Sensory Overload - What drives you bonkers?

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My son has a lot of issues with certain smells and sounds. What about you?

Sounds:

Beeping sounds or any intermittent sounds.

Heat, monotonous sounds - beeping, clicking, ticktocking etc.

Super Wal*Mart.

Heat, humidity, strong smells, too much multi-tasking, repetitive flashing and beeping.

Fast flashy things that are not supposed to be fast in the first place, flashy things that make noise, very persistent smells, too much noise at a time excluding melodies, very loud noises excluding melodic music (for whatever reason...?) and also uncomfortable seats and light touches to the skin. Lastly, also heat and humid air too.

I can stand most of it without so much as a twitch, but when I control myself like that, I can't do anything else. Not moving correctly and not even thinking anything. So it's rather worthless to be able to endure all kinds of things, if I shut down like a computer anyway.

Can somebody explain to me what all these overloads feels like? I mean could you compare it to something a neurotypical could understand? Is it like nails in a chalk board? tnx

I use only unperfumed toiletries and hate the smell of fresh paint, frying fish and new PVC flooring. I also hate the sound of motorbikes and souped-up mopeds, and as a kid I was scared to death of the sound our toilet made when it flushed! Also, my father taught me to shoot with an airgun, and later, in the military, I had to shoot with a rifle, but I liked neither the sound nor the smell of it. Oh, and remember shot put in gym class, how your hands smelled when your sweat reacted with the metal of the shot, and you couldn't get rid of the smell all day no matter how much you washed your hands? I hated that, too.

Smell
Hairspray chokes me if I am anywhere near someone applying it. I just cough and cough.
Canned “Air Freshener” should be renamed “Air Poison”. When it is sprayed in my house, I have to go outside until it settles.
Strong perfume gags me. I have to hold my breath to pass the perfume counter in department stores. If an old woman, wearing too much perfume, unexpectedly crosses my path, my eyes water and I wheeze. (Half the time, my wife thinks I am clowning around and being mean, so I get fussed at on top of it.)

Wallmart does what it can to overload me. The lights are too bright and there are to many loud jarring colors. The store is either too crowded, or if I go during off hours, they run that propane powered buffing machine that makes me ill. Any store that is too crowded can overload me.
Looking through clothing racks for more than a half hour makes the colors and patterns run together. I have to have at least a twenty-minute break, or I get frustrated and have to escape.
I get a headache and nausea. I think it is like motion sickness because my eyes won't be still. They flick back and forth, and up and down, too fast. Trying to see all of the faces and all of the signs.

wow. thanks for explaining. yeah, my son has actually thrown up from certain smells. this weekend we were at the museum and it was very crowded in this one exhibit. he just got this look of panic on his face so we walked out to get some fresh air.

I'm the same way, and I live in central Florida. I really miss Minnesota sometimes...

Fluorescent tube lighting is my absolute worst nightmare when indoors. I wear polarized sunglasses in class, and look crazy. But I'd rather look crazy than be crazy any day. I love museums and libraries, but I can never go when they are crowded (either with people or poorly organized exhibits). If I feel rushed or frantic, I shut down like a computer that lacks robustness.

Nails on a chalkboard are unbearable, but even just chalk writing on a clean board makes my teeth itch. The smell of whiteboard markers is overwhelming, so I don't have many options in class.

A good way to explain it to an unaffected person (especially when they think you are acting spoiled or mean) is to compare what they find maddening, and tell them to amplify the pain by several magnitudes.

smells, lights, touch, noise, just about everything, it stinks ...

Dude, I'm never going in another one again!

And cellophane. I hate cellophane. The material they make parkas out of (the top layer). Courderoy. polyester clothes. Flashing lights. Too many objects in one space. Loud, shrill voices. I could go on...

Yes, I agree. What also irritates me are loud people, people talking all at once, screaming children, my dad, rude people, car noises, and the list could go on.

The smell of popcorn makes me gag, which is why I rarely go to the cinema. I also hate the sound of styrofoam rubbing together and the feel of peaches, especially against my tongue.

Loud voices.

I have pretty much overcome everything else.