What sensory issues do you have?

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I'm not sure if all of these are sensory issues, but here are the ones I have that I think fall into this category:

Touch sensitivity: I am obsessed with touching everything. I run paper between my fingers & rub it on my face all day at work. I let my hand lightly touch the walls as I walk down a hallway. When I go into a store, every rack of clothes I pass I have to run the edge of the clothing thru my fingers. On the opposite side, I can't stand cotton balls. Nails on a chalkboard. Even seeing them makes me shiver in disgust. Also can't stand vapo-rub, vaseline, sunblock, etc, basically anything gooey like that, though vapo-rub is the worst. I remember crying till my grandmother wiped it off my chest when I was little b/c I felt like I was going to die after she put it on. I also can't wear anything constrictive around my neck. Also, I wash my hands after using the restroom, but if I never had to again I would breathe a huge sigh of relief. I absolutely can't stand the way my hands feel after, and just have to sort of hold them out and not touch anything until I can get back to my desk and put on lotion to make them feel normal again. Usually takes 2-3 coats.

Light sensitivity: I have to wear sunglasses nearly 100% of the time when I'm outdoors. Only once the sun is completely set can I take them off. Even if it's cloudy out. Also, headlights of other cars at night are like daggers. I'm better at looking away now than I was when I was younger, but I still hate driving at night and can't when it rains. It's like night + rain = blind.

Other? I don't know if this is light issues, movement issues, heat issues, all three? But I get carsick very very easily. I've never actually gotten sick, just get very nauseous sometimes after as little as 1 minute in a car. Depending on the road (very hilly, turns, etc) I even get carsick when I'm the driver! Heat makes this process 10000X quicker and worse. No way in summer or in winter if the driver likes to keep the furnace blasting. The sun also makes me carsick very easily. Just seeing it out of the corner of my eye is horrible. Even worse is if trees make the sun "flicker" & then I'm done for. After any of this happens, I have to go home and sleep for several hours till I feel normal again, but even that's not a cure-all. Still leaves a headache in it's path.

I think that's it!

I have misophonia... it's a living hell.


I also get a little weird with touch stuff (I cut the tags out of my clothes, I compulsively feel fabric, nothing restrictive around my neck, weird/unusual pressure points. I can't stand loud noises like pots and pans banging around or overly loud music.

sensitive to touch. Some things feel super-rough to me and not others. Textures fascinate me. Light touch is okay when I'm okay, but if I'm worked up or in sensory overload, a light touch is way too stimulating. It's like the nerves scream in my head and I have to get away.

Light: Same as you. Sunglasses, almost always. I moved to Seattle because of this. I love overcast weather. The clouds aren't always enough, but it's so much better than sun. Sun flickering through trees makes me sick as well.

Sound: High pitched or loud sounds, especially without warning. I bring earplugs everywhere now. Also quiet noises that others don't really notice will get my attention and annoy. If I don't have white noise when sleeping, then distant sounds keep me awake for a long time.

Smells: Some smells are extra repugnant to me and can cause headaches.

Temperature: I get a bit of synesthesia with temperature. Different temperatures have an extra touch component. Colder temperatures can be ticklish or tingly, warmer temps are kind of melty, really hot temperatures are sharp and kind of scratchy. This has lead to many attempts to scratch an itch using the hair dryer, and wondering why it's not quite working.

Me too (HATE slurping, eating, drinking noises - and whistling and (long list) ... they are all torture).

I also react to loud, sudden, high-pitched sounds, which is a different kind of sound sensitivity to misophonia.

I have the fluorescent lights in my office switched off all the time - there are enough windows and a computer screen and some reflected light, to get by. I just feel uncomfortable with them.

I find it uncomfortable to look at crowds of people moving in every direction in a public place. I think my brain is trying to follow all the movement and it is TOOO busy. So I mostly walk along looking at the ground, occasionally looking up for brief glimpses to check whether I am on a collision course with anybody.

I really don't like quite a few other repetitive movements - e.g. jiggling legs, jaws moving silently while people chew, etc. The sight of someone chewing gum, even if I cannot hear them, still gives me a shudder.

I react to strong smells - eg someone peeling an orange.

I am cautious about tastes, although I eat a fairly wide range of foods from other countries (eg Asian and Middle Eastern, southern Europe). Can't stand strawberry though - or beetroot, and don't like sweet and sour. I love pineapple on its own, but dislike its strong sweet flavour mixed with other food (except ice cream). I usually eat each food on my plate separately - all the peas, then all the carrots ... but I will sometimes mix potato and meat.

I have the same issues with light....I get more headaches on sunny days than on cloudy ones because of this. Fluorescent light also hurts my eyes.

Sound issues....same as you guys described with banging noises. I cannot stand the sound of many people talking at once. This is one of the reasons I quit my job - lots of people standing in line all pushing to get in front of each other. The slurping noises you describe grate my nerves. They're the worst!

My sound sensitivities also manifest themselves in a strange way. When listening to someone talk, it's like I don't process what they're saying as quickly as it seems I should. When asked a question, I'll heard the words but my mind jumbles them up while trying to make sense of them. I often don't understand the question until after I've asked the person to repeat themselves and they're already speaking again:

Person: Hey, do you know what happened to my keys?
How this sounds in my mind: Hey, do you....dskljdfslksdjklldkl....
Me: Sorry, what?
Person: I asked if you knew wh-
Me: Oh, yeah they're right over there.

This doesn't happen every single time I talk to someone, and it's usually when I'm already becoming overwhelmed by other stimuli, such as in a classroom or crowded cafeteria. It happens often enough that other people have started to notice.

Anybody else do this?

When I see dogs coming towards me up the street, my heart leaps in my chest. Its. not a. sensory issue, but visually it makes me a nervous wreck.

I am hypersensitive to bright light. Makes me eyes water.

Sudden loud sounds (balloons popping, motorcycles suddenly revving their engines) makes my heart leap.

Touch: I don't like coarse fabrics and usually only wear cotton. All of the tags on my clothing also have to be cut off and I do not like any clothing that is not exceedingly plain. I also don't like someone touching me unless I know they are going to do it. Likewise, I am sensitive to anything on my skin like an insect or a drop of paint and have to get it off.

Smell: I can't stand anything scented. I use unscented Tide for my clothes, Ivory soap, and wear no cologne. I also do not like the smell of deodorant and so I use it only in rare cases when it is absolutely necessary. Likewise, I can't stand the smell of other people or any perfume or cologne. I also detest the scent of tobacco and pot. My nose is so sensitive that I can smell someone smoking pot 4 or 5 cars ahead of me at 50 mph.

Taste: I can't tolerate spicy foods. I usually eat bland food as I don't really like to try new or unusual tastes or textures. I think this ties in to my smell sensitivity as taste buds are the same kind of tissue as that used for smell.

Hearing: A wasp was hatching from a nest in a bush 25 feet away from me. The noise was so annoying to me that it caused me to try and see what it was, and I found the nest. I can also hear when a cockroach gets in my bedroom and is crawling on a piece of paper.

Last edited by outofplace on 21 Jul 2012, 3:43 am, edited 3 times in total.

Light...hate bright lights especially fluorescent pretty good night vision.

Hearing is sensitive but can dial it in, but still hate high pitch sounds. Give me migraines.

Smell (no where as strong as my mom's) but is a lot more sensitive than normal and to very subtle changes (can always tell knock off perfumes) but smelly shops like Lush give me migraines and can cause an overload/shut down especially as there in Fluorescently lit, noisy, crowded malls.

Taste - Very sensitive but love strong foods especially Indian and Thai but can't stand olives or lychees (can't even be in the same room as one) otherwise no negative reactions (makes me a better cook)

Touch - Pretty desensitized to pain not noticing cuts and minor injuries like bruises but hate to be touched, hugged etc unless I'm prepared for it. Love my silk shirts would live in them all the time if I could.

Temperature - Very desensitised to cold I've been known to go out in -20'C in a shirt and trousers even in snow (have to remember a jacket as not to look odd or if going far enough for me to get a chill), love to be warm just love my nice warm soft quilt or my thermal blanket but can't handle hot temperatures. On summer it was 38'C at work and the AC broke I had to move all my office stuff into the 8'C fridge. Hottest day ever recorded and I was there in a thermal jacket and finger less gloves.

What is odd though is my mom shows greater sensitivity to hearing, smell, taste and temperature than I do (she can't stand low temps 10'C is cold to her) but has non of the other AS traits, she doesn't have meltdowns, and she can't process the data as well as I can. She can be overloaded with a smell (say my aftershave) whilst I can Identify several different smells only getting overloaded when there's a lot or isolate specific sounds so much from background noise its all or nothing with her (only sober person ever to fall asleep on the main speakers at Rock City, Nottingham during a rock concert).

Heightened senses runs in my family though, it made my maternal great grandad an excellent soldier/hunter and my great Nan a research baker and her mom a hedge doctor, but my Nan herself has none of them and has no sense of smell.

Hyperhearing - I can hear a car idling its engine 3 doors away, over the nominal room volume of my radio. Sirens from several miles away, when they come within a block from me it is excruciating. Don't let's start on boom stereos

Percussive sounds of all nature, excepting those of a good drummer. Dishes being washed, doors slamming, falling objects. Although hearing glass breaking was once an obsession

Uneasy at the sound of some people's voices, including my own

Weird pain tolerance; I often needed stitches for what felt like minor cuts to me. In 2005 I caught my arm on fire, I rinsed it off in cold water, wrapped a towel around it and kept working for another 4 hours.

Never spent more than a half day in a medical hospital, and I only seem to get "don't even try getting out of bed" sick every 3 years or so

Is this normal

Touch
Can't have any tags on my cloths. Also if someone touches me I freak out. My heart races and I get really bugged. I need deep touch though. If someone tells me "I am going to touch you" I feel fine. I also love having people squeeze me as tight as they can. I also loving being under extreme weight.

Sound
Any loud sound I can't stand I will grab y ears and rock if it is to loud.

Tastes
I can't take tastes that I am not use to.

Tempeture
I can't stand any heat over 92 but in the winter I always love it. I even wear t shirts down to 36 degrees

Yes! I do that too. Never did convince my mother I wasn't just making her repeat things to be annoying. I'm sorry you get it too, but I'm glad it's not just me.

Certain noises. a loud snare drum I can't stand next to. I absolutely hate fire alarms, but I think these two things are quite normal. I usually keep my music at a pretty reasonable volume too. really loud noises gives me this unpleasant sensation in my lower back, I don't know why.

I hate any kind of light when I am trying to sleep. need an eye mask to block everything out.

The temprature. If the AC is cranking for any reason (no matter how hot it is outside) ill usually wear a hoodie.

I can't stand the smell of something burning. There was an explosion near us a few years ago, we were a couple blocks away from it and I was coughing from the smoke. Cigarette smoke is terrible!

certain salty foods. I'll usually cough when I eat McDonalds fries, just because of how much salt they put on them.

what I DO like is the sense of heaviness. over my shoulders especially. so calming! I need to find some kind of sand weights that are big enough to throw over my shoulders.

Last edited by OhioStateDolphins on 20 Jul 2012, 1:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

Touch: I can't stand tight t-shirts/shirts/jumpers or if they have a high neck. Makes me panic. Socks bother me as well. When I was a child I couldn't stand the tags on my clothes. My mum always had to cut them off. Also, sometimes I have days when I can't stand being touched by people (not even my boyfriend). If my boyfriend then, for example, puts his arm around me I feel like the pressure is uneven (difficult to explain) and that freaks me out. I really don't like it when people bump into me at the supermarket and such.

Sound: This is what I'm most sensitive to I'd say. I get so incredibly tired and annoyed if it's noisy. I can't stand sounds such as people breathing loudly, snores, metal against metal, cutlery against plates, fork against teeth, sudden sounds etc. They always make me want to put my hands over my ears or simply run away.

Also, I very easily get overloaded. Too much input makes me shut down. I rarely go into town because of it. All the noise, all the people moving in different directions, all the smells, the lights etc just become one big blur of things that really annoy me. Gives me a headache and I shut down.

Oh, and sulfur fumes. Chemistry class was awful. One lab involved pure sulfur, and I spent ten minutes leaning out the window, choking, eyes watering, before the teacher sent me out of the room. She took pity on me and gave me my group's grade for the lab, even though I couldn't participate. Everyone else thought it stank, but no one else was disabled by it.

Whenever people talk, it sounds like they are shouting. I also find things to be extremely bright.

Sensory sensitivity is one of the few Apsie traits I don't experience much... luckily. Of the few sensory issues I DO have, some are more advantageous than problematic:

Touch: Not much. I can wear scratchy fabrics and so on, but I do know that when something or someone touches me unexpectedly, I can sometimes feel the sensation on my skin for up to an hour afterward.

Sound: Here is where I have super-powers. I can hear the faintest and most distant sounds that most people can't, but also I can hear so much that sometimes I have a very hard time understanding what people are saying to me or hearing dialogue on television, unless the room is completely silent.

Taste: No problem at all. Sometimes I find the texture of some food to be unpleasant in my mouth, but the taste of the food is usually not an issue.

Temperature: Cold is not a problem. I think I'm average (or better than average) in my reaction to cold. Heat is a BIG problem though. I've gotten heat exhaustion many times. If the temperature is over 80f, I'm unhappy. If it's over 90f, I'm miserable and completely cannot function. One hundred times worse if it's sunny.

Smell: I am sensitive to strong perfumy smells, but never to the point that it bothers me much.

Pain: I have that weird Aspie thing in which the slightest little scratch or poke is just about unbarable, but you could just about twist my arm off and it doesn't bother me. However, this account for only about 20% of the time. The rest of the time, I think I'm pretty much in line with NTs.

Light: I need to wear sunglasses most of the time and even cloudy days are sometimes too bright , but I can stand it.

Vestibular: This is why I can't drive. I have trouble judging body position, direction, height, and speed. If I have to go to an appointment in an office building, I am completely lost when I leave, unless someone shows me the way out.