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selin
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26 Jun 2015, 4:23 pm

I was recently diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome and I have a few questions about sensory issues.
For some reason in the UK, sensory issues are not a requirement in the ICD-10 ASC diagnostic criteria. I was not asked many questions about sensory issues during my assessment either.

I am not sure whether I have sensory issues related to Aspergers or whether they are just a result of anxiety. All I know is that i tend to flinch or jump more than others in response to sounds and that this happens consistently in response to certain kinds of sounds. I might crease up my face and then look around and notice that no one else is responding in the same way. Usually scraping sounds, sounds caused by friction are really painful and dogs barking make me jump.

Textures and touch i think are important. I don't mind being hugged, or having my hair cut etc. but there are certain textures I really dislike. I never read the news from an actual newspaper (i stick to the internet) because I can't stand to touch this kind of paper. Does anyone experience this? I also don't like to eat off of certain kinds of plates because of the feeling and sound of cutlery against the material. I think this is due to a certain kind of porcelain? I find the feeling painful, really uncomfortable. I think I'm sensitive to some tags (but not all). My mother used to cut tags out of a lot of my clothes, they would feel like sand paper...although some I wouldn't necessarily feel at all.

Does anyone feel they have an emotional response to senses? not just physical discomfort?

Also growing up I would have dreams about textures. In these dreams there were patterns or shapes that represented certain textures. Some were so painful, others were disturbing. I don't know if NT children ever have these dreams. I wonder if they sound familiar to any of you? I'm synaesthetic, although mainly I have grapheme synaesthesia and some degree of synaesthesia when it comes to music. These dreams in which visual shapes are at the same time textures seems quite synaesthetic to me.

I'm not a textbook case and I know we're not all supposed to have the same symptoms. Some of us meet the criteria in ways others might not. I don't think I've ever had a sensory overload. All I know is that i'm more likely to have a panic attack on a crowded train or that a lot of sensory input makes me nervous/anxious.

I'm more hypersensitive when I'm anxious. I think NTs with anxiety experience hypersensitivity as well which is why I'm unsure. How do I know if it's aspergers or just anxiety?



kamiyu910
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26 Jun 2015, 4:46 pm

Considering many people on the spectrum have anxiety, it's hard to say :/
They didn't ask me anything about sensory issues when I went in and I have a lot. My parents never could understand that some sounds can physically hurt me, or why I'd spend car rides kicking at the speaker with my hands over my ears. We also cut the tags off, and some types of socks drive me to insanity. I also don't like being touched, even by my own kids most of the time, and I agree, the plates and silverware is a big problem sometimes. I have to have specific styled silverware or I can't use it.
And even then, they didn't care about it when diagnosing, and I'm in the US.

On the emotional response to senses, I think so, but I'm not entirely sure. I've not analyzed that, actually. I know that everything for me is tied together, and if I'm listening to a song while doing something, I will forever be reminded of what I was doing when I hear the song, and I can remember smells and sounds and emotions. My thoughts and memories are full of emotions while others are mostly visual or just words.


_________________
Your Aspie score: 171 of 200
Your Neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 40 of 200


ToughDiamond
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26 Jun 2015, 11:15 pm

With me it mostly seems to be just an increased sense of irritation at the kind of things that would irritate anybody - slight itching, some clothing tags, pressure from clothing, uncomfortable watch strap, heat and cold, greasy fingers. Nothing particularly emotional about it as far as I know. I can't screen it out like most folks seem able to, except if I get hyperfocussed on something else.