It's the sensory issues thread!

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It's the sensory issues thread brought to you by the person who tried to see if there was a link between when your birthday is and how well you are at idenityfing fireworks from the sound. . Sorry, couldn't resist that.

Now, back to something vaguely resembling seriousness/sanity:

What sensory issues do you have?

How severe are they? (By this I mean :What level of discomfort does it cause?)

How specific are they (With sight, any particular colours? With hearing, any particular volume/pitch e.t.c)

Any particular times at which they are affected?

And any other information you feel would be releavent.

Due to all the possible combinations, my poll is very simple. It's primarily there to attract people. (What, I have to do BCS, may as well find something interesting about) I would ask that you leave a comment.

Last edited by sigholdaccountlost on 25 Sep 2006, 11:58 am, edited 1 time in total.

I'm guessing that sight and certian colours are my main sensory issues. I went to a National Park in Ft Langley, BC with the Thursday Afternoon walking club, from my Clubhouse. I saw so much green that I've nearly fainted. I couldn't handle that much green. I was wishing that I could have stayed at the Clubhouse and looked at Routemasters on the Internet, which are my favourite colour, and the colour that I'm more accustomed to, which is of course, red. I'm never going Hiking, again! That experience has put a really bad taste in my mouth...Yuck! I couldn't get myself to eat Salad for a week.

I cannot stand it when people sniff. In one of my classes, there is a person who sniffs about every minute or so. By the time class lets out, I feel like a guest at a CIA resort.

i don't know if this is a sensory issue but my pants have to fit a certain way around my waist and can't be too tight. otherwise i freak out. also i have a fan on in my room to drown out all the other noise i have in my house when i'm trying to sleep

Yeah, with touch and to a lesser extent sound.

For touch: most clothes are uncomfortable (even if they're soft, I can't stand them touching me). When I dress in the morning it's like hell. I don't know how to describe it exactly, but it's as if my whole body got goosebumps.
Also I don't like touching plasticky stuff like bags and magazines. I can usually deal with it, but not if I have wet hands.

Hearing: overload sometimes, but not too bad.

SMELL... I have a real problem with certain odors, especially fragrance and cleaning supplies. The smell itself is magnified all out of proportion, causing what I call "smell-pain"... sort of like the reaction to very loud noise, but in the nose. It causes caughing and sneezing fits, and eventually I can't even breathe.

So not only do I have the normal "aspie" reluctance to being around people, I'm also allergic to those of them who wear perfume, cologne, after shave, or bathe with certain high-fragrance soaps.

this is why I love my skirts.

For me it's mostly sound, unexpected loud noises make me jump, literally jump. I have become pretty good at blocking out persistent annoying noises, though this comes at the expense of ignoring all other sounds in the vicintity as well.

I have problems with bright sunlight, especially if it's shining on a white surface. At certain times, it feels like daggers are stabbing into my eyes, but luckily my anti-glare sunglasses help. I also strongly dislike fish and vinegar smells, but that's it. It's nothing I can't cope with

Cant stand millet brooms sweeping on wet surfaces. It sends a chill trough my spine.
And on an entirely seperate issue I cannot filter out other sounds like the TV has to be turned right down if I talk on the phone. And I can easily be put off by sound of machinary or other sounds if I am speaking to someone personally.

Too many.

Loud noises...also have a really hard time filtering out background noise here too...
...fragrances, cleaning supplies, fuel or certain painting products.

tags in clothing, itchy or tight clingy clothing...jewelry

certain foods...bright light.

Loud noises mostly startle me, too much background noise and I just can't focus...

...clothing and fragrance issues are probably the worst for me...I can wear jewelry on occasion, but usually can't wait to remove it.

I don't like light touch...like someone rubbing the back of my hand or tickling...just really uncomfortable at times.

Almost all aural. I can't handle intrusive sounds while I'm supposed to hearing someone talk. I don't like high pitched voices or alarm sounds. I can pick out soft music at restaurants when other people can't, it's often distracting.
Functionally, I'm alright except when I'm supposed to be engaged in talking. I can't hear two distinct things at once and understand what's going on.

I have certain pairs of Sweatshirts that are made from, I think it's Polyester or something, the soft feeling on my fingers just feels really uncomfortable, and it feels like it's boring into my fingernails. I can deal with it, but putting it on and grasping it and all that puts me back slightly. And it only seems to be a problem with my fingers, too. Weird...

As for sounds, nothing really gripes me, but at Primary if the rest of the class was talking then I'd drop everything and not work at all (not sure if it affected any grades...). I actually like sound quite a lot; I find it neat when I mix songs using Sound Recorder, and reversing them can lead to some hilarious results (ever heard Blink 182's 'Feeling This' backwards?). Plus, I often have my MP3 player on too loud for my own good, and my ears hurt a little bit when I take the earphones out. In fact sometimes I'm so 'in the moment' when listening to music other things just simply drift away... one time I got off the bus while listening to, I think it was Jack Johnson, and someone delivering grocery supplies actually had to point out to me that a lady was trying to talk to me. When I turned around and paused the music, I said sorry, and she then said that there was water coming out of my bag. I thought 'Aw, flitch, that's not water, it's the juice from my drink bottle!'

OLFACTORY!! ! Mainly.

Yes, I can pick up scents like a hound dog. No one has to tell me what they have eaten recently, or warn me that their monthly visitor has arrived ( every woman I have ever known, closely, has thought it necessary to keep me informed of this, but I already know! It's not gross or anything, but you don't have to tell me, OK? ), and all flavors of 'dirt' on people are immediately obvious to me.

Many things offend my smeller, but rarely do I "go off on people" anymore. I don't know how I've learned to deal with most of it, but even though I can smell things from hours ago, I only freak out if the smells are artificial fragrances. I can't even breathe, if there are overly perfumed people in the room.

That new car smell some of you like? YUCK! ... decaying plastic is a very strong and offensive odor to me. I've had 5 new cars in my life and I, only a few years ago, figured out why I have so much stress (sweating, ears ringing, hyperventilating, headache, twitchy movements) when I have to drive a stinky new car. Your decaying manmade fabrics are disgusting, too. I won't wear them.

OK enough about that.

Any sudden, unexpected touch is also a reason to jump out of my skin, but I'm really hard to sneak up on. My ears are extremely sensitive to pressures and you can't enter a small room, open a door, or move anything 'bigger than a bread box' without me being aware of it. Obviously, I suffer during low pressure days when it 'might' rain, because of the unsettled air. High pressure days are my favorite.

I have almost no sense of taste, though. I taste salt ( many different kinds of salt are available for me to appreciate ), rich sweets and 'hot', not much else. People say lemons are sour, but I think they taste sweet. I like pickles because of the salt.

Last edited by DirtDawg on 23 Sep 2006, 7:05 am, edited 1 time in total.

By 'overly perfumed', does that include not using deoderant for about a month? If so then you'd might want to stay away from my place...

Nah, no problem. I don't find natural fragrances offensive, unless you are starting to smell like ammonia or vinegar. That's a bit much, but it doesn't hurt like perfumes do. I would probably identify you by your scent if you came up behind me though. Can't help it.

I can handle all manner of poop or BO or almost anything, except diseased mucous. Someone with a cold leaving those tissues everywhere is a real drag. I would rather rummage through a waste basket full off poop that one full of dirty kleenexes, to find my lost keys!