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vickygleitz
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28 Nov 2013, 1:15 pm

I still have profound sensory issues as an adult, possibly a bit more since being a senior citizen, but when I was a child, so many sounds, smells, tactile sensations were beyond anguishing.
I assumed at the time though, that my issues were one more sign of my all around inferiority. I assumed that all the other children experienced the pain of the world as sensitively as I did, BUT being 'better" than me, they toughed it out, while I was a whiny, complaining "less than." I would think "no wonder everyone hates me", and would try to pretend [as I assumed everyone else pretended] that the inumerable assaults on my sensory system did not bother me. Holding it all in triggered almost constant migraines, throwing up, and passing out.

Did anyone else think this way as a child?



Aleithei
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28 Nov 2013, 1:36 pm

I still think that way somewhat.
I do not necessarily have profound sensory issues, but the sensory issues (and other issues) i have I always assume everyone else feels the same way about and just deals better with life.
I have only had my diagnosis for about 6 months though, and in some ways it is still sinking in. (essentially the 'wait a minute, maybe I am not being a bum about this' about things i find challenging)

But that was the way I always thought when I was younger.


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League_Girl
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28 Nov 2013, 3:22 pm

I never had profound sensory issues. I just assumed everyone felt what I felt and they dealt with it better. Mine was mostly with touch and feel. I wasn't even aware of it then.


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LookingLost
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28 Nov 2013, 4:02 pm

I always thought this way, too, and still do, to some extent at least.
I'm actually really pleased you brought this up, because I didn't know anyone else had had the same experience, although I don't mean I'm pleased that you've had the experience. Hope that makes sense.


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Jensen
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28 Nov 2013, 4:22 pm

Noise, sounds, clothe tags, wool.


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em_tsuj
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28 Nov 2013, 7:25 pm

I cannot eat foods with certain textures or tastes. I have always been a picky eater and always will be.
I cannot stand certain sounds. It puts me in a homicidal rage to hear my mom eat. She is an extremely loud chewer. It drives me crazy.
I have phobia of balloons. I am afraid they will pop unexpectedly. I hate loud, unexpected noises.
I cannot wear certain fabrics. They make me itch or break out in a rash.
Certain smells make me nauseous. It drives me crazy that my mom uses all of these air fresheners with conflicting smells. I don't understand how see can't smell how disgusting they are.

I never associated these things with autism as a child. I knew that I had severe allergies (food, environment, fabric) and I was high strung. I just blamed it on that.



GiantHockeyFan
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29 Nov 2013, 7:44 am

That's similar to the way I felt as a child. I felt so inferior to everyone else because I couldn't eat what they were eating at Christmas, for example. I just assumed they were as grossed out as I was and the fake 'compliments' about the meal were my cousins just being polite as I was taught to be. I already knew I had Aspergers when I read that there were others with the same issues I have and it's also linked to the ASD spectrum.

I'm not as bad now as an adult, but I'm not anti-social when I won't sit at the table and eat with others. Some smells (parmesan, vinegar, chocolate, etc) are so bad I would literally rather be around rotting garbage. Imagine trying to eat in a garbage room and that's what it's like for me. I tried and tried to be 'normal' but it would either send me into an embarrassing meltdown or I would get physically ill. I still think most people think I am an attention seeker, which is as absurd a saying a cancer patient is proud of having no hair.



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29 Nov 2013, 10:08 am

As a baby, I would cry until I was put down. I didn't properly "hug back" (I am still not entirely sure what that means). Human touch was always overly overwhelming. However, I am not overly sensitive to non-human tactile stimulation (I don't cut out tags, etc.). As a child I remember feeling a biological need for touch and simultaneously not being able to handle it. I believe my mother chose a very good solution for desensitization - she hugged me 8 times every day and didn't touch me otherwise. The number of hugs was consistent, so I knew when it would be over and that I would get the hugs/squeeze/touch I needed even when I couldn't handle it.

I had thought that this had gotten better as I got older, but now I believe that life with young children around means there is a lot of touching--and that is what I outgrew. I am married, and early on my inability to handle lots of touch affected our relationship. The first time I evaded touch for a period of time, my now husband says (in hindsight) that he was certain I had plans to break up with him. Luckily for our relationship, after this first rejection, I explained to him my lifelong struggle with skin contact. At the time, I was not diagnosed on the spectrum, but my sensory differences impacted my life greatly.

That was easily enough worked through with solid and honest communication. Now, we have children, though, and being able to give them the hugs and cuddles and skin contact they need has been one of the biggest struggles of my life. Again, I am honest with them and I deeply hope that it helps. After having my second child, this became so overwhelming, that we decided to not have any more children.

Sound and auditory processing is also a pressing issue for me. Less people seem rejected from it, though it still greatly impacts my ability to withstand being with others. Earplugs help.

I do not have overload issues with smell or taste or anything besides human touch and sound.

Does anyone else have different reactions to human touch versus touching objects?



Bodyles
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29 Nov 2013, 1:06 pm

I've always had sensory issues and flat feet and been in pain and discomfort all of the time.
I didn't know until I was 18 that people could walk or stand for more than 5 minutes or so without being in a lot of pain that got progressively worse.
I was yelled at as a small child when I complained my feet hurt after walking or standing for a short amount of time, so I just assumed that it was normal, that everyone's feet hurt like mind did and they just never said anything about it.
When I was 3 I realized that half my body hurt quite a bit and was uncomfortable, all the time.
I threw a fit and was eventually spanked until I stopped screaming.
I didn't come to terms with that until about 24 years later, though I did notice it when I was 20 and sort of flipped out and deliberately forgot about it again.
Clothing that drove me crazy that everyone else could easily wear so I figured they could just handle it better.
That BS didn't end until after I graduated HS at 17 and, except for special circumstances, gave up socks, underwear, and restrictive clothing in general forever.
At around 17-18 I began to realize that I was hypersensitive and intolerant of various stimuli other people just weren't, and in pain and discomfort they weren't in, after growing up thinking the whole time that everyone was just coping better than I was.
I got diagnosed with asperger's at 20, and it all sort of fell into place.

All those years I thought I was 'strong' for toughing it out, I was just ignorant and slowly going crazy from internalizing and not acknowledging and dealing with the pain and discomfort I was and to some large extent still am in most, if not all, of the time unless I take steps to prevent and mitigate it.

Ah well, live and learn.



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29 Nov 2013, 11:40 pm

Yes. Other people never understood why little things made me so uncomfortable. Now that I'm an adult, I've learned to kind of turn of unpleasant senses. It took me a long time though.