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yct
Butterfly
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14 Oct 2017, 9:22 pm

Could touching hair be a sensory issue with aspergers. I enjoy touching my hair is this an aspie trait or no relation?



Testingwaters
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14 Oct 2017, 11:02 pm

I was d/x with Autism, but not Asperger's. I have an obsessive compulsion of touching my afro to the point of 'needing' medication. Obsessive-compulsions are common in ASD. Perhaps we're 'stimming'. People stim in different ways. There are autistics that are fascinated by hugs and the pressure of heavy blankets (like me). I would say hypersensitivity touch may also be a bit less common since autistics in general are prone to self-harm. Not saying that you harm yourself, but do you get what I'm saying?

A person who is over-sensitive to touch would least likely harm themselves, and most likely to hate any kind of touch. But since a lot of autistics are not that, your constant hair pulling could stem from your obsessive-compulsion, which stems from autism. Autism affects people in different ways, so avoiding touch is also an autistic characteristic, since autism does heighten hearing, visual, or touch sensitivities.



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Tufted Titmouse
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14 Oct 2017, 11:51 pm

I did that...Growing up, all the girls at my school knew i was gonna touch their hair, its kinda like saying hi, what nice pretty hair u have whats up. Lol i didnt mean anything weird by it but yeah....


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BirdInFlight
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15 Oct 2017, 12:16 pm

I don't know about generally, but I do know I used to compulsively stroke my own hair and in reflecting upon the behavior I pretty much know it was a form of self-soothing behavior.

I got teased for it in front of class by my teacher and never did it again unless alone. I then also developed a habit of compulstively twisting small strands of hair in a very systematic manner, creating rows of these very tiny "dreads". I know that this too, for me, was a self-soothing activity, so, for me, it was a stim. Someone here denied it would be a stim but it was definitely a stimming behavior for me.



BeggingTurtle
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15 Oct 2017, 11:13 pm

I compulsively touch my hair on a regular basis. Running my fingers through it, scratching, or something.
Never touched anyone else's hair...


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EzraS
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16 Oct 2017, 8:19 am

My opinion is it's not what is done, but rather why it is done. That's what makes whatever a stim. Because the reason it occurs is because of autism. Playing with hair, chewing on a pencil, bouncing a knee, whatever.