AS and sensory sensitivity?
I've never been hypersensitive to lights, smells, and being touched. I'm not sure with tastes, because everybody has certain foods they don't like (that's why they have a variety of choices at restaurants). I like grapefruit, and I heard most Aspies don't like grapefruit because of the bitter taste or something.
I've always had an issue with noise, though. When I'm sitting in my room, I cannot stand to hear people chattering right outside my room. It's so distracting! Or if people leave the living-room door open and I can hear the sound of the TV murmuring from my room. I just have to get up and shut it before I explode!
I hate the sound of small children screaming in shops. But that might be due to agitation, although the pitch of their ugly scream hurts my ears.
I don't like loud sudden noises either, because of the way I jump. I know nobody likes loud noises, but I let my fear of loud noises take over my life. Like once when I was on a ferry, the sailor turned on the frog-horn, which made me jump out of my skin, and the sound of it kept on repeating in my head for about half an hour afterwards. I went and sat inside because of the fear of it happening again, which it didn't. It made all my family jump too, but they were still happy to stay outside.
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Female
I can get quite distressed with noises that I find annoying and bright lights. I actually threw my sons recorder in the bin because I couldn't get away from the noise which felt like someone was drilling into my brain, but I'm quite happy to listen to music really loud as long as I don't find it too annoying. I often lie and tell people I have a headache to get away from certain noises, I'm sure people think I have a brain tuomour or something lol
I'm also really sensitive to the cold. I get really upset if I feel too cold. I'm at my happiest when everyone else is complaining their too hot lol
ScientistOfSound
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Joined: 21 May 2011
Age: 29
Gender: Male
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Christ, Christ!
"I have AS and have experienced extreme sensory sensitivity."
I'm attending Occupational Therapy now, and as of yet it's just making it worse. But I was told that it takes several weeks to "kick in."
I have severe problems with sound, as well as eating because of olfactory/gustatory sensitivity (very limited diet.)
hartzofspace
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Joined: 14 Apr 2005
Gender: Female
Posts: 7,138
Location: On the Road Less Traveled
I have learned to take along a pair of earplugs on the rare occasions of going to a cinema. They have the volume way too high in those places! I also keep them in my purse for shopping in busy supermarkets. It helps immensely; it is like having a volume dial on loud surroundings.
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Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born.
-- Dr. Dale Turner
I don't have aspergers, but I am on the spectrum (kanners) and I definitely have a lot of sensory sensitivities. The most prominent ones for me are those related to sound, touch, and sight (bright lights/sun mostly, for that one)
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Diagnosed with classic Autism
AQ score= 48
PDD assessment score= 170 (severe PDD)
EQ=8 SQ=93 (Extreme Systemizer)
Alexithymia Quiz=164/185 (high)
Huge, but overall mostly manageable due to my abilities. I figured that I'm oversensitive mostly.
Some I can think of right away are that I feel my clothes all the time and that I have retained a sensitivity to noise from childhood, though it has decreased much. As a child, I would react with hysteric crying to the vacuum cleaner and covered my ears in places such as kindergarten. Though today I will usually keep my headphones on and listen to music to avoid most the noise of traffic and people outside.
I don't understand why, but my brain still can't block out even small and light permanent or regular stimuli, such as a watch ticking away, the clothes I feel or smells that linger. I suppose I have to give up on hoping that will change at this age.
As a child, I couldn't look up while walking, because the visual input would overwhelm me and interfere with my movement, preventing me from walking. I'm fine with that today usually, if I feel good and if I keep my headphones on to block noise.
I'm still hyposensitive to some pain, but quite disturbed by other types of pain. I'm very sensitive to my body's signal still too, but that's something I can't avoid having to bother with obviously.
Artificial lights don't feel particularly comfortable when I need to concentrate on something, but it's endurable at other times. I have a variety of things like this that just irritate me or send me into tears, but that comes with trying to do most things other people my age do. It's a waste to think about it too much, I rather need my brain to come up with ways of enduring the mental pain or physical discomfort that come with them.
Except for food, I guess. Mixed foods, wrong combinations, different temperatures in one dish, wrong brand... I'll not eat these things and keep going hungry for a day, then. I tried to change that, but I decided there's no point, really, for as long as that I can usually manage to eat something healthy.
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Autism + ADHD
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The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. Terry Pratchett
This is really interesting I've noticed that nobody out of 44 voted for not having had any sensory sensitivity. So it seems that all of us do experience it to some degree.
I was definitely sensitive to a lot of things when I was a child, but generally those things are better now, probably because I've adjusted to it more. But when I was younger I was sensitive to a lot of noises, to some clothes materials and textures of certain things. I remember a particular soap which I couldn't stand the smell of because whenever I smelled it I felt as if it was in my mouth and I could taste it. I couldn't stand several different sounds. I had to cut all clothes labels out of my clothes for sure, and hated the feel of towels coming out of the bath especially when my skin on my fingers became "wrinkled" I wouldn't touch most things for a while. I could go on for a while but those things don't bother me quite as much now though I'm still more sensitive to a lot of things than other people I know.
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