Sensory No-Nos

[Yeshuasdaughter]

What foods, drinks, textures or odors can you not stand as an autistic person?


For me, it's the smell of licorice root, the feel of plain tuna fish without condiments mixed in, packing peanuts or any thin flexible styrofoam, many lotions, and especially the odor any chemical cleaner or strong perfume.

Body powders. Like I can rub them in if I have to, but the feel of that crunchy squeaky powder on my fingers, it gives me the willies.

And the bane of my existence: MICROFIBER!! It's like little velcro hooks on my skin. The crawliest feeling ever.



How about you? What does your autism make you avoid??

 

[the_tortoise]

How about you? What does your autism make you avoid??

i want to respond but...my brain explodes...there are so so many things...could fill a short book.

[okay editing...responding (this is not all things):

cannot deal with stringy foods (which makes a lot of fruit hard to eat even when I love the taste -- oranges are especially bad for stringy)

cannot deal with slimy foods past a point (was soooo much worse as a child, can tolerate some slime now - can eat yogurt)...like custard/custard-style puddings, mousse, many types of dressing/mayonnaise (it depends...it is the gummy extra slimy textures I cannot deal with - creamy is okay)

cannot deal with too many textures/densities/consistencies simultaneously in foods...end up aspirating bits (mostly up the back of my nose but i also inhale them in lungwards direction and then have coughing fits so bad my face is covered with tears and snot and i usually give myself an asthma attck...so is sensory torture and an actual health hazard)

I can only wear very very soft cotton or the occasional soft cotton blend, or undyed and unprocessed wool (well, processed into textile or yarn but just washed, not chemically treated except with peroxide and soap or unscented detergent...have to do so much research for just clothing; also because I have to avoid natural rubber latex) or organic oeko-tex cerified wool. All my clothes have to be "too big" or i feel like I cannot move and am in unending tactile sensory overload.

i need to carry ear defenders everywhere because the entire world is too loud and i cannot filter out or ignore any noises and have excellent hearing with "the most severe case of hyperacusis" the audiologist had ever seen besides one small nonverbal autistic child who apparently had the same reaction to a supposedly super quiet "machine is on" sound that I did (jumped and hands went instantly to rip off the headphones, expression of extreme agony and panic, hyperventilating...guessing the small child screamed, as I almost did)

Everyone says my house is too dark even when I make it as bright as I can tolerate for them....I cannot deal with bright or flickering lights.

Olfactory sensitivity means I breathe through my mouth a lot...that and skin allergy to a common preservative snd some fragrance plus generic skin sensitivity means I use mostly unscented soaps, or thosr that are scented with literally nothing but eucalyptus, lavendar, mint, orange, sandalwood, tea tree, or cedar oil...those ones dont bother my skin or cause allergic eczema and I like how they smell.

I also hate the squeaky crunchy body powders...*shudders*

And the bane of my existence: MICROFIBER!! It's like little velcro hooks on my skin. The crawliest feeling ever.

Ha, me too! everyone says it is so soft, but i find it scratchy]

 

[Judge]

I consider myself morbidly allergic to cigarette smoke and have been since puberty. Prior to that as a youngster it didn't bother me at all. Being exposed to it can instantly put me into a "fight or flight" mode.

I once contemplated suicide while working in an office surrounded by smokers. Struggled to hold my job that was so hard to come by in those days. Luckily the city of San Francisco intervened in the early 80s by prohibiting smoking in office buildings.

However as I posted in another thread I don't know if this simply comes under the guise of all my other allergies, or if it is considered something in the realm of an autistic sensitivity.

 

[Jumpinbare]

GOSH YES! Cigarette smoke. Just a trace of that smell and it's like someone is sitting on my chest.

The taste of beets literally makes me gag! The taste of alcohol is a bitter, horrible taste for me. People have tried to spike my drink more than once, and immediately I reflexively spit it back into the glass. If others experience the taste of alcohol like I do, alcoholics wouldn't exist.

Wearing clothing feels like I have been wrapped like a mummy. I feel trapped, and there's no way to move without feeling the fabric "fighting back".

 

[Masked Man]

Mine is mostly noises. A few times in the past, I have had to share space with people who have had nervous habits wherein they cough and clear their throat constantly. It's possible one did it out of necessity, because they were a heavy smoker, but the others were not, so I don't know for sure. It sure was terrible though for me. I had to wear ear plugs, turn up my desk radio as much as I could. Was so glad when each one of them left.

 

[vergil96]

raw onion smell

tuna sandwiches - also smell

clothes made from artificial fabrics

flickering lights

crowds

 

[Ponka]

I can't do any sort of long pants that hug my legs too tightly, so yoga pants, thick leggings, ESPECIALLY skinny jeans (it always feels like there's something crawling in them ughhhh). High socks are on that list as well.

I cannot eat casserole, lasagna, or any sort of slimey mash of foods I cannot separate for the life of me. I feel like I'll throw up just seeing it. I hate how it looks, sounds, tastes... everything.

Can't stand any sort of snot and drool from another person. People spitting while they talk, sneezing without covering their mouth, snot running down their nose... I actually physically shiver when I see it happen. It's why I rarely ever hold babies or small children.

I have more, but these are just ones that are more unusual for other people and that bother me the most.

 

[Masked Man]

Can't stand any sort of snot and drool from another person. People spitting while they talk, sneezing without covering their mouth, snot running down their nose... I actually physically shiver when I see it happen. It's why I rarely ever hold babies or small children.

That's another one for me that I just remembered. I just can't. I work in a clinic and while I was studying for my undergrad degree I had to do some hospital rotations. Most bodily fluids don't bother me, but this one does for some reason. I didn't even know it bothered me until this rotation.

 

[Judge]

The weird part for me is when I consider the ability to tolerate other smells that repel people as well.

Hardcore chemicals like ammonia, or incredibly flammable products like acetone. And so many glues that are incredibly toxic to humans. Stuff like that....I don't like their smell, but can certainly tolerate them. Just not whatever the hell is in cigarettes when one lights them up. They remain perfectly fine as long as they aren't ignited.

Too bad a scientist or medical doctor couldn't determine if this involves a select number of specific things that set me off like this. Especially when other products one can smoke do not effect me in such a way.

Microfiber? Yeah, it rubs me the wrong way every time I touch it. But it doesn't physically repel me. Just annoys me each time. Yet essential for dusting here in the High Desert.

Not to mention that while I have OCD, I have no sense of germaphobia. Came in handy in having to take care of a girlfriend's young daughter. Kids can be incredibly messy on so many levels! Go figure.

 

[Grondhammar]

Great question, interesting to see everyone's take on this.

I think I have too many to name that I have a visceral get-me-away reaction. Generally:

* my own hands sticking to things for any reason (sweat, glue)
* anything slimy, including but not limited to okra, lotions, baking fat, wet mud, kissing, and the round things in bubble tea
* the odour of seafood -- any seafood, no exceptions (so far at least)
* the little stringy fibres just under the skin of bananas
* anything pokey/spikey/ribbed -- corduroy, ribbed pottery cups... trying my dad's foot-circulation socks was absolute torture
* thin slippery fabric
* and yeah, definitely microfiber

Do I live a filtered existence? Yes, yes I do. My family likes trying new things but they know if it falls into the spikey/slimy/stinky group I'm just a no-go.