What are your sensory triggers & sensory preferences?

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Participant626
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03 Mar 2025, 5:58 pm

I'm reading the book Self-Care for Autistic People by Dr. Megan Anna Neff. The first chapter covers sensory triggers. It says that we tend to be more sensitive to the "big five" senses (ie sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell), but poor interoception, masking, and dissociation can cause use to be unaware if it. The book suggests that I keep a sensory journal in which I keep track of my triggers and preferences. Since I'm new to this, it would be helpful to hear what your triggers and preferences are, so please share away.

    Triggers

    Sight
  • Driving into sunrise or sunset
  • Glare
  • Dirty glasses
  • Eye contact with people I'm not intimate with
  • The insides of bodies
  • People in pain
  • Deserts are depressing
  • Other people's gross body fluids

    Sound
  • Gas-powered lawn equipment
  • Loud fans
  • Babies crying
  • Dogs whining
  • Loud noises in general (except for music I want to hear)
  • People trying to talk when it's too loud
  • Clubs
  • People talking for too long when I'm not ready to hear it
  • Alarms
  • Phone rings
  • Static
  • Slamming doors

    Taste
  • Mushrooms
  • Eggs
  • Cooked cinnamon on meat
  • Slimy stuff
  • Food that squeaks on my teeth when chewing

    Touch
  • Wet when supposed to be dry. It drives me insane.
  • Oily/lotion (I don't know how people walk around with thick lotion on and then go in bed)
  • Dirty/sweaty legs in bed
  • Very light touch
  • Dry skin
  • Sand
  • Air drying after going in the ocean and putting on a shirt without showering
  • The post-haircut itchy fest (Don't put product in my hair because I'm going straight home to shower)
  • Feeling full from eating
  • Tight pants/waistbands (they need to be loose but not falling off)
  • Wet clothes, especially socks
  • I'm not touching bugs, stingrays, sharks, or live fish. GTFO out of here with that
  • Wool
  • Rock in my shoe
  • Headaches (I have no idea how people function or even yell with a headache)
  • Feeling bloated
  • Having to urinate is super distracting
  • Hard shoes

    Smell
  • Anything strong
  • Cigarettes (used to give me headaches as a kid, but dissociation, alcohol, and ADHD helped me overcome that enough to smoke)
  • Vomit
  • Other people's burps, farts, BO, breath (good or bad), and feet (too much intimacy and distracting af; shared public bathrooms are rough)
  • Rotting flesh
  • Perfume shops
  • Burnt hair and popcorn
  • Cooked liver (I will leave)
  • Dialysis and C.Diff.
  • Food-scented candles
  • Farms/ranches/coops



    Preferences

    Sight
  • Saturated colors contrasted with black
  • 3-4 colors matching
  • Mountain landscapes
  • Beautiful natural scenery

    Sound
  • Thunder storms!!
  • The same song over and over
  • Beats and dance songs if I'm in the mood
  • Noise cancelling headphones
  • Loop ear plugs in loud environments help

    Taste
  • Lime (I'm a straight addict, probably top 2% worldwide)
  • Garlic
  • Cilantro
  • Spicy
  • Oily
  • Vinegar
  • Gummy
  • Sour
  • Corn dogs

    Touch
  • Weighted blankets
  • Human touch if the intimacy is right
  • Soft fleece-like material
  • Products placed out for sale or demonstration
  • Smooth items
  • Warm shower when I'm cold

    Smell
  • People I like
  • Soft calm smells
  • Lavender
  • Aqua Velva
  • Fabric softener

Anyone similar to me? Are there any patterns? Things I'm missing? I think I'm having trouble with the preferences part.

What are you triggers and preferences?


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Stargazer99
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22 Mar 2025, 12:45 am

Participant626 wrote:
I'm reading the book Self-Care for Autistic People by Dr. Megan Anna Neff. The first chapter covers sensory triggers. It says that we tend to be more sensitive to the "big five" senses (ie sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell), but poor interoception, masking, and dissociation can cause use to be unaware if it. The book suggests that I keep a sensory journal in which I keep track of my triggers and preferences. Since I'm new to this, it would be helpful to hear what your triggers and preferences are, so please share away.
    Triggers

    Sight
  • Driving into sunrise or sunset
  • Glare
  • Dirty glasses
  • Eye contact with people I'm not intimate with
  • The insides of bodies
  • People in pain
  • Deserts are depressing
  • Other people's gross body fluids

    Sound
  • Gas-powered lawn equipment
  • Loud fans
  • Babies crying
  • Dogs whining
  • Loud noises in general (except for music I want to hear)
  • People trying to talk when it's too loud
  • Clubs
  • People talking for too long when I'm not ready to hear it
  • Alarms
  • Phone rings
  • Static
  • Slamming doors

    Taste
  • Mushrooms
  • Eggs
  • Cooked cinnamon on meat
  • Slimy stuff
  • Food that squeaks on my teeth when chewing

    Touch
  • Wet when supposed to be dry. It drives me insane.
  • Oily/lotion (I don't know how people walk around with thick lotion on and then go in bed)
  • Dirty/sweaty legs in bed
  • Very light touch
  • Dry skin
  • Sand
  • Air drying after going in the ocean and putting on a shirt without showering
  • The post-haircut itchy fest (Don't put product in my hair because I'm going straight home to shower)
  • Feeling full from eating
  • Tight pants/waistbands (they need to be loose but not falling off)
  • Wet clothes, especially socks
  • I'm not touching bugs, stingrays, sharks, or live fish. GTFO out of here with that
  • Wool
  • Rock in my shoe
  • Headaches (I have no idea how people function or even yell with a headache)
  • Feeling bloated
  • Having to urinate is super distracting
  • Hard shoes

    Smell
  • Anything strong
  • Cigarettes (used to give me headaches as a kid, but dissociation, alcohol, and ADHD helped me overcome that enough to smoke)
  • Vomit
  • Other people's burps, farts, BO, breath (good or bad), and feet (too much intimacy and distracting af; shared public bathrooms are rough)
  • Rotting flesh
  • Perfume shops
  • Burnt hair and popcorn
  • Cooked liver (I will leave)
  • Dialysis and C.Diff.
  • Food-scented candles
  • Farms/ranches/coops



    Preferences

    Sight
  • Saturated colors contrasted with black
  • 3-4 colors matching
  • Mountain landscapes
  • Beautiful natural scenery

    Sound
  • Thunder storms!!
  • The same song over and over
  • Beats and dance songs if I'm in the mood
  • Noise cancelling headphones
  • Loop ear plugs in loud environments help

    Taste
  • Lime (I'm a straight addict, probably top 2% worldwide)
  • Garlic
  • Cilantro
  • Spicy
  • Oily
  • Vinegar
  • Gummy
  • Sour
  • Corn dogs

    Touch
  • Weighted blankets
  • Human touch if the intimacy is right
  • Soft fleece-like material
  • Products placed out for sale or demonstration
  • Smooth items
  • Warm shower when I'm cold

    Smell
  • People I like
  • Soft calm smells
  • Lavender
  • Aqua Velva
  • Fabric softener

Anyone similar to me? Are there any patterns? Things I'm missing? I think I'm having trouble with the preferences part.

What are you triggers and preferences?


Your list paired with your emotions of the experiences will help you understand yourself better. It will help you to cope with the triggers as well.

Ear plugs and headphones are wonderful tools to use when noise becomes an issue. I’ve learned how to retreat inside my own mental safe space when experiences become too intense for me. That is probably the most valuable tool in my ‘wellness kit.’ :)



BillyTree
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22 Mar 2025, 9:22 am

My sensory preferences are that I want the impulses to be strong. I want the light to be bright, music loud, the weather really warm in the summer. I am tightning my shoelaces to the point that they often break. When I work-out I push myself hard and love outdoor running when the sun's shining and it's 30 C. I don't use any anaesthesia at the dentist. I find the light touch from a feather or people talking in a low voice irritating.


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King Kat 1
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22 Mar 2025, 11:13 am

Let see...

Things I don't like-

People touching me

getting too much in my personal space

loud shirl voices (like this one co-worker of mine)

People who honk the horn when there is a traffic jam

People who stick their index and middle finger in their mouths to make this whistling sound to get Somone's attention: evil: ( Do this to me I will go evil aspie on your ass!)

People who yell from yards away to try to talk to me, come up to me if you have something to say

Dirty eyeglasses

Socks that fall down

Feeling scruffy when I need to shave and keep putting it off

Barking dogs

Some peoples voices, I'm probably being an a-hole but some voices go right through me.

Bad smells-

BO

Cigarette smoke

Wet dirt

Musty basements or crawl spaces

Food I don't like(short list)

Banana

Peaches

Stews

Cow milk

Oranges(like orange juice and orange flavored stuff though)

Cabbage Casserole

Swiss steak

Many processed foods

Sights-

Overally bright colors

glare

Sun shining in my eyes

clutter

blighted areas

rooms that are too brightly lit

bodily fluids



King Kat 1
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22 Mar 2025, 11:24 am

Likes-

Sounds-

Thunderstorms

Purring cat

Nice quiet house in the middle of the night

boiling water ( no idea why)

Food-

Crunchy things like chips, popcorn, and pretzels

Doughnuts

Salty

Coffee

Beer

Garlic

Curry

Smells-

Asian or Indian food

Steak cooking

Spray way glass cleaner

smell of a clean house

new car smell

Touch-

Heavy blanket

Warm hoodie

old books

Sight-

Dimly lit room

A nice tidy well-organized house

Fall colors



Participant626
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23 Mar 2025, 8:34 pm

^ Those are some good ones. I'm gonna add some of them to my list.


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Participant626
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23 Mar 2025, 8:37 pm

Stargazer99 wrote:

Your list paired with your emotions of the experiences will help you understand yourself better. It will help you to cope with the triggers as well.

Ear plugs and headphones are wonderful tools to use when noise becomes an issue. I’ve learned how to retreat inside my own mental safe space when experiences become too intense for me. That is probably the most valuable tool in my ‘wellness kit.’ :)


Thank you! So you kind of mentally go to a safe space in your head as if you were not present in your physical location?


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Stargazer99
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24 Mar 2025, 12:16 am

Participant626 wrote:
Stargazer99 wrote:

Your list paired with your emotions of the experiences will help you understand yourself better. It will help you to cope with the triggers as well.

Ear plugs and headphones are wonderful tools to use when noise becomes an issue. I’ve learned how to retreat inside my own mental safe space when experiences become too intense for me. That is probably the most valuable tool in my ‘wellness kit.’ :)


Thank you! So you kind of mentally go to a safe space in your head as if you were not present in your physical location?


Yes, when unable to escape a situation one can go within oneself. I learned that from Viktor Frankl in his book Man’s Search for Meaning. He taught me how to survive mentally in almost any situation.



traven
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24 Mar 2025, 2:25 am

what does triggers mean as in opposed to preferences?
dislikes?

sales-insurance people with sticky smelly aftershave/perfume, you have to air out the house after someone like that
or too friendly friends - the kiss with the freshly applied aftershave, omg.....
yelling neighbors (cursing and laughing too)

the 'mustardgas' scent, in the fields when they put out the wheat 'shortener*' that gives a real headache and im sorry for my sheep if they be besides that
* Plant growth regulators for wheat , first they put too much ammo then they need to stop the growth :jester: :|



when still in suburbia there was a slaughterhouse sort of nearby, next to it the incinerator for bones/rests, that thing would stink after closing time, starting friday afternoon, it was terrible, but besides us it was declared undetectable, :skull: :skull:
then from the incinerator came the (trucks-?) with nice slogans, 'mineral enrichment', for ex., then came mad cow disease, (ofc, cows don't eat cows),
but what was forbidden after that is already allowed back :roll:



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Yesterday, 9:10 am

Likes:
-Gentle ambient lighting
-Wearing a ski hat, socks, and neck gaiter to bed, in addition to nightclothes. Basically, full bed clothes head to toe
-staying out of direct sunlight, as I burn easily
-comfort foods: pizza, burgers, coffee
-wind, cool air, fresh air
-dry climate
-Furniture supportive of good posture, slightly upolstered
-Ergonomic household countertops, shelving, etc, all high enough, as I'm tall.

Dislikes:
-dogs, especially barking
-sticky sweat feeling, like in the tropics
-filthy (public institutional) shower floor; brown, grungy human biofilm grew there, a livid ecosystem of filth
-quiche - the textures in the mouth are all wrong and cacophonous. Crumbly and too moist & mushy at the same time.
-slimy food
-slimy anything
-mosquito bites. I'll get Calamine cream, then scratch them hard with the cream.
-people making smacking sounds as they eat
-junk food - always has flavor too strong, too easy to chew
-greasy doorknobs
-moldy, cheap furniture. Moldy anything
-tasteless, uninspiring art, which the Philistines all around me can't seem to find any problem with


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kadanuumuu
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Yesterday, 9:44 am

Likes:
-Diffuse light filtering through leaves.
-Clean bedsheets, yes we all like these, but I take an hour out of my day just to feel them ;)
-being hugged (by my kids), squeezed tightly.

Dislikes:
- Direct sun-/bright-light
- Any sharp loud noise.
- Any food that has plasticity close to rubber.



Tamaya
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Yesterday, 11:14 am

These are all the sensory-related things I have issues with or don't like:-

Sight
Weird skin growths
Clowns
Most dolls
Animatronics and robots
Snot or mucus from others
Uncanny valley images

Sound
Babies crying
Bells (as in electric bells on the wall)
Car horns
Motorcycles or cars with a loud engine/exhaust
People moving about in the room above
Loud coughing and sneezing
Fart sounds

Taste
Parsnips
Nuts
Coconut (although I like the smell)
Brussels sprouts
Carrots
Tomatoes
Tea or coffee

(These are just foods I don't like)

Touch
Clothing tags (though it's a psychological fear I have)
Pain (I have very low tolerance for pain)
Vomiting
Stomachaches

Smell
Stale perfume that lingers in your hoodie from the previous day (I like perfume but just not in my clothes)
Weed
Breath
Mould
Periods


Some of these listed are phobias.


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blitzkrieg
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Yesterday, 11:19 am

^ Fart sounds but not fart smells?! :lol:



Tamaya
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Yesterday, 4:33 pm

blitzkrieg wrote:
^ Fart sounds but not fart smells?! :lol:


Yep, I can turn a blind eye (or rather nose) to most smells. But the sound of some people's farts just make me feel embarrassed and I hate the sort older women do that sound like ducks quacking. :roll:


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blitzkrieg
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Yesterday, 4:45 pm

Tamaya wrote:
blitzkrieg wrote:
^ Fart sounds but not fart smells?! :lol:


Yep, I can turn a blind eye (or rather nose) to most smells. But the sound of some people's farts just make me feel embarrassed and I hate the sort older women do that sound like ducks quacking. :roll:


Oh God, lol.