Expert: Celtica - 3/18/2007

Question
Hi. I'm a female college student, always been successful in school, emotionally pretty normal, and never diagnosed with any problems. But I feel like I'm unusually sensitive to touch and sound, and I've been told to ask autism "experts" about how it works.

Basically, if there's a stimulus - like a person's hand resting on me for too long, or touching/stroking me in the same place for too long, or there's loud noise and I want it to be quieter but I can't escape it, I have this panicky feeling and I'll usually jerk away rapidly (touch) or leave the room as quickly as possible (sound).

These experiences can be anything from a little displeasurable to really panicky and frustrating. Sometimes I snap at people to get them to stop quickly, or become irritable.

They're linked, too -- if it's too noisy then I don't want to be touched, and vice versa. With the noise it doesn't even feel like hearing - it feels like I'm being hit.

I'm pretty sure I've had the touch thing even when I was a kid, and maybe the sound too - like I always hated fireworks because I experienced the sounds as painful.

The weird thing is that sometimes I want to just sit in a sensory deprivation tank, but other times I love working in high-paced, complicated, noisy environments. Neither of these are usually extreme, but I guess every once in a while they are. Like tonight there was a noisy party and I was dozing off in one of the rooms, and then the noise seemed to be getting louder and louder and I started feeling really tense and then finally I had to run out of there. I couldn't even really think straight.

I'm totally confused about what all this means and I just got into a fight with my partner because he doesn't believe that I didn't want to go to sleep in the same bed tonight because the noise earlier at the party has made me feel really repelled from touch and sound and all that. He thinks it's personal.

Is there any way of becoming less sensitive?? I'm not looking for treatments or diagnoses, but are there any tips or little exercises that people with autism spectrum disorder and sensory problems use to deal with things like this?

Any help would be appreciated!

evie

Answer
hi evie,

these sensory issues are indeed very common among people on the autistic spectrum, but they sometimes also affect people who are not autistic.
You may have sensory integration dysfunction (this is not ment as a "diagnosis" - I'm not a doctor, and it would not be a good idea anyway to try to "diagnose" a person over the internet)and you should probably consult a specialist if you want to be sure.

There is a great book by Sharon Heller called "too loud, too bright, too fast, too tight" which deals with these sensitivities. It's a good read and it may answer many of your questions, also, there is a mailing list on yahoogroups called 'adultsid'.

Unfortunately, there is not really much you can do to become less sensitive (at least, that's my experience) - what you can do is trying to live better *with* your sensory issues.

The panicky feeling you describe may be what I'd call "overload".
I usually try to avoid situations that may cause overload or try only to stay in a situation as long as I feel comfortable, even if this may mean leaving early or not going to a place at all, or only go there if you think it's really worth it. And if you decide to go, always make sure you have some time on your own afterwards.
There are also alot of small things you can do to make life more comfortable for you:
wear headphones or earplugs when you have to use public transport and try to make sure nobody sits down next to you (even if some elderly ladys may shake their heads...), wear headphones at work if you can, order food over the internet if you can (I do that because I can't deal with the noise and lights in stores), especially avoid shopping malls.
You could also get a really heavy blanket for your bed and try slepping under it (deep presure sometimes helps)...

Hope this helps a little, you can always ask again
C.