What issensory sensitivity of autistic people??

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Aspie/Autie cant filter out excessive background noises??

Is there a way i could experiment with it to test if im Autistic??

It is the five senses, magnified-- intensity depending on the person.
I'd say if you don't understand what that's like, you're probably not autistic.

That's not necessarily true.... You can get into a meltdown before you even realize what is causing it, think going to the mall pre-diagnosis. I had no idea I couldn't stand the mall for too long. I had no idea I started snapping at people if they asked me questions that required an answer in that environment. My mother thought I had low blood sugar or something. I hadn't even realised. It took 30 years for me to associate noise with that "omg brain-cringe" feeling. Or fluorescent lights with "I've had too much coffee or something, my brain is flashing". I just thought I had bad mood swings for no apparent reason...
To the OP, I think you need to put yourself in noisy, bright, hot, crowded places and analyse your feelings. If you notice you become completely unable to communicate nicely to anyone, you're going to shut down. Tell someone (friend, family) to keep asking questions and be obnoxious, if you find yourself unable to speak, you have your answer: a shutdown.
Edit: depending on your age and level of sensitivity, you could also go into a violent meltdown and scream uncontrolably that they can all go "ahem" themselves, so be sure to warn them of that possibility

Last edited by ediself on 03 Dec 2011, 12:13 pm, edited 5 times in total.

Well has anyone ever told you that your oversensative or complaining about nothing.......when really for you it really is too loud, to bright, too chaotic, but no one seems to understand then you might have sensory sensativity.

Ah, ediself has a point. Just in my experiences, I KNEW what bothered me. I forgot other people are different.

I find it hard to block out noise and crowds. Other women can easily get themselves absorbed in the clothes when they go shopping and are able to block out all the other people, but I can't. I stand there feeling bewildered, and if any person that I don't know stands right in my space, I have to walk away because I get too agitated, whereas I see other people not bothered about it. Also I cannot filter out noises. A couple of week ago I was in a restaurant having a nice meal, and someone had a brat screaming and screaming at the far end of the restaurant, and I found it really hard to block out the noise, and it reached a point where I couldn't eat my meal properly (what I paid a lot for). Even if other people found that hard to ignore, they still had coping skills and were able to stay calm and cool, whereas I was on the verge of ranting and raving at the mother for bringing the brat in, and then storming out slamming the door. But luckily I had enough self-control, and the mother took the brat out by then.

That's the worst.....and its why I probably won't have kids, there is no way I could handle the screaming and crying and would probably end up doing something stupid so no kids for me.

I am not officially diagnosed but I have a range of sensitivities including problems with background noise. They all include:

Sensitivity to bright sunlight.
Sensitivity to medications (most doses are too strong for me or I have a bad reaction to them).
Sensitivity to certain chemicals or household cleaners.
Could not stand labels in my clothes as a child. Not too bad with that now, but it really does depend on what material the label is made from.
Am irritated by certain materials (ie wearing pure wool is painful for me).
Cannot stand the sound of electronic equipment buzzing..drives me nuts.
Must make sure all bits and wrinkles are brushed out of the bed before sleeping as they can irritate my skin.
Cannot tune out background noise...Ie if the tv is on I need to mute it to speak on the phone. If in a crowded room I cannot hear what the person talking to me is saying over the racket. I am better at interacting with people one on one in a quiet room!

i get very pissed off when someone slam me (hard??) on my shoulder from behind or the sound of balloon/plastic bag popping.I salso couldnt stand the smell of dumpster too.Do you guys find you could only enjoy ur favourite music with a headphone and all the light turn off??Does that relate to sensory sensitivity??

What is it like to have sensory overload??

While it can be a different experience for different people, many people can experience pain/discomfort, and will need to remove themselves from the situation causing the overload. They may also experience a shutdown of the overloaded sense/s (or even their brain), and need to retreat into seclusion/quiet/dark in order to regain a sense of normalcy.

Think of it like when you overload an electric circuit and blow a fuse—things shut off completely.

The fact that you associated physical pain and hard sounds in one sentence could put you on the track to understanding WHY you're equally pissed off by both.
To me, a balloon popping is a bit like a slap on the brain. (on the back or the head, to make my sentence more "normal")
You may have sound sensitivity... It's like some kind of synesthesia where your brain translates sound as a physical feeling. Motorbikes roaring past, a plane, any sudden burst of sound like that might either startle you badly or be physically painful. Experiment with this, and you'll understand how you can get pissed off by a sound slapping you in the head.
Sensory overload might also differ from person to person, since we're all sensitive to different degrees to different stimuli, but generally at the stage of understanding you're at: you'll notice you're very pissed off try to listen, look, smell around you and you'll likely find the cause of the anger and discomfort. Try to remove the source and see if you feel better, then you'll know what you're sensitive to...
If you want to know what sensory overload feels like, go closer to the source and wait patiently. You'll see what it feels like (in my opinion, you're the kind who's prone to meltdowns (pissed offedness lol) so mind your surroundings.

Should point out that autism is a lot more than just being sensitive to sounds and lights and such. You can be sensitive without being autistic. You can also be hyposensitive to touch, sound, lights and such. I have to wonder if people who enjoy mosh pits are hyposensitive and need more stimuli. You could be both hyper and hypo. Did you see the tests up at the top of the forum? That might give you some clues.

I am sensative to touch, sound and lights, but a mosh pit on occasion does not bother me........I have to be ready for it and into the music however.

That makes sense. I can handle loud music if I'm ready for it. If there are strobes I'm out of there. I am too darned old for mosh pits.