, and I've found that it can do a lot to calm me down for whatever reason. I only discovered that one recently, oddly enough.

Sound: I can hear some things others can't, but otherwise my hearing is quite normal. Generally, sounds don't bother me, though background noises force me to concentrate hard on what a person is saying.

smells:
i dislike per-fume as it is "pervasive fumes" in my mind. people who wear perfume smell like toilet cleaning agents. i can not tell the difference between perfumes. they all smell like industrial detergents to me.

i more dislike the smell of people's body odor. i know that most people dislike BO, but i am frantically evasive of BO smells. i will make absolutely sure i do not inhale any of their odor after i perceive it. i escape immediately and i do not care about the "apologies" i must construct for the person i escaped from.

the worst smell sensation is the smell of human flatulence. i do not know why i find it more offensive than even the smell of a carcass. people have realized i have a serious phobia for farts, and they "save them up", and then "express" them in front of me so they can laugh at my reaction . even if i do not smell their flatulence, i know that it is intermingled with the air i am inhaling, and i have to get out because i do not want any one's anal gases inside my lungs. that may be a touch OCD, but my revulsion for the thought of inhaling farts is extreme.

dead carcasses are severe to smell, but farts have a special revolting significance to my subconscious.

visions: i dislike seeing fluorescent tubes. i also dislike seeing the area they light up.
i can see the flicker at 50 hz so easily, but others see a constant beam of light.
i get cranky after a while when i can not escape fluorescent lighting.

i hate driving on a long straight road in the bright sunlit afternoon when there are intermittent trees bordering the road. their shadows block the sunlight for only a short while and then it is bright sun again, and then it is shadow again etc.

the sun is like "on-off-off-on-off-on-off-off-off-on-off-off-off-on-on-on-on"... etc in rapid succession and it drives me crazy. i get so annoyed with no objective target of my annoyance when i am driving along tree lined roads in morning or afternoon sunshine. it is aimless anger i develop in those situations.

tactile:

i can only wear fleecy lined things (with comfort that is). i wear tracksuit pants that are lined with soft fleece, and i also wear tee shirts that are soft and seamless cotton.

when i have to go out and wear a long sleeve shirt and business pants, i always wear my tracksuit pants underneath the business pants, and a tee shirt underneath my business shirt. the problem is my tee shirts are all short sleeve, and they can not protect my forearms from the texture of my long sleeve shirt. i am often obsessed with rearranging my fore sleeves so as to not feel their rough texture on my skin.

i can not wear shorts unless i am going to be standing up while i wear them.
as soon as i sit on one of my favorite chairs in shorts, i am stunned by the aggravating texture of the fabric on the chair against my bare legs. all textures are unacceptable for me to press my skin upon except for textures that are barely noticeable.
i can wear shorts to bed as i am not bothered by the texture of sheets.

auditory: i can hear things that are stinging to my mind, but i can back away and avoid them so they are of no great concern (unless i am trapped in a harsh sounding environment where my "squint of rejection" and my "hands on my ears" does not block the distressing sound).
i can not listen to cheap stereos because they make me squirm as if i am listening to fingernails on a chalk board. the timbre of some people's voices tickles my inner ear and i have to put my hands up and block my ears or i will have to try to scratch a tickle that i can not reach with my finger in my inner ear that was started by the tone of some persons voice

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i can not begin to cover my plethora of sensorial issues, so i will leave it at those few examples.

Sound: I can't stand the sound of television. The volume has to be very low and I am constantly having to accomodate its rapid variations. Other people are not averse to it being loud and moan at me when I complain and cover my ears in pain.

I similarly can't tolerate outdoor noise caused by engines revving and neighbours playing music, shouting, or conversing loudly below my window.

I cannot tolerate being in rooms where people are talking. It disorientates and exhausts me, often causing overload. At my previous workplace, everyone (but me) decided they wanted to work in a busier, more close-knit environment, and it was decided several more desks were to be moved into the office.


Light/vision: I need sunglasses to be comfortable when outdoors, even in winter. I have to wear a baseball cap indoors to shield my eyes or I overload. I become disorientated by moving crowds of people and traffic, and crowded environments.

I cannot tolerate flickering monitors. At my previous workplace, I arrived one day to find my flat screen monitor had been given away without my permission and replaced with a flickering monstrosity. I attempted to work but had a meltdown and ran out the building. It took ages to get it back with the help of the disability dept, during which time I could not work in the office. A few weeks later, the same person did the same thing again, only the replacement monitor did not work at all.


Taste and texture: Cannot stand burnt bits on food. Cannot eat much of any particular food before its properties become aversive. Spice helps conceal the underlying properties of food. I am underweight as a result of this issue.


Touch: Everything itches. But when my skin is exposed, I hate the feeling of the air even more. Being held tightly is relaxing.


Smell: I can detect faint odours and minute amounts of pollution, which also tickles my airways, causing coughing. Others find this perplexing because they cannot detect anything.

I hate the feeling of not having bathed. It feels strange on my skin.

I used to eat tomato soup, but it bothered me that it tasted metallic and overly sugary. Is this supertasting?

I hate feeling dirty, too. Which is part of why I shower first thing every morning. Just can't stand feeling grimy.

That could be supertasting, but more likely it is that the cans were older. Tomatos are slightly acidic, and will leech aluminum from the cans. They add sugar to help prevent this (this is the same reason why canned soda is slightly sweeter than bottled soda). A newer can would have less or no metallic taste, although the sweetness would remain.

I found it so strange that the taste was so obvious to me, but I've never heard another person complain about it.

I hate flashing lights in pretty much every form. Avatars, pop ups, walking with sun flashing through trees, flickering globes. Gets to me and I have to cover it or avert my eyes. I also see the light shimmering outwards from the globe in waves, where other people just see steady light or don't notice.

Taste- Not so much a problem as a difference. My sense of taste is highly-sensitive.

Smell- I don't really smell anything.

Touch- Over-sensitive, i feel pain when others would feel nothing. I cannot stand the feel of ripped cardboard, and i cannot eat peaches... the hairs on them drive me crazy (literally).

Sight- Photophobia. I can't ignore parts of my vision or "concentrate" on any one thing.

Auditory- I can't ignore sounds, or "concentrate" on particular sounds.

Proprioception- Not so much a problem as a difference. My body sometimes dissapears, and i'll have to move parts to register it again. It doesn't cause any problems and isn't even an inconvenience

Heat- Cannot stand the heat, will feel pain when others feel pleasure. Love the cold

Same here!


Me, too. It's my idea of Hell.

Sometimes, while sitting in a waiting room or at a bus stop, I read to pass the time. As soon as people start conversing with each other, I can't concentrate. I am forced to sit there, fuming, listening to inane chatter that I could care less about.


I hate it when I enter a vehicle, and smell gasoline, and nobody else does.

Sound - This is my worst problem. I really can't be anywhere noisy, especially when it's a bunch of different loud sounds at once, so parties, concerts, and even the school cafeteria are out of the question. Background noise is incredibly distracting; I'm very aware of it and I can't block it out. I'm aggravated by some sounds in particular, especially the sound of metal rubbing against metal. The positive side (however slight it may be) is that I pick up little sounds that most people don't, and I can almost always tell where a sound is coming from.

Taste - I'm a picky eater and always have been, though I can deal with a lot more foods now than I could when I was younger. I think my biggest issue with food is the texture of some of it - most of the foods I still can't eat without gagging consist of lots of different foods together and have a mushy texture. I don't need a lot of flavor. Plain pasta and condiment-less burgers? Fine by me.

Touch - I'm really sensitive to touch. I don't like being hugged or touched, especially light touch. (Though strangely enough, I have a very high pain tolerance.) There's a lot of things I don't like to touch: cardboard, newspaper, some fabrics, etc. And there are things I can only touch very lightly with the back of my hand, like concrete. But there are some things I love touching, like big plastic beads. I'm very sensitive to sunlight, humidity, and warm weather, so I pretty much stay inside all summer. Weather that most people find pleasant is miserable for me and I overheat easily. On the other hand, I do very well in cold weather. Like other posters, I hate feeling unwashed. Also, I like to pile on blankets while I sleep; I can't sleep without the pressure.

Sight - I take in a lot of visual information. When there's a lot going on visually, I feel disoriented and anxious. When there's a lot of sound there as well (as in a school pep rally) I overload almost immediately.

Smell - I'm actually not particularly sensitive to smell.

I dont like being hugged or touched or anyone coming too close to me, whom of which I do not know.I don't mind being hugged, cuddled, playfully patted, or such by people I know and trust.

I don't like loud sudden sounds such as a Harley suddenly revving it's engine as it rips down Gaetz avenue in downtown Red Deer, or a fire alarm suddently going off that is loud and continues to go off.This happened at work today (false alarm).I didnt freak out or have a meltdown, but it did bother my ears and cause me to lose focus on my work.

I don't like ths sound of ripping cardboard or rubbing styrofoam.

I don't like the feeling of dry skin on my fingertips due to dust or the feeling after opening many boxes under the finger nails..kinda like somthing is under my nails.

certain types of fabric gives me rashes on my legs which itches at first, but if left on can become painful and chafing.

Cant stand the smell of spray on deoderant, which my brother used to constantly spray and wear lots of at home.It gave me headaches and made me naseuas