Hyposensitive anyone?
I've always thought that I didn't have the Sensory Integration problems that most other Aspies have on this website. Yesterday, I was really curious about it and looked up a website for Sensory Integration Disorder and realized I'm HypOsenitive...here are the symptoms. It's a checklist for kids but I put an X by the ones that apply to me (or applied to me when I was a kid). Does anyone else feel like this applies to them?
Hyposensitivity to touch....
X__ may crave touch, needs to touch everything and everyone
?__ is not aware of being touched/bumped unless done with extreme force or intensity
__ is not bothered by injuries, like cuts and bruises, and shows no distress with shots (may even say they love getting shots!)
__ may not be aware that hands or face are dirty or feel his/her nose running
X__ may be self-abusive; pinching, biting, or banging his own head
?__ mouths objects excessively
X__ frequently hurts other children or pets while playing
X__ repeatedly touches surfaces or objects that are soothing (i.e., blanket)
X__ seeks out surfaces and textures that provide strong tactile feedback
X__ thoroughly enjoys and seeks out messy play
X__ craves vibrating or strong sensory input
__ has a preference and craving for excessively spicy, sweet, sour, or salty foods
Hyposensitivity to Movement...
X__ in constant motion, can't seem to sit still
X__ craves fast, spinning, and/or intense movement experiences
X__ loves being tossed in the air
X__ could spin for hours and never appear to be dizzy
X__ loves the fast, intense, and/or scary rides at amusement parks
X__ always jumping on furniture, trampolines, spinning in a swivel chair, or getting into upside down positions
X__ loves to swing as high as possible and for long periods of time
X__ is a "thrill-seeker"; dangerous at times
X__ always running, jumping, hopping etc. instead of walking
X__ rocks body, shakes leg, or head while sitting
X__ likes sudden or quick movements, such as, going over a big bump in the car or on a bike
Hyposensitivity to Sound
X__ often does not respond to verbal cues or to name being called
X__ appears to "make noise for noise's sake"
X__ loves excessively loud music or TV
X__ seems to have difficulty understanding or remembering what was said
X__ appears oblivious to certain sounds
X__ appears confused about where a sound is coming from
X__ talks self through a task, often out loud
__ had little or no vocalizing or babbling as an infant
X__ needs directions repeated often, or will say, "What?" frequently
Hyposensitivity to Sight
?__ has difficulty telling the difference between similar printed letters or figures; i.e., p & q, b & d, + and x, or square and rectangle
X__ has a hard time seeing the "big picture"; i.e., focuses on the details or patterns within the picture
X__ has difficulty locating items among other items; i.e., papers on a desk, clothes in a drawer, items on a grocery shelf, or toys in a bin/toy box
X__ often loses place when copying from a book or the chalkboard
__ difficulty controlling eye movement to track and follow moving objects
__ has difficulty telling the difference between different colors, shapes, and sizes
X__ often loses his/her place while reading or doing math problems
__ makes reversals in words or letters when copying, or reads words backwards; i.e., "was" for "saw" and "no" for "on" after first grade
__ complains about "seeing double"
__ difficulty finding differences in pictures, words, symbols, or objects
__ difficulty with consistent spacing and size of letters during writing and/or lining up numbers in math problems
__ difficulty with jigsaw puzzles, copying shapes, and/or cutting/tracing along a line
X__ tends to write at a slant (up or down hill) on a page
__ confuses left and right
X__ fatigues easily with schoolwork
X__ difficulty judging spatial relationships in the environment; i.e., bumps into objects/people or missteps on curbs and stairs
What do you guys think?
As far as I know, there is a lot of Asperger and autistic people who are hiposensitive.
For one sense or another or many. And it's not always the same, it can change.
For example, they have to check the temperature of the shower with a thermometer to not burn themselves without noticing.
Or if they're sick or ill and get fever, they never notice/know either.
There are people I will go with on some merry-go-rounds once, not twice.
But for them, they could spend the all afternoon on it!
I'm hyposensitive to touch and/or pain, but hypersensitive to smells and light levels and sometimes sound -- it depends on how tired or stressed I am with noise. Sometimes I seem to be hard of hearing -- usually when I'm focused on something else or there's something else going on in the room -- but sometimes I can hear things like the television when it's turned down to just above mute, through a closed door. (I reamed out my grand-nephew one night because I could clearly hear his cartoon after I'd asked him to turn it down and it was keeping me awake, only to find the poor kid had it so low he had to sit right in front of it to hear. My daughter had to point that out and I felt terrible afterwards.) The hyposensitivity to pain is a family trait, though. It causes problems because we don't always realize that we've been injured and we may not notice the beginnings of things like joint pain until we get to the point of needing medical treatment.
Massage therapy helps my migraines, but I always have to have a little argument with a new therapist to get them to use deeper pressure than they normally use. I just can't feel it otherwise. I had one who really loved me because I was the only client who would let her practice her rolfing technique -- it felt great to me, but everyone else said it hurt too much.
One thing that's weird about me is that I'm hypersensitive to all types of sensory input EXCEPT movement. I'm hyposensitive to movement. I long to be on roller coasters, to be going fast, to be upside-down, to spin, etc. I feel the best when I'm on a high-speed roller coaster, going over a bunny hill for maximum air time.
-OddDuckNash99-
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SpongeBobRocksMao
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I seem to have a kind of hyposensitivity to sound. I like to have the TV loud, I can have difficulty remembering what was said, I sometimes say "What?" when not needed to, and as a young child I barely even spoke.
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It's a very interesting idea that one can be hypersensitive in one sense yet hyposensitive in another. In some ways, this almost makes too much sense (no pun intended...). If our brain underdevelops processing input for one sense, it may overcompensate for a different one.
For me, I would say that I am somewhat hypersensitive to sound (though I think I subconsciously have curbed this since adolescence). I used to be bothered by clothing tags, but I always enjoyed hugging lots of people (I was overly affectionate growing up). So I wonder if I have both hyper- and hypo-sensitivity going on.
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It's a mixed bag for me. I probably have more hyposensitivities (-) than hypersensitivities (+). For me they overlap in the same senses so it's not cut and dry:
Touch:
- astoundingly hyposensitive to cold
- high pain threshold (shots, cuts, bruises, broken bones just don't hurt that much)
+ can't stand hot sensations
+ light touches are extremely unpleasant -- worse than most pain really
Smell:
- completely hyposensitive -- nearly 100% non-functional (I guess if you had to pick one sense to do without this would be the one)
Taste:
- definitely hyposensitive -- love strong flavors (spicy, sour, savory, sweet, etc)
Vestibular:
- pretty clearly hyposensitive since I will seek out anything like roller coasters and such
- I tend to twist my head down and to the right all the time
+ extraordinary sense of balance
Hearing:
- definitely lots of "what" and difficulty separating background noise (I looked into this and it seems to be Auditory Processing Disorder, APD or CAPD, but I haven't been diagnosed)
- prefer to listen to music at high volume, especially if it drowns out background noise
+ oversensitive to sudden loud and especially high pitched noises
+ overwhelmed by constant low level background noise (like at WallMart)
+ have very accute hearing, and can pick out noises that most others miss, or well before they (or the dog) hear them
Sight:
~ can't really say. I think this is pretty normal for me
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Hyposensitivity to touch....
X__ may crave touch, needs to touch everything and everyone
?__ is not aware of being touched/bumped unless done with extreme force or intensity
__ is not bothered by injuries, like cuts and bruises, and shows no distress with shots (may even say they love getting shots!)
__ may not be aware that hands or face are dirty or feel his/her nose running
X__ may be self-abusive; pinching, biting, or banging his own head
?__ mouths objects excessively
X__ frequently hurts other children or pets while playing
X__ repeatedly touches surfaces or objects that are soothing (i.e., blanket)
X__ seeks out surfaces and textures that provide strong tactile feedback
X__ thoroughly enjoys and seeks out messy play
X__ craves vibrating or strong sensory input
__ has a preference and craving for excessively spicy, sweet, sour, or salty foods
Hyposensitivity to Movement...
X__ in constant motion, can't seem to sit still
X__ craves fast, spinning, and/or intense movement experiences
X__ loves being tossed in the air
X__ could spin for hours and never appear to be dizzy
X__ loves the fast, intense, and/or scary rides at amusement parks
X__ always jumping on furniture, trampolines, spinning in a swivel chair, or getting into upside down positions
X__ loves to swing as high as possible and for long periods of time
X__ is a "thrill-seeker"; dangerous at times
X__ always running, jumping, hopping etc. instead of walking
X__ rocks body, shakes leg, or head while sitting
X__ likes sudden or quick movements, such as, going over a big bump in the car or on a bike
Hyposensitivity to Sound
X__ often does not respond to verbal cues or to name being called
X__ appears to "make noise for noise's sake"
X__ loves excessively loud music or TV
X__ seems to have difficulty understanding or remembering what was said
X__ appears oblivious to certain sounds
X__ appears confused about where a sound is coming from
X__ talks self through a task, often out loud
__ had little or no vocalizing or babbling as an infant
X__ needs directions repeated often, or will say, "What?" frequently
Hyposensitivity to Sight
?__ has difficulty telling the difference between similar printed letters or figures; i.e., p & q, b & d, + and x, or square and rectangle
X__ has a hard time seeing the "big picture"; i.e., focuses on the details or patterns within the picture
..........Trees vs Forest...Parts (Left hemisphere) vs Whole (Right hemisphere)... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateraliza ... n_function -
X__ has difficulty locating items among other items; i.e., papers on a desk, clothes in a drawer, items on a grocery shelf, or toys in a bin/toy box
X__ often loses place when copying from a book or the chalkboard
__ difficulty controlling eye movement to track and follow moving objects
__ has difficulty telling the difference between different colors, shapes, and sizes
X__ often loses his/her place while reading or doing math problems
__ makes reversals in words or letters when copying, or reads words backwards; i.e., "was" for "saw" and "no" for "on" after first grade
__ complains about "seeing double"
__ difficulty finding differences in pictures, words, symbols, or objects
__ difficulty with consistent spacing and size of letters during writing and/or lining up numbers in math problems
__ difficulty with jigsaw puzzles, copying shapes, and/or cutting/tracing along a line
X__ tends to write at a slant (up or down hill) on a page... http://www.dyslexia.org/corpus.shtml - http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/dysl ... slexia.htm - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/misunderstoodminds/reading.html - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/misunderstoodminds/writing.html - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/misunderstoodmi ... ntion.html
__ confuses left and right
X__ fatigues easily with schoolwork
X__ difficulty judging spatial relationships in the environment; i.e., bumps into objects/people or missteps on curbs and stairs
What do you guys think?