your experiences with sensory processing

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hi.
im working on a paper that requires some research into sensory processing disorder. specifically hypersensitivity.
currently, i am looking into how it is experienced by people who have it.
so far ive found enough negative experiences, (sadly), but i was wondering, are there any positive ones?
any way in which the way your senses are heightened that is helpful to your daily life, pleasant, or just, you know, not negative?
it would help me a lot if you specified. (i truly hope that you have those experiences.)

Totally. My sensory processing issues probably cause me more pain than they do positive experiences, but I still have positive experiences as well. For example, I recently figured out that I may have a form of synesthesia, which is basically where your senses are crossed. So if you have synesthesia, you might be able to taste words or smell music. Anything that involves the senses can be crossed. Another way I experience positive sensory experiences is with stimming. You know how some autistic people spin the wheels of a toy car or watch ceiling fans, etc. for hours in end? It's because it's a pleasant sensory experience. That is why autistic people do repetitive movements- it satisfies an overwhelmed or under sensitive nervous system. Another positive sensory experience I personally have is with music. Since my ears are constantly bombarded by loud noise and chaos all day long, I treasure music because it's almost like heaven. It gives me a break. If other people experienced music like this, they would need to listen to the same song over and over for hours on end too.

There are other ways my sense help too. My amazing sense of hearing also allows me to hear very faint noises. My hypersensitive sense of smell allows me to smell the gas leak before everybody else does. That could save people. If that's not positive, I don't know what is! My (sensory seeking) sense of touch means that I get amazingly pleasant sensory experiences from touching certain textures. That is why you may see me rubbing something over and over for hours. It's calming, soothing, and it gives me input I need to satisfy my sensory system.

I hope your paper goes well . It is true that there are a lot of negative experiences with sensory sensitivities, but that doesn't imply there aren't positive ones as well !

I have really sensitive vision and hearing and sometimes those can be really enjoyable. I have subdued lighting in my house using colored LEDs and I can adjust the color. They look like little colorful stars to me, all in evenly-spaced rows and I feel fascinated and captivated by each one when I gaze at them - almost like something deep within me is being called by the light. Even though I'm 60 I still have this super-acute hearing and I frequently pick up faint sounds of wildlife around where I live. It's like carrying a large volume of space around me where I'm aware of all sounds - they don't really get filtered. It makes me much more situationally aware than the neurologically typical people I find myself around. And I have a fascination for patterns of sound and music as well as visual patterns, both static and dynamic. Ahrix Nova is an example of music that transports me instantly. I do amateur drawings and some painting and these are enjoyable also. When I was a kid the neighbors would get concerned because I'd stand staring at tree bark for a very long time - I was enjoying myself. When I allow myself the time, I still find patterns in nature to be beautifully absorbing. The patterns bring something up from deep within me. As an adult I got in the habit of ignoring my sensory sensitivities, and that makes life grey. I even like the animated smilies provided below this text box in which I'm typing on WrongPlanet as they bring up all sorts of memories and feelings.

Most of the sensory issues are negative for me, however there was 1 time I smelled burning rubber near an elevator. No one noticed it until I said something to an administrator (this was at school). They investigated & found something wrong & closed the elevator for repairs. They said it was good I said something.

Also, since I have so many problems that others don't, I was called a hypochondriac a lot until I stopped voicing what was bothering me. I became very independent because no one would help me. In a way that's good. I learned how to problem-solve my way around my sensory issues -- even though some of my solutions can scare people that don't know me.

Mine is a zigzagged case within my whole lifetime.

Sensory seeker as a child, avoidant as a teen, then regained balance as an adult. Across lifespans, my sensory sensitivity didn't changed -- what changes, however, is how my body and mind takes and reacts to it.

So I know the good and the bad experiences. It's ups and it's downs. My experiences varies too wildly, so I just had to say the overall experiences within time spans than specific experiences...


Me as a sensory seeking child -- no one knew some of my behaviors are sensory seeking. Everyone assumed that I'm 'brave', or a darer, or thrill seeking, or excitable, or affectionate because I used to demand physical contact. I have a screwed sense of fear, which I don't know if it helps or not...
It was great.

Me, as a teen, who became sensory avoidant -- how did this happened?? In my case, sometime during my late childhood, I began having signs of anxiety. Since then, I was starting to lose the sensory seeking trait: my own conclusion is that it's no coincidence. I became too intolerant to go on, and began withdrawing. Usual negative experiences went -- sensory overload, overstimulation, etc.. With lots of meltdowns involved. Being sensitive means no one knew what I'm perceiving, and people thinking that I'm overreacting. Add exhaustion due to the teenage life's demands, I end up being too vulnerable.
And of of course, this is the timespan that I'd definitely relate to most aspies.

Then, me as an adult at this present -- I sort of mapped out my senses.
It's more than just desensitization: like there's a difference between understanding the stimuli and learning how to take it without overwhelming yourself -- even if you're sensitized, from just the long term means of 'getting used to it' or short term means of mentally shielding yourself from it to prevent overload that actually costs energy.
There's no sensory overload since then -- not only being more sensitive than the norm, my range of comfort is also wider than that. Not even during times I become sensory sensitive during monthly, during being sick, or even during exhaustion that strips several levels of defences and threshold that lasted a week. So yes, even if motor engines became sounding like roaring thunder, or a breeze constantly gives burning like sensation, I still 'get' it with little consequences.
I don't know who else does...

What's annoying me in this present is the occasional glitch in auditory processing and additional interference due to lack of filter, in which bad short term memory never helps with communication.
Cold, is something my body couldn't handle well. Yet my mind does... So I still have the focus and means to function, yet I still end up shaking and sneezing, or even sensing pain because of it. Still no overstimulation, no sensory overload. The closest would be being overwhelmed enough to rise my defences. My cold threshold is too low, and my tolerance just grows then deconditions itself. And why I hate cold.
And I'm still a picky eater because I had little means of understanding taste itself, so I'm still working on this. At least I have some progress...

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I am hypersensitive in all of my senses except for my vestibular sense. I am hyposensitive in my vestibular sense and seek stimulation of that sense. So, I pretty much have negative experiences with all of my senses except for my vestibular sense (my worst sense is tactile). But I get very positive enjoyment from my vestibular sense. It is why I love and crave amusement park rides. I have had roller coasters and amusement parks as a special interest since about age 4, but I do not know which came first, my special interest in amusement parks in general or my love for rides.

My favorite sensations are going fast, air time, and spinning. I have never gotten motion sickness, and I've read that being able to spin for long periods of time without getting dizzy or sick is common in those on the spectrum. My favorite roller coaster, Cedar Point's Magnum XL-200 (the coaster in my avatar and the inspiration behind my user name), is absolute euphoria for my vestibular sense. The speed and the air time are like heaven. I'm actually kind of glad I didn't have occupational therapy as a child, because, as much of a problem as my sensory issues are, I can't imagine having a normal vestibular sense. It creates so much joy and ties in so wonderfully with one of my biggest special interests. I couldn't fathom getting motion sickness or not being able to ride all day long when I go to an amusement park.

I only get to go to Cedar Point once a year usually, so the rest of the year, I mainly get vestibular sensation from riding in the car or the bus. I also enjoy spinning in my work chair. I just went to Cedar Point the end of July, so I will have to go for another whole year before I can fully indulge my vestibular sense again.

I've always loved spinning rides. But I didn't like the feeling of roller coasters when I was little. I loved them from a mechanical and scientific perspective, but I didn't like the feeling of the drops. My parents took me on the Magnum when I was 6, back when it was the biggest and baddest of its day, and I was scared off coasters for several years. But around age 11, my sensory preferences changed, and that's when I began to love the feeling of coasters, too.

The only sense I'm not sure about is my proprioceptive sense. I can't figure out if I'm hypo- or hypersensitive in that area. I'd probably qualify as hyposensitive with interoceptive sense. Extremely hypersensitive when it comes to pain, which is awful.

See, I don't get that "stomach drop" feeling on roller coasters. I don't really even understand what people mean when they describe it. I think I must have had that feeling when I was little, and that's why I didn't like coasters then, but I don't have it now. My sensory issues have changed several times throughout the years. My favorite feeling ever is air time. That glorious feeling of weightlessness- it's the only time I don't "feel." I have such severe tactile sensory issues that air time is really the only moment when I can feel "free."

Touch isn't a big deal for me. I don't like being touched, but it's more because I don't like people near me rather than sensory-based. But I have always had a terrible time with clothes. It's probably what affects my life the most as far as sensory issues go. And I've had that since I was at least two. Don't know if I had clothes issues when I was an infant. One of my biggest things is that I have never been able to wear pants with a zipper. I have always worn pants with elastic waistbands. With me, I have to find clothes that come the closest to making me feel as though I'm wearing nothing at all. I dress entirely for comfort, otherwise I couldn't make it through the day.