Having AS, Without Major Sensory Issues?

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Hello everyone, I was diagnosed with AS on April 24th of this year. In many ways the diagnosis is a good fit, offering an explanation for many of my traits and functioning difficulties. However, over the last couple of months, I've continued researching AS and it seems as though the vast majority of people with this syndrome have major sensory problems of some sort and many have said that these problems are central to the AS condition.

In my case my sensory issues are VERY mild. I have an aversion to loud, sudden noises and I find the tastes and textures of certain kinds of food very unpleasant, but nothing causes me pain or extreme discomfort. I'm not bothered at all by fluorescent lights, in fact I sometimes forget to turn them off when I go to sleep.

It's on this point alone that I question my diagnosis. Do any of you have AS (either self-diagnosed or professionally diagnosed) without any significant sensory issues?

Thank you in advance for any replies.

I think this goes both ways. There are only a few things that I truly can't stand, and a few minor annoyances but I think sensory issues also have to do with enjoying things more than most people. I know I enjoy music more than most people and I'm very sensitive to sound. All sound...if you have trouble filtering out noise I'd say that's sensory issue.

Do you have difficulty using more than one sense at the same time? Mono-processing is due to sensory overload.

I don't think the fact that your sensory issues are mild means you've got the wrong diagnosis. Few Aspies fit the stereotypes perfectly. Sensory issues are also one of those things that *some* Aspies can kind of out grow. My middle son has mild sensory issues. He's not really outgrown them as they aren't really a problem. Eldest son has severe sensory issues and he's outgrown them somewhat by getting use dto things a bit. He used to freak if a drop of water touched his skin, and now he can take a shower. Over time he's become desensitized. He still freaks out about other things.

No two Aspies are exactly alike.

Every case is different. Some never deal with sensory issues, others have major issues for life, some are in the middle & others can desensitize over time.

Some aspies can be hyposensitive as well and it doesn't have to be consistent, at least according to Attwood and Grandin. Personally, my sensitivities have been consistent, I think.

Also, people probably speak more about more intense sensory issues than less intense ones, possibly to find solutions or for some other reason.

As you get older you just learn to ignore a lot of the sensory issues because there's nothing you can do about them anyway. I have two fluorescent light fixtures in my home now and most of the time I don't really notice them. One has taken to flickering lately and while I can ignore it, it is irritating - like trying to read in a strobe light. The other I only notice first thing in the morning - when I fist turn it on, the faint buzzing noise it makes seems incredibly loud. It doesn't cause me pain or anything, I just seem to be hypersensitive to it right after awakening. By the time I get around and get dressed, I don't notice it anymore.

Its been discussed in threads here before that several of us who grew up with the old vacuum-tube television sets back in the 50s and 60s, could hear the tiny squealing noise made by the CRT tube's exciter from one end of the house to the other anytime the teevee was on, when theoretically that noise is above the range of human hearing. I didn't know until my 20s that it was unusual to be able to hear that - I thought everybody was hearing it, until one day I mentioned it in a roomful of people and they all looked at me like I'd suddenly started speaking in tongues.

Remember the DSM criteria are primarily for diagnosing AS in children, so if you're over the age of 12, you've already started learning coping mechanisms and begun ignoring some sensitivities just to be able to function on a daily basis. As you get more comfortable wearing the label of 'Autistic' and absorb the complexities and the subtleties of the Disorder, there will be many little "Aha!' epiphanies when you'll suddenly realize that something you've done all your life that you thought was just a personal quirk is actually a direct result of how you have learned to deal with the effects of your Autism.

OMG, I used to hear that, too, and it didn't seem like anyone else could so they'd just shrug it off while I was at the mercy of that headache inducing sound. So long, tubes.

That was really well said!

I have AS and I am not real sensitive to light and I don't have above normal hearing, food isn't an issue for me or smell or taste. Touch has been an issue and sounds but that's it but it wasn't extreme. My sensory issues was worse as a kid though. I hated tight clothing and I wouldn't wear jeans.

In fact I think my sense of smell is low because other people can smell things before me or smell things I can't smell. And there are smells that don't bother me such as unleaded gas or that board cleaner stuff teachers use but yet they bother lot of people.

Yes, I know a few people who have mild sensory issues. Their AS has been diagnosed as very mild, accordingly.

Sensory issues aren't even the DSM, so they aren't a requirement to being diagnosed.

The DSM does not list all of the criteria. It's just a guide, but not an absolute one. Psychiatrists look at all of the different factors that are related to AS and then base their diagnosis on that. When I was diagnosed, my sensory issues were taken into account.

I can't work with too much noise.

My sensory issues are also fairly minor.

I never understood the sensory problem. But yea, sudden and high pitched sounds disturb me. Still cant swallow the white of egg, cant touch to some objects. Not sure if these are relevant to it.

Here, too. Sudden, loud noises still bother me for a split second, but once I have identified the noise and its source I'm usually okay (there's the coping mechanism at work.) I never even realized that I actually suffer extremely short-term, acute anxiety when I encounter them until very recently.

I used to have more trouble with small sounds. Ticking clocks used to bug the heck out of me (particularly if they were somewhat arhythmic). I learned to tune that out over time.

Still can't stand the sound of styrofoam squeaking, though. It's like someone sticking needles into my brain.