Where are the hyposensitive autistic people?

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Hypo- and hyper-sensitivity both refer to unusual sensory experiences, the extreme ends of the spectrum of sensitivity. What you've described here sounds common. People experience things differently while under stress.

Also some senses can be hypersensitive while others are hyposensitive.

Seeking things out is behavior, which is driven by thoughts. Behavior doesn't necessarily reflect sensory experiences, which are automatic and unrelated to thoughts. People can seek out things that overwhelm them for a variety of reasons, but seeking out those things doesn't imply that those people don't get overwhelmed by what they seek.

TY for the clarification. Then it stands: my ASD-like BFF is mostly hyposensitive (with mostly avoidant behavior) and I am mostly hypersensitive (with mostly sensation seeking behavior). The question was where are the hyposensitive folks. My hyposensitive ASD-like BFF lives a mild, sheltered life and isn't compelled to seek a forum (or diagnosis), so she is at home reading.

This is a very interesting topic, maybe you could help me out (need it)

I have an autistic colleague, she hates it when people come at appointments either too soon or too late: do you have an appointment at 10.00, and someone shows up at 9.50, she'll say "well, what a surprise" meaning "you're too early" and when the person shows up at 10.10, her comment would be "so happy to see you, I already worried" meaning "your're too late".
This would fit to the "classical" idea about autism as being not flexible, rigid, wanting a strict correspondence between inner expectations and outer reality: if I expect things to happen at 10.00 than that is what it should be
You can also see this in her opinion about heat: if temperature drops below 19C, she complains that it is cold, but when it is above 22C, she complaints that it is hot, her range of "pleasure" is extremely narrow

In this sense, everything would be "hyper". The strange thing is that I cannot understand how some things could be "hyper" and other things "hypo"

If I would fill in the list, I would guess:

Sight - normal (only thing normal)
Auditory - hyper, don't like noises
Smell - hypo, don't smell anything, need to put my nose right in a rose flower to smell anything
Touch - hyper, don't like touching
Taste - hypo, don't taste a lot, throw a lot of chilli in my food to taste anything
Vestibular - hyper, I easily fall in a metro train while others easily keep standing straight
Proprioceptive - don't know
Pain - hypersensitive (this is the worst part)
Heat - don't know

how in the world is it possible that these things differ so much??

There's also a 2nd question:
you could name these things "sensory abnormalities"; but autism doesn't have to be necessarily the same as having "sensory abnormalities"

In order to interact will people sometimes have to detune my senses. Inane chatter ,Abrupt and. Very loud noises makes it hard to be around some people . And then if you add background noises , would all by themselves make you bonkers. Things that create too much input without purpose, seem to cause me to want to be elsewhere.
It occasionally seems it is on purpose . Hearing protection. Almost seems to be a must. , most times .

What does that have to do with the thread topic though? The topic is sensory sensitivity.

Also, what you've described here, rigidity (it could be that your colleague is simply interpreting the concept of appointment times literally rather than being rigid), is a core symptom and is a part of current autism diagnostic criteria. So I don't know why you are calling it "classical."

No, this thread is about sensory sensitivity. The sensation of temperature only involves one or two sensory modalities, so it's not necessarily true that everything about your colleague is hyper.


People's sense of taste, touch, sound, etc. are not all connected in the body or brain, so they can be affected differently.

You're right, autism is not the same thing. Autism is a syndrome and is therefore defined by multiple atypical neurodevelopmental traits, whereas sensory sensitivity is just one such trait.

my mom gets burned because of that..
but she can detect smells much better than me

i fit most of the criteria fro HYPO more than hyper..
including things you mentioned about eating extreme tastes
(i dump tons of spice or lemon - used to eat lemon pickles, or lemons with red chilli powder + salt was my favourite thing to eat-- )

jumping
(once i was in an episode of my uncle's tv show for kids
and i was supposed to be still --
like all the other 'extra' kids were, to depict life-size dolls/toys--
my brother too-

and unlike the other children,
i couldn't stop doing jumping jacks on that spot the entire time..
they kept stopping filming and asking me to be still but i couldn't
then they said, ok keep doing that, since u cannot stop jumping-
we'lll just making it out that you're a battery-run toy that jumps )

that's why i used to be mistaken for a cheater during exams-- because i couldn't stop
fidgeting..so much so my teacher would sit in front of me to watch me closely.
i told him -'im the last person to cheat' (all the other kids were except for my brother who ewwas also in that class)
'if i cheated, why do i always get D's and F's?'
but he continued to do that.


i think the hyper comes about only when there is overload mentally. .

do you find yourself running hot water on your hands? i did that for HOURS from age 10 (when i could get away with it by pretending i was taking a long time going) ... i do that here and there now too.. but try niot to becaus eonce in that state i am in a trance.. it's something that can go on for ages and i don't want to leave my kids unattended (i did that several times for relief - the hot water thing- and all those times the kids did things like flood the kitchen, or crying- and i was in such a 'trance' state that i couldn't collect myself..

I like grindcore, spicy food and driving really fast, would that be typical of the 'hyposensitive' profile? I generally crave stimulation.

Be careful the driving really fast can backfire on you , might find safer ways to feed your need for intense input.
Have had similiar needs / cravings to stimulate intensity of input . Having excessive neural density as compared to a NT possibly requires stronger / more intense , forms of input to ones nervous system .?

Does swimming help? Several people have claimed it helps people with autism.

I remember every time I swam I felt much better- although for actually functioning properly, I still needed to have medication prescribed- that I only recently have been taking


Equine therapy is also often given to autistic children specifically as a treatment ..


Horse-riding has a lot of bumps and sensory input that may help, perhaps??


Biking really fast.. Jogging.. All those things helped me before that ive stopped doing..


I know ppl slam themselves against walls and beds to feel better too. Or truly dangerois antics.


My middle brother injured himself doing that.


Maybe learning to skydive and then doing it often could help.

I always have felt hang gliding would help me get that out of my system.. A literal lift

TVO used to show / follow children and adults both hang-gliding in various shows...

These all sound like good items to try. But some days , I think immediate pressure is possibly needed
Slamming oneself onto a bed. Or other semi swimming actions might be necessary to a individual. Maybe ,
Used to enjoy swimming underwater in a friends pool. For as long as I could possibly hold my breathe .
Just thoughts to consider.

A really good one could be to lie down and have a separate mattress that you have a person (or children) lie down on- sandwiching you but not in a risky, life-threatening or injurious manner.

I used to ask my younger cousins to do that to me -when we stayed at their home during the summers.

I told them to slam themselves if they could..they had lots of fun doing that.

My mom used to have my sister or brother roll on her back pretending it was a rollercoaster. My dad had all 5 of us stand on him - 1 on his head/skull- daily.

Once he had a very fat chef at the hotel of my cousin's wedding, stand and walk all ovee his back for ages. He asked for the heaviest person in the hotel and that's who they sent.


. XH used to have me lay on his back like a paperweight for hours to help him sleep.

I say all this because it seems you don't have to havr ASD to appreciate the body squeeze and pressure..

Temple Grandin ..
had invented a machine that squeezed her whole body almost like it was to crush her but noy as dangerous that she wd stay in for a long time for sensory relief

This sounds brilliant. My weighted blanket never seemed like quite enough. ....
When hubby was alive would get him to lay on top of me just to feel the weight .