Exploring your senses.

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Those on the spectrum often have hyper- or hypo-sensitivities when it comes to the five basic senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste & touch. How do you experiences the senses compared to the normal person? And what stimuli do you like and dislike? List the senses and how you experience them, and some of your most and least favourite stimuli for each. I think the responses will be fun and interesting to read.

Here's mine:

Sight
Hypersensitive to bright or flickering lights
Favourite sights: Golden sunsets, Water (e.g. waves, photos of droplets), Rainbows
Sights I avoid: Strobe lights, Brightly lit shops, Mess/untidiness

Hearing
Some hypersensitivity - can hear (or be distracted by) high pitched sounds or other faint sounds than others cannot
Favourite sounds: Currawong calls, African drums, Cellos
Sounds I avoid: Multiple sounds at once, High-pitched sounds (even soft), Chewing/mouth noises

Smell
Hyposensitive
Favourite smells: Citrus, Rainforest, Garlic & onion
Smells I avoid: Many perfumes

Taste
Hyposensitive
Favourite tastes: Raspberries, Chicken, Orange juice
Tastes I avoid: Fresh tomato, Lipstick

Touch
Hypersensitive to soft touch (on me, not by me), various irritants to skin
Favourite touches: Shaved heads, Soft tuft of furn behind a cat's ear, Industrial carpet under feet, Warm flannel
Touches I avoid: Soft tap on my shoulder, Clothes tags, Jewellery, Lace, Hair on my face


(Obviously I've left out normal things people avoid, like the smell of flatulence, the taste of ear wax, or the touching of a hot flame)

fave sights- golden red sunsets, oceans and large lakes
sights to avoid- can't handle strobe lights because they make me fuzzy-brained [and possibly pre-seizure, as well]- also bright lights are to be avoided at all costs

fave sounds- Wurlitzer pipe organs with all the toy counter effects, ethereal-sounding cathedral organs, vox humana organ stops tied with tibia clausa, and the shuddering sound of 32' bourdon organ stops which gets my whole skin surface and body structure involved sympathetically with the soundscape- chimes and cymbals and bells of all sizes, and various non-chromatic percussions as well-- large cannons
sounds to avoid- power tools, chainsaws, sirens, jackhammers, guns [but ordnance I like, the sound of heavy cannons excites me just like the 32" bourdon organ stop]

fave smells- citrusy things, chocolate, fruity things, gravies and cheeses
smells to avoid- alimentary-related stuff, for the most part, woodsmoke, acrid odors of burning stuff in general, sweat

fave tastes- cheeses, chocolates, butterscotch, sauerkraut cooked in beer and cheddar and teriyaki, pizzas, strawberries, citrusy/fruity things in general, gravies, beefy things, seafoody things, baking things
tastes to avoid- olives, cucumbers, burnt stuff, caraway seeds

fave touches- pigshaved heads of people, silk/satin with dry hands/body, dry skin/body parts of various people, animal fur
touches to avoid- hot or very cold things, ice, fire, impacts ['cept for gentle slaps on certain body parts], scrapes, sharp points anywhere

I have hypersensitivities as well. It's quite late here and I am a bit tired so I may take the time later to post the list but I am curious about something. Sometimes if I touch something I don't like the texture of, and this was much more common when I was younger, or if I accidentally step on someone's spit on the ground even if I have shoes and socks on, I feel like my fingers or part of my foot where the spit was are almost like a kind of burning feeling. Does anyone else feel this?

the coarsely fuzzy feel of bees turns me way off and makes me wanna flee!

Sight- hypo
Hearing- Hyper
Smell- Hypo
Taste- Hypo
Touch- Hyper

I love anything with a strong good taste as long as it's not bad and pungent. I hate being touched lightly or at all most of the time. When the lights go out it's way darker for me than for my mom-I can't even move. I hate the sounds from fireworks (but I find them beautiful) screaming, balloon popping, or little irritating sounds that just bother my ears. I can't really smell so I usually bring things up to my nose to sniff but sometimes I can smell on the occasion.