Sensory overload?

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I have read that many people with AS have an exaggerated response to sensory stimuli...they might be oversensitive to loud noises, for example, or high-pitched sounds, or react badly to bright lights and colours. The oversensitivity could extend to touch and taste, too; maybe even to certain scents, I don't know.
Myself, I have an abnormal (and very unpleasant) response to the sound of people whistling. No matter how faint this is, or how far away, I feel an immediate and almost un controllable response that is akin to an irrational rage. The feeling is an almost physical irritation that is intensely uncomfortable. I realise of course that people have a right to whistle if they feel like it, and I have no right to stop them, but this thought does not in any way prevent my response, which (if the sound is faint) can occur even before I am consciously aware of the cause. (I believe that this shows the response is neurological, not merely emotional.)
Although my friends are sympathetic,I try not to let strangers see my reaction because I have learnt the hard way that sadly, there are some people who, if thetsee that what they are doing disturbs you, do it more rhan ever, presumably because they like the sense of "power" they get from being able to upset you.
Does anyone else have a problem with hypersensitivity to the physical senses? If so. how do they deal with it, and does it ever cause difficulties?

I myself hate the sound of people scratching things, especially against their skin and against fabrics. When this happens, I feel very uncomfortable and irritated. The sound really annoys me. I can't describe it, it is like you said - a physical irritation!

Also, babies crying really distresses me, not because I want to help them but because of the high pitched sound. Again, this makes me feel very uncomfortable.

I have a wierd sense of taste too, especially to water. Most of my family and the people close to me think it's strange, but I really can taste the difference in different bottled and tap waters. I have many more but the list is too long!

Last edited by Zephyr on 05 Dec 2004, 7:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Alot of times when I hear a high-pitched noise, it really annoys me and I feel desperate to go somewhere else where I can't hear the noise anymore. And when I smell cigarette smoke, I need to leave the room immediantly, it smells so bad.

I hate the sound of people talking. Arg!

Well, more specifically, at work. (An office building, cubicle farm), I have no idea how everyone can work when you've got people 10 feet away speaking to each other. On some occasions, I may end up with 3 pairs of people, all talking, all within 30 feet of me! I can't get any work done when people around me are speaking.

the sound of people whistling really bothers me too. Also the sound of people singing out of key with music makes me cringe

I can definitley identify with this.

When I see bright surfaces, I always go into a fit of sneezes, like light reflecting off white concrete.
My left ear is really sensitive to "S" sounds, and it gives me goosebumps all over my body.
Babies crying sounds awful.
when I was younger I used to be afraid of the vacuum cleaner the sound of water going down the plughole of a bath.
I often smell things other people can't.
I get bursts of tastes in my mouth at random.
The high pitched sound of TV's being on is easily recognisable.

I thought I was the only one who did that! My parents always joked that I was allergic to the sun.

I am sensitive to low, rumbling sounds. It makes me feel as though I am losing my sense of self. This can also happen with repetitive sound or electric buzzing.

High-pitched sounds also bother me, in that they cause me physical pain.

Strangely, though, I often have difficulty making out what people are saying. I think it may be because I have trouble blocking out background noise, but I'm not sure. It is like someone else mentioned in another thread awhile back, that they sound like they are "speaking with mashed potatos in their mouth."



Same here. I am also extremely sensitive to fumes, which is quite a disadvantage at an art school, where a lot of people use oil paints and solvents . I can't even stand the smell of aerosol sprays or household cleaners.

Yes, those really wreek. The odd thing is though is when I was little I loved the smell of petroleum.

I teach dance, so I experiment a lot with different movements.

It turns out that this isn't a fixed-event; everyone can turn their sensitivity up or down, but few actually know how and everyone has different ways of doing it. It's heavily related to the stims we do as sensory-integration. A lot of Autistics find that they can listen better if they do a visual stim such as finger-flicking in front of their eyes. Audio and Video input seem to be linked in this way as interacting opposites.

I'm studying this heavily as many parents report that their children often don't like th sounds and smells of them cooking but certain activities remove the problem completely. This is all to do with attention-bandwidth. The most common sensitivity is to noise; a lot of Autistics can hear beyond the normal range, but this isn't because their hearing is 'better'. For that to happen, their ears would have to be 'better', instead the brain seems to amplify the incoming signal. So whilst such Autistics don't have bettern hearing, they can hear what everyone else hears but much more detailed. An Autistics can recieve as much detail from a single sound as an NT can from all their senses put together, if the Autistic doesn't tune-out other input it can lead to a shutdown of everything for a few seconds. The heartrate and body temperature usually shoot-up during this time but the person can't feel it until everything starts working again.

This then causes the person to panic, which leads to another shutdown and it keeps going and going until the person has a meltdown. This is usually the cause of most tantrums in Autistic children and it's important that something is done to facilitate self-stimulation so the Autistic can get themselves back under control.

Gum
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Sweet Tarts
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Perfume
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Smelly lipgloss
Gum
Winterfresh gum
Bubble gum

Mich

High pitched sounds, a lot of female singers' voices, certain fabrics, bright lights, and sunlight all bother me a lot.

Fabric textures really can do a number on me. Wool? Forget it. It makes my skin crawl to the point of madness. Cashmere does the same thing even though it's so soft. The thickness or newness of a fabric can make me nuts and quite distracted, too. My favorite shirts, pants and shoes are almost worn to the point of transparency. Somedays I can wear certain clothing items and somedays I can't (like high collar shirts/sweaters) and jewelry can make me just as irritated. I hardly ever wear rings, earrings, necklaces and bracelets because on days when I'm extra-sensitive or stressed, I have literally torn them off of my body just to escape the feeling of confinement they give me.

I also absolutely cannot stand any kinds of oils on the palms of my hands. My obsessive/compulsiveness kicks in whenever I feel any oily substance on my hands and I run to the nearest sink to wash, wash, wash.
Catffienated wrote:

Yes, they bother me, too.
Even heavy bass sounds and a few male singers' voices will do this to me, too....not all the time, but often. I wonder how some days I can deal better than other days? Bright lights/sunlight always bother me.

I've got these cool glasses that change in the sunlight; it means I don't have sunlight induced headaches and meltdowns everyday. Transistion lenses, I think.

I've wondered about those lenses that change in sunlight. I'll have to check those out. I get headaches quite often from bright lights/sunlight. My home is dimly lit and just perfect (to me). But I work under floresent lights and it can be heck.

I can't stand people singing out of tune, whispering, and chewing/lip smacking.

I hate chewing/lip smacking too, I also don't like slurping noises.