Sensory Issues

[142857]

One of the things I have found most interesting is that a lot of sensory issues that I had never really thought about turn out to be fairly common among Aspies.

I thought that if we all add our odd little sensory issues to this thread then a few more lights may go on.

Most of my sensory issues were at their peak when I was in my mid to late teens, and have faded since then. When I describe a sensory issue I may just describe it as it was then rather than in its current, faded form.

* Sensitivity to noise. I'd be asleep or drifting off and some tiny inconsequential sound would have me wide awake again. A ticking clock or a TV in the distance would drive me mad.

* Smells. Until my early twenties coffee, as well as tropical fruits like mango and papaya, smelt absolutely revolting. They all had their own unique sickly sweet rotting smell. Now they smell completely different to me and I love the smell, and taste, of all of them.

* Heat. My mother used to tell me to wash dishes in hot water. To her the water I used to wash up in was cold, but to me it was as hot as I could stand it. I could never understand how people could make a cup of tea or coffee with boiling water and drink it right away - I had to let it sit for about 15 minutes first. I preferred eating cold food over eating hot food because the heat of the hot food would overpower every other sensation. I could never understand how other people would have a shower and the bathroom would fill up with steam - I would have the water as hot as I could stand it and there wouldn't be a trace of steam.

 

[mikkyh]

Heat: I seem to feel hotter than anybody else and also if there's even the slightest change in temperature I could feel really, boiling hot or freezing cold. I can never do washing up because I hate the hot water, it feels like I have my hands in a load of sulphuric acid.

I cant wash my hands using the hot water tap because it gets way too hot way too quickly for me...so instead I use the cold tap which hurts as well because it's too cold. Basically I'm sensitive to the cold and the heat and this can affect my life quite a lot.

Materials: I find most materials very itchy and uncomfortable. The max amount of polyester I would have in a shirt also made from cotton is 50% - MAX. A 50/50 polyester/cotton shirt would be fine for me (itchy after a while but fine nevertheless) whereas a 60% polyester shirt can send me into total meltdown.

****ing autistic fruitcase mental basket! Anyway...

Sounds: I find a lot of sounds make me really really seize up, make me feel sick and actually leave me feeling this way for hours after I have heard the noise. Can't stand certain noises. Whenever the vacuum cleaner is on I have to wear headphones with some nice music or go to bed.

There's some other things that don't really come to mind right now. But there's a lot of audio and visual ones. As well as feeling stuff. Meh.

> BUT... <

What sensations do you LIKE ? You tell me some and I'll think of some. It's nice talking about the positives with sensory stuff as well.

 

[142857]

What sensations do I like?

I like food. I like flavours like strawberry and chocolate - anything sweet.

I don't like smooth textured food much. I like mashed potato that has only been half mashed and still has plenty of lumps in it. I like lumpy gravy. I like crunchy peanut butter.

I love the sound of moving water. Waves on the beach, a babbling stream.

I like the cold. Even though I hate the indoor lifestyle and the dreary light and the early sunsets. When I was living in Slovenia I would often go out to lunch and forget to put a jacket on - I'd realize I had forgotten it when I was already outside in the snow. So I would just go for a walk and buy myself a horse burger or a burek or whatever in a business shirt.

 

[mikkyh]

What sensations do I like?

I like food. I like flavours like strawberry and chocolate - anything sweet.

I don't like smooth textured food much. I like mashed potato that has only been half mashed and still has plenty of lumps in it. I like lumpy gravy. I like crunchy peanut butter.

I love the sound of moving water. Waves on the beach, a babbling stream.

I like the cold. Even though I hate the indoor lifestyle and the dreary light and the early sunsets. When I was living in Slovenia I would often go out to lunch and forget to put a jacket on - I'd realize I had forgotten it when I was already outside in the snow. So I would just go for a walk and buy myself a horse burger or a burek or whatever in a business shirt.

1. The sound and feel of snow crunching under my foot
2. Wind brushing through my hair
3. Snuggling up to a warm bed in a cold room
4. Hugging
5. Strecthing out on the sofa after a long night

Thaat's all I can think of at the moment...oh and the scarf one. Love a nice smooth scarf. Aaah nice.

 

[krisi]

It's interesting, I seem to have some overlap, but many of my issues are the opposites, or differ slightly. Also, what I'm going to post uses a framework of seven senses, not five (taste, touch, smell, sight, sound, and then also vestibular and proprioceptive)

Sensory Issues:
~CLOTHING--it's not so much the texture as it is the tightness. My clothes have to be somewhat loose fitting, especially around the wrist. I refused to wear anything but overalls until I was 10, because I could not deal with anything around my waist. Now I am able to wear jeans, but I don't like sweat pants very much, especially if they have a wide waist band. Seams can also be a problem for me if they are too rough or if the clothes are tighter-fitting (what I mean is, I can wear a tighter-fitting top if it is seamless or has small/soft seams, but I cannot wear fitted tops that have larger inside seams.

~SOUNDS-- Sounds above a certain level are unbearable. My little sister plays basketball, and I try to go to some of her games, but the buzzer and the crowds cheering is simply painful for me. When I was little, my parents would take me to professional sports games, and I cried every time until they got me ear plugs. I was not afraid of fireworks; they hurt my ears. I was fine watching them if someone held their hands over my ears.

~Food Textures--until fairly recently, I did not like mixed texture food--fruit in yogurt, nuts in cookies. I'm just starting to like these kinds of differing textures. I would eat yogurt, and I would eat fruit, but I would not eat the yogurt that had fruit in it--the two textures felt too weird.

Sensory Seeking:
~PLAY-DOH--I love the feel and smell of play doh. I would squish and sniff it for hours at a time if I let myself.

~PLUSH TOYS--just a lovely sensory experience, especially when you get to put the stuffing inside--sometimes the stuffing feels better than the stuffed toy's exterior.

~PROPRIOCEPTION--I love to walk on my toes, or alternate between stepping on my whole foot and stepping on my toes.

~SWINGS--the back and forth motion creates vestibular stimulation.

~DANCING--combines an appropriate amount of audial stimulation with proprioceptive stimulation and vestibular stimulation--a lot of my spontaneous dances are made mainly of spins and toe-stepping (as well as several other movements that may or may not be repetitive).

 

[Ana54]

I find certain materials for clothing gross and disgusting.


I also like tight things on my head. I just noticed this a very short time ago.


My bf takes BOILING hot showers. I get scalded when I get in there with him. I have to get out or change the water temperature right away while getting further scalded... and I don't understand how he takes long boiling showers and his skin doesn't dry up and peel off, or there are no marks or anything. I also find it freezing in the house so I turn up the heat but then he turns it down saying it's boiling hot even after he's turned it back down to freezing...

 

[Ruby_Aspergic]

Walking barefoot makes me feel like I am grinding the balls of my feet into the ground, I have to have shoes on unless I'm walking on very padded carpet or grass. I can't breathe if it's hot. I hate the beach because I can't breathe and sand sticks to me and I want to die. Music makes me nauseous and agitated, especially certain chords. Blinking or flickering lights make me faint, dim lighting makes me very agitated and sick. When I was a child I wouldn't wear anything but cotton and fleecy sort of stuff but I'm not that picky anymore.

The sounds of skates going across ice is my favorite sound in the world. I love the smell of the ice, too. (Not so much the smell of the hockey players that area always on it, but they're sure something to look at!) I don't like the taste of chocolate much, I am ALWAYS thirsty and rich foods make it worse, but I love the texture. And the sound/feel of snow crunching under my feet.

Krisi: what do proprioception and vestibular stimulation mean? Swings make me barf.

 

[krisi]

Proprioception and Vestibular sensation are the sixth and seventh physical senses.

Propriocption is the knowledge of how much or little you are engaging your muscles. Standing on one foot, closing your eyes and touching your nose, and walking on your tip toes are all examples of activities that specifically require proprioception.

Vestibular sensation is knowledge of where your head is in space. In your inner ear, there are two sections; there is your cochlea, which detects sounds (it's somewhat complicated), and there are three semicircular canals that have fluid and hair cells in them that interact in such a way that that the signal to your brain tells you where your head is in space. Thus, you are aware of being upside down, even with your eyes closed. However, spinning around quickly or being on a carnival ride that spins you upside down continuously causes all the fluids to slosh around (that's a scientific term ) and change your vestibular perception. Spinning, rocking, and swinging are all examples of activities that create vestibular stimulation.

 

[AdoringLove]

Sounds:I've always had sensitive hearing, I hate fireworks and I use earplugs at the cinema. I tend to get frustrated when people say I'm speaking too quietly and when I raise my voice they say I'm shouting so it's tricky to find the balance. I startle easy, when people walk into the room on full volume I jump. I'm wary about balloons.

I do like on one of the youtube videos when someone turns their camera onto zoom by hand and it crackles in a good way. I like the sound of gifts in the plastic wrapping. I like certain voices because they tickle my ears.

Texture: If I have chips I touch them with my fork for the ones with nice texture, I like when it's slightly crunchy and soft at the same time. Same with potatoes.

I do have a love of scraping and peeling, such as weeds in between paving slabs and PVA glue on skin. I actually enjoyed scraping the crusty earwax off my ex-boyfriend's ears and picking out the crusty sleep stuff from his eyes and peeling off his dandruff bits (he is aspie and sort of had a hygiene problem). One time he had sunburn and he let me peel it, which was a bit gross but also fun. I also find it kinda satisfying watching scraping and peeling stuff on TV.

I think I'll add to this thread as and when I think of stuff.

 

[Ruby_Aspergic]

"I do like on one of the youtube videos when someone turns their camera onto zoom by hand and it crackles in a good way."

I love that sound.

 

[142857]

Artificial flavours never taste anything like the real thing, and most of them I simply cannot stand at all, would just as soon drink watered down household cleaners in terms of how they taste. Especially artificial grape flavour, pineapple flavour, berry flavour. Red cordial and green cordial - what flavour are they even supposed to be anyway? I once ordered a pineapple juice and all it was was artificial pineapple concentrate, water and a little real pineapple pulp blended into it to make it seem "real". It was absolutely disgusting.

For some reason the flavours they put on crisps (chips to the US and Australia) actually taste reasonable.

Some artificial flavours taste okay, like strawberry. Doesn't taste anything like actual strawberry, but I have always liked it.

 

[mikkyh]

SENSORY ISSUE OVERLOAD dfsdjlfdndk lnsdklrnweirfndcisncfsd' fne[0po

Hay-****ing-fever (stupid ****ing blocked nose and itchy eyes feel ****ing horrible)

AAAAND

It's too warm!!! Cant sleep but I feel nakard all because of

****ing
sensory
ISSUES!!!

 

[mikkyh]

Artificial flavours never taste anything like the real thing, and most of them I simply cannot stand at all, would just as soon drink watered down household cleaners in terms of how they taste. Especially artificial grape flavour, pineapple flavour, berry flavour. Red cordial and green cordial - what flavour are they even supposed to be anyway? I once ordered a pineapple juice and all it was was artificial pineapple concentrate, water and a little real pineapple pulp blended into it to make it seem "real". It was absolutely disgusting.

For some reason the flavours they put on crisps (chips to the US and Australia) actually taste reasonable.

Some artificial flavours taste okay, like strawberry. Doesn't taste anything like actual strawberry, but I have always liked it.

Some artificial flavours do actually taste like bleach to me though. Yuck. Like those fruit jellies (http://www.sweets2.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=je335)

 

[Kempy]

I can't stand touching egg. I have to wash my hands straight away. I also can't stand the smell of vinegar and I surprise people by being able to smell it from so far away.

I definitely have hypersensitivities to sounds. Once things get to a certain volume, I can't bear it, especially if there is a lot of bass. I also hate it when there are a lot of different sounds happening at once. It makes me feel stressed out.

I am alright with light most of the time, but I would rather put a tent up in the dark than have somebody next to me shining a torch all over the place. I really have a go at people who hold torches up at eye level, especially when it's not even that dark and they don't need them.

I also eat really bland foods and I can't stand fizzy drinks. It sounds really pathetic but they actually hurt my tongue.


Now for a positive: I frikkin love artificial banana flavor!

 

[Kempy]

Some artificial flavours do actually taste like bleach to me though. Yuck. Like those fruit jellies (http://www.sweets2.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=je335)

Wtf does bleach taste like?
LOL

 

[Calvert]

Like the smell? 

When I was at the cinema recently watching Shutter Island we were sat near the front and the volume was really loud. I jumped a few times. I hate really loud noises. If it was any louder the speakers would have burst.

 

[mikkyh]

Wtf does bleach taste like?
LOL

Not good. I havent drank any or anything but I can taste whatever I smell so yeah XD

 

[umbrellabeach]

I can't stand being cold. I was kind of surprised to read that some of the people here can't stand hot showers, while I NEED my showers hot. When I'm out somewhere and it's really cold, I love thinking about going home and getting into a hot shower, or at least changing into warm pajamas. I also can't sleep in a cold room. If the room is cold, I'm cold, even if I'm snuggled under the blankets. Everything needs to be warm and cozy for me. I love the warmth of summer but hate it inside because people go overboard with air conditioning and every building, including my own house, is freezing! Because of this, I wear winter pajamas in summer. I wear winter pajamas all year round, really.
I hate mixed textured food as well. I don't like mashed potatoes that went through the mixer because I don't like feeling random lumps in the midst of smoothness. Textures have to be consistent for me. I don't like soggy foods either and I don't understand how/why everyone else likes them so much; I find them gross.
Noises are a huge issue for me. I hate it when people yell and fuss over things, especially when I can see a simple solution to the problem. I also hate hearing the TV shows other people are watching. Sometimes I'll be trying to read but then someone will turn on a TV and I won't be able to concentrate anymore.

 

[Sean2222]

I can't stand being cold. I was kind of surprised to read that some of the people here can't stand hot showers, while I NEED my showers hot. When I'm out somewhere and it's really cold, I love thinking about going home and getting into a hot shower, or at least changing into warm pajamas. I also can't sleep in a cold room. If the room is cold, I'm cold, even if I'm snuggled under the blankets. Everything needs to be warm and cozy for me. I love the warmth of summer but hate it inside because people go overboard with air conditioning and every building, including my own house, is freezing! Because of this, I wear winter pajamas in summer. I wear winter pajamas all year round, really.
I hate mixed textured food as well. I don't like mashed potatoes that went through the mixer because I don't like feeling random lumps in the midst of smoothness. Textures have to be consistent for me. I don't like soggy foods either and I don't understand how/why everyone else likes them so much; I find them gross.
Noises are a huge issue for me. I hate it when people yell and fuss over things, especially when I can see a simple solution to the problem. I also hate hearing the TV shows other people are watching. Sometimes I'll be trying to read but then someone will turn on a TV and I won't be able to concentrate anymore.

Anne,

I'm the opposite, I love cold. Have always loved it. I could walk around with shorts an dtank tops in freezing weather and have until I got a bunch of colds form it lol. But the coldness has always felt invigorating for me. I have a total intolerance for the heat though, even the slightest heat. It has always made me really badly. It will make my headaches worse or make me nauseous, dizzy, or weak. I am perpetually hot, even in the winter and have always sweat so much. That kind of played into the ocd I used to have with washing too much and taking a bunch of showers because I would sweat so much and feel dirty and uncomfortable. I would take so many showers I would almost pass out in the tub from fatigue. But I'm over that for the most part now. I still can't take heat. The sun always bothers me in a bunch of ways including the light sensitivity I have.

I will agree that most places have their air conditionings (and heat) way up everywhere I go lol. I may not like heat but I always have to wear socks to bed. And if not I won't be able to fall asleep at all. It always has helped me sleep a little better. Or if the blanket I have has the wrong texture or length it will cause me not to sleep at all either. So I use the same blanket all year round.

Wow I thought I was the only one who can't eat mashed potatoes because of the weird texture. I feel like I'm going to throw up form that and other weird texture foods. So I just don't eat them, which is alot of fooods I don't eat Same thing with soggy foods for me. Looks like we are ocntinuing all our similarities form our pm's intp here Anne lol. Whenever I complain about these things noone arod me understands though

And of course the noises, eveyrone around me seems to handle them so well except me. Even others on the spectrum I have hung out with in person acted like noise wasn't an issue. yet loud tv's or loud anything bothers me. And a bunhc of other noises and sounds as well. But I'm also better with that. Anne, there is something I recommended to someone I talk to online that also has our noise issues. It's called noise generators and if you go on this website you eill see them. They will really help you because they re-train your brain to process sound smore normally and veentually your sensitivity goes down like mine did about half of what it was. Here it is... the company is called General Hearing Instruments in New Orleans, LA and the devices are called "Simply Tranquil" near the bottom of their catalog. The site is: generalhearing.com
They aren't hearing aids btw but they are very good for those who have noise problems. Hope that helps. Also hope you are doing well.

-sean-

 

[smithgirl656]

Issues:
sensitivity to noise that is really bad, it like whistling and tapping, most repetitive noises, other than clocks, i like the sound of clocks.

texture of some clothe drive me crazy, they itch or feel tight, i just can't ware them. i don't even ware jeans because of that now.

water, i don't like water drying on me, or being in a pool it just feels really really bad.

Likes:
really soft things, things that won't scratch or itch.

i love things that smell sweet

the feel of a book in my hand, and the smell of a book