Hunger and thirst survey

[LisaFiene]

Hi everyone,

My husband's been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, and one of the things he's always told me is that he never seems to feel hungry or thirsty. As I'm also a student researcher at the University of Southern Queensland, we've put together a short survey on this issue (should only take 10-15 minutes to complete). Who?

If you are over 18 and have been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, autistic disorder or PDD-NOS, University of Southern Queensland would like to invite you to take part in a research project, which is an online self-report questionnaire.


What?

The purpose of the research is to better understand how adults with and without autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) perceive and interpret internal bodily sensations - feelings that include hunger, thirst and temperature. Your participation in this research will valuably contribute towards a better understanding of this area, and may help provide better outcomes for people with ASDs. Also undertaking this survey may benefit you in gaining a deeper understanding about body awareness, and how this is one of the 'other' senses in our bodies.


How?

Click on the following link.
https://psych.sci.usq.edu.au/ols/?p=IBA2013



Thanks everyone. If you need to contact me with any questions or comments, please either PM me or email me at the below address.

Kind regards,
Lisa Fiene, Psychology Department, University of Southern Queensland
<Mobile number and email removed by superboyian to prevent spam>

 

[Perry Holia Kerrith]

This sounds very much like an advertisement of some sort.

Well, I'm not over eighteen, but I rarely ever feel hungry. Thirst on the other hand... I can go through a two liter bottle of soda in under an hour, and juice I pretty much just inhale.

But strangely enough, I can't drink more than a glass of water at a time. I mean, it's like I'm physically incapable of doing it for some reason.

 

[LisaFiene]

Hi Perry,

Just letting you know this isn't an advertisement, it's valid research on interoception from the University of Southern Queensland (just thought I'd clarify). Interoception is one of the 'other' senses in our bodies, and to date there's been little research on how this is experienced for people with ASDs, which is why this research is being undertaken. I've received approval from the moderator (Superboiyan) to place a link to the University's survey. Hope this helps. Thanks also for your comments - will be interesting to see what the results eventually reveal. Thanks Perry.

Kind regards
Lisa

 

[Ste11aeres]

The questions about "Have you been diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder" should include "No, but I suspect that I have it." Just to keep the control group more "pure".

 

[Cali Cat]

I realize this is an old thread, but it caught my eye because I can go for long periods without eating if I'm absorbed in something. I rarely ever feel hungry until I actually begin eating, or I smell something good cooking on the stove. My father was like this as well, and I believe he was affected with AS too. In contrast, I do feel thirst, and I drink a huge amount of soda daily. Similar to another poster above, I don't like to drink water at all. I think I need the "mouth feel" of the carbonation.

 

[AsheSkyler]

Exactly the same here. I can get so caught up in a project or research or whatever catches my eye that HOURS will pass before I realize I haven't been fed in 24 hours. Not uncommon in my creative circle, I have a lot of normal friends too who make jokes about how they just did one tiny little drawing or short story or whatever and when they looked up it was dawn. I went on so many creative binges there for a few years it got to where my stomach didn't even growl anymore. I just made sure to eat so much a day and went on binging on whatever it was that I was interested in.

 

[OddGirl]

Cant get the link to work, but still willing to answer. I routinely go for over 12 hours/and sometimes more than 24 without eating. I just don't get reliable signals for hunger. The only real cue I have that I'm hungry is getting slightly blurry vision and a headache, and that is only due to extremely low blood sugar. These are the cues that force me to eat, but they only turn up after about 12+ hours of forgetting to eat.
Thirst is much more intense and immediate. I'm a constant sipper due to the dry mouth my medications cause. I almost always have a drink nearby.
I cannot stand heat and am most comfortable when my room is around 16 degrees Celsius. This makes the stiflingly hot and stickily humid Southern Ontario summers horrible for me, and I spend the majority of my time in the basement where it is a bit cooler during the summer. Running the AC is costly, so I try other means of keeping cool. Frequent showers, fans, icy drinks.
I am so tolerant of cold that I rarely wear a jacket or coat until it is far below freezing, and even on nights when the temperature has fallen to nearly -30 Cel, I am comfortable outdoors in an unzipped coat with no hat, scarf, gloves or winter boots, just wearing my running shoes. I do have to watch my feet more now though, since I got quite severe frostbite a few years ago after an employer refused to let me go home and change out of a leaking pair of shoes during freezing, slushy weather and I spent 12 hours with frozen feet. I'm very lucky that I didn't lose toes over that.

 

[Heissonear]

Same here too. People I work with think I have some kind of will power to always skip lunch, and when I go home I eat because I should but not because I'm hungry. I have to manage getting the right nutrition, which includes essential oils, protein drinks, vitamins, etc.

It looks like many of us eat to live than live to eat.

 

[Maelstrom]

Same here too. People I work with think I have some kind of will power to always skip lunch, and when I go home I eat because I should but not because I'm hungry. I have to manage getting the right nutrition, which includes essential oils, protein drinks, vitamins, etc.

It looks like many of us eat to live than live to eat.

Hacker flag on survey site improper I.D. codes