Describe being touched

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Minds out of the gutter, kids!

I asked my wife (NT) what it was like when someone put their hand on her forearm. She didn't offer up much of a description, other than the sensation of feeling the hand on her arm.

I then described what I felt, and she was surprised. I described it as an unnerving tingling sensation, almost electric, that originates from the spot of skin-to-skin contact, and creeps quickly up my arm to the rest of my body. Simultaneously, my brain feels like it catches on fire at the base of my skull - a fire with no heat. All this together makes me want to run and/or jerk my arm away due to the discomfort.

Is this a familiar sensation for you? Is it totally different? How would you describe your sensation?

It is familiar, even though I feel that way only under certain circumstances.

When it is unexpected touching its like going down the first big hill on a roller coaster. I get 'butterflies' in my stomach, my heart rate increases, I'm uneasy, and I just want it to be over with. I still feel like someone is touching me for maybe a minute or so afterwards, somewhat like a tingling sensation... not really painful or anything but just sort of an odd feeling.

It's fine when I want it, probably don;t like to be touched when im concentrating but i wouldnt make a deal about it.

I find it to be extremely uncomfortable. It is my personal space that is being invaded and that personal space, for me, is fairly large. The sensation is mentally almost as if I were being physically attacked, and physically as if I were being burned, or perhaps shocked. My reaction is always to pull away as fast as possible and not to trust whoever touched me and avoid them in the future. It takes a lot of will power for me to tolerate doctors and dentists because of this.

My wife is constantly telling me I should get a professional massage. I tell her no way. What you're explaining is more or less the reason.

It's not bad when I'm expecting it - as long as I'm comfortable being touched by that person. I can hug a friend casually, but prefer not to.

My neck and my wrists are mostly off limits. I don't even want my wife touching me there - I don't know why.

It's so dependent on the context. If it's a surprise, I startle and shy away, and it feels a little bit like an electric shock. Hugs feel good, especially with the right person. It's just pressure everywhere, and usually in a nice way.

When I was a kid, I made the mistake of touching the metal on an electrical cord when it was halfway plugged in.

It feels like that. I wish I was exaggerating.

I usually feel the same. I just asked my roommate who has aspergers too and she says she feels the same.

For me, being touched feels more like the NT sensation, except that if it's unexpected part of my brain automatically decides it's bad-intentioned. I'm also acutely aware of even touch that most people don't notice. For example, if someone brushes up against me, I can feel every single spot on my body that they touched. I also feel an 'echo' of the feeling for a few seconds, but only if it's light touch (or hard enough to hurt, but that's a different echo). And if I imagine being touched I feel the echo too.

I'm NT. For me, and for most NTs I think, it depends on who's touching me and if I expect it and where the touch is. (Mind out of the gutter! )

So let's say someone touches my forearm. If I see the person coming, and I know this person well enough, it won't bother me at all that he/she is touching me. In fact, if I'm close enough (emotionally) to the person, it's basically the same sensation I get when I touch my arm with my own hand.

If I don't see the person, I might be startled, and the feeling might be something like what's described in the first post. I'm a bit of a jumpy person, so I might... well, jump.

If it's someone I neither like nor dislike (like, let's say a new coworker or someone of that nature), then the sensation is, again, something like the description in the first post. I wouldn't expect someone I don't know or who isn't emotionally close to me to touch me (without a reason, anyway). Again, I might jump, or shrink away, even if I see the person coming. Even if I don't dislike the person, there's an instinct in me that says, "You're not supposed to touch me."

So, basically, if it's my husband or one of my sisters or my grandmother or my dad, etc., it won't be weird at all. If it's a new coworker or a doctor (even though it's just part of the job as a doctor) or someone along those lines, I'll be a little uncomfortable.

I would describe it more like this:

"What the hell are you doing touching my arm like that? Please, get away from me before you get hurt."

It's one thing to accidentally brush up against my arm, but in any other context, all I can think is WTF?

The only two people who touch me like that are my sister and my mother. They get some kind of kick out of it when I flinch.

Although it's not this way 100% of the time, often touching in general feels like pressure being applied, it's a little stifling, and unexpected touching is like...*thinks*...when something creeps you out or scares and the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.