Tag: sensory issues

Auditory Processing Problems

meridok:

ulfelska:

fictions-stranger:

permanentlyhighonlife:

cupcakeslushie:

autistic-sowachowski:

winterwombat:

kohotli:

reliquariies:

jaspuppy:

aspergersprincess:

• *someone says something* “what?” *repeats themselves* “sorry?” *repeats themselves again* “pardon?”

•"hey, y’see the red thing at the top of the shelf, will you get it?“ “Sorry, what?” “On the sh-” “oh yeah sure, I’ll get it.”

•*doesn’t hear teacher because someone’s pen is making a scratchy sound at the back of the room*

•*replays video 10 ten times to figure out what they’re saying*

•teachers asking, “why do you always stop writing in the middle of a sentence, just write down whatever I’m saying,” followed by the response, “I’m just processing it,” rebuked by, “we’ll stop processing it and just write.”

•*gets really focused on staring out the window and goes through four songs without hearing a single on*

someone is whispering to their friends in the library, you don’t even know who this person is but you know their major, what state they grew up in, and their hobbies during high school. you just wanted to find a quiet spot to do your chemistry homework.

wanting to chime in on other people’s conversations all the time, but don’t, because you’re not suppose to be “listening” to them.

being the only person in the house that can hear that awful buzzing sound certain electronics make

hiding in your room because everything is too loud. 

motorcycles were invented by satan

being told that you have dog-like hearing by friends and family

being yelled at for “not listening” by friends and family. 

God. God. God. God.

This entire post is so fucking relatable it hurts

“You just need to learn to tune it out.”

Forgetting how to think because ambient noise is drowning out your internal monologue. 

“No, I don’t need the volume up, I’d just really like to put on subtitles. No, I don’t need to move closer, I just…”

Leaving the room whenever someone starts talking on the phone. 

Pausing your video whenever someone starts talking but trying really really hard not to seem passive aggressive about it. 

Struggling to explain why this one sound is the most horrible thing in the world while other very similar sounds are fine. 

you’re trying to listen to what some very important person is trying to say, but you can only focus on the conversations of the ppl around you

sitting in a restaurant and thinking the people sitting next to you are being SO loud because you can hear everything they’re saying, but when you mention it you get weird looks so obviously you’re just overreacting.

not being able to handle the little keyboard sounds as your mom types a text from across the room, but when you ask your mom (who is a quadruple texter) to put her phone on silent you get a murderous look, like you’ve asked her to kill her cat.

turning on ambient noises and trying to relax, only to end up turning it off because it’s not actually helping you fall asleep.

“the speakers are making this high pitched noise”

“what the hell are you talking about?”

“THE SPEAKERS ARE PRACTICALLY SCREAMING HOW DO YOU NOT HEAR THAT??”

“Just ignore it, and focus on the show.”

Holy cow, i thought this was just me? Other people have problems like this too?

@permanentlyhighonlife it’s extremely common with autism and ADHD among other things, often part of a broader sensory processing disorder (SPD) category. 

I… I just thought this was my ADHD or that everyone could hear the really weird buzzing sounds…. What the actual fuck? 

Does ringing in your ears all the time happen to? Like when the power’s out I nearly die because there’s literally no noise (I have fish tanks so it helps keep my brain from going nuts) and my ears start ringing so badly I have to put on headphones and listen to music or a cd or something or I’ll get a headache. 

The high-pitched buzzing from electronics is at the upper end of what we as humans can hear and you are more likely to hear it when younger – your hearing is more sensitive. But as adults our audible range contracts and often we eventually can’t hear it anymore.

Also @ulfelska that sounds like tinnitus tbh

creaturefromthedarkofthemoon:

failure-to-adult:

butterflyinthewell:

Parents, doing an action an autistic child finds unpleasant to show “it doesn’t hurt” isn’t helpful, because for the child it probably hurts like hell or feels intolerable because they process sensory information differently than a neurotypical person! 

Listen to me, an autistic adult with personal experience of dealing with these unpleasant things, and see if this makes sense.

(Touch) Pulling a shirt over a child’s head is no big deal to you? Your child might feel like they’re suffocating, the fabric on the shirt collar could feel like sandpaper on their ears / face, or it’s a tight squeeze and it’s pulling their hair as you slide it past their head.
IT HURTS.

(Hearing) The vacuum cleaner that doesn’t hurt your ears? To your child it’s probably a jet engine on their eardrums.
IT HURTS.

(Smell) The perfume that you can barely smell? To your child it’s probably like pouring the entire bottle of it up their nose.
IT’S HELL.

(Sight) The hot pink bulletin board construction paper that you think looks so cute and pretty? It probably feels like staring at the sun to your autistic child.
IT HURTS. 

(Taste) That sauce you don’t think is spicy at all? Your child probably feels like they have burning napalm on their tongue.
IT HURTS. 

(Vestibular) You’re upset that your child freezes when they have to go up or down stairs unless you’re right there with them? Maybe the height is triggering vertigo, so they feel like they’re tipping backwards or forwards and are afraid they’ll fall and get hurt.
IT’S SCARY. 

Parents, LISTEN. I’m not saying never expose your child to these experiences, but recognize there is a limit. Is it totally necessary? Then don’t worry about doing it right that moment. 

Buy shirts that can be zipped or buttoned up. 

Give them ear defenders or have someone take them outside while you vacuum.

Go easy on the perfume / scented products  or save those for special occasions where the child won’t be present.

Buy softer colored construction paper for your bulletin board. Colors are frequencies just like sounds are, and some color frequencies are painful the same way some sound frequencies are painful.

Let your child eat that without the sauce on it, find an alternative topping that isn’t spicy (if they tolerate it) or make something else for them to eat.

Hold your child’s hand or walk behind (going up) or ahead (going down) of them on the stairs so they feel safe like you’ll catch them if they fall.

Honestly, one of the things my parents do now that I am so grateful for is simple sensory warnings. “I’m turning the vaccuum on, do you want your headphones?” that kind of thing.

The only thing that people ignoring my protests when they do painful sensory stuff to or near me accomplishes is making me feel like that person is untrustworthy and not safe to be around. It was worse when I was a kid and didn’t know that most people don’t experience the world the way I do – then it seemed like they were torturing me for fun. 

If someone ever tells you something is cause them pain fucking believe them. Or you’re an asshole. 

thechronicchillpill:

How chronic pain affects the senses

When you need to put captions on the tv, and cant hear what people are saying because the pain is “too loud”

When you need to close your eyes, or look away because it physically hurts to see, or youre too tired to use your eyes right now. Or the pain is “too bright”.

When you cant be touched, brushed against, wear clothes or blankets because the pain makes you too sensitive, and “even air can hurt”

When you cant enjoy eating or the taste of things because you cant ignore the pain and fatigue that comes with chewing/swallowing/after affects of eating/picking up and putting down utensils. So pain literally makes food “hard to taste/hard to eat”

When smelling things immediately make you sick, migraine, make the pain worse because inhaling and exhaling are actually too much and the smell makes you overstimulated and thus makes it so “youre in too much pain to handle that smell”

We need to talk more about how pain affects our senses, these arent anything to be ashamed of. If you suffer from this, im sorry but i want you to know what youre going through isnt fake, it is very very real. And it sucks.

Your valid, your struggle is valid, i believe you and i believe in you.

One better than buying cases of good pasta off Amazon, like I was doing. I finally caved and ordered an assortment from Italy!

Ouch on the shipping, and that was the cheapest option 😨

All BiAglut, which should be the same as what they were selling branded as Heinz here, after Heinz bought out that manufacturer. And a much better variety available! This should be the first linguine (and ditalini, and bucatini, and…) I’ve had since 2005 at the latest.

First it got hard to find the few types of Heinz-branded pastas in stores here, then they totally discontinued it on the UK market so ordering wasn’t even an option anymore. No clue why. (Though it is apparently still available in the US, as BiAglut, BTW. With closer to their full range of shapes.)

But, that is by far the best GF pasta I’ve found, with the lupine flour helping it behave a decent quality wheat pasta. It doesn’t even turn to mush sitting with a sauce!

Felt silly enough to pay that much to order some that I resisted doing it for months after finding that source. After all, it’s not like there is no GF pasta available in stores here, however variable the quality and how badly some of it interacts with the sensory issues.

But, I finally gave in tonight after making some macaroni and cheese I’d been craving, with my last hoarded-back Heinz–and experiencing the non-disgusting texture again. Yes please, send me more pasta I actually want to eat! 🙄

That order ought to last a while, at least. 8 kg of pasta all together? Something like that. With two people in the house.

clatterbane:

You may not have worn scents much in

for a while when you do put on some perfume–to keep catching whiffs of it, and wonder where that smell is coming from 😅

And I’m reminded again that apparently most people do stop smelling themselves after a while 🤔

At least I’m reasonably sure that I’m not going around knocking other people over without realizing it. Hopefully.

But, that might also help explain how some people live with themselves after drowning themselves in scents, to the point that I’ve had to get off public transport because I just couldn’t take it anymore. If they can’t really smell it on themselves 😵

(ETA: So I just notice that I made some weird typing error after reblogging the OP. About right.)

Ridiculous Annoyance OTD: Forgetting to do a thorough antiseptic mouthwash rinse before I went to bed. Popcorn strikes again! 😬

I should maybe go ahead and try buying some “hulless” variety, with the aggravatingly fragile gums and my apparent inability to stop eating the stuff. When I know full well there’s a decent chance I’ll be feeling it later.

I could tell last night that some inflammation was starting up, and while the rinsing doesn’t totally fix it? It usually calms down a lot faster if I do. Thank you executive function! 🙄

This time it’s making it hard to chew on the one side of the mouth where chewing works. Both the top and the bottom at the back of that side. Annoying, hopefully it will calm down again (and a couple of molars will stop freaking itching too) ASAP. Soft food in the meantime.

slashmarks:

paladinkit
replied to your post “raspberry truffle and superman”

thanks for the music links – i’m always looking for new things? i’m curious if you have time/interest about what are problems for you with sweaters – i know how to design knits around my & my sister’s sensory issues, but everyone’s are different

thanks, I hope you like some of the music! I am nearly always happy to geek about music.

wrt sensory issues, I think it’s actually because of my connective tissue disorder, not purely autism/sensory issues; certain yarns are “hard,” especially acrylic, cotton and worsted wool, and when knitted into fabric running my fingers/skin over them feels like getting a friction burn akin to, but milder than, road rash. obviously that’s not super attractive in clothing. softer yarns and looser or very small knitted stitches are less likely to cause the problem.

I also, and this probably is autism, am really bothered by fabric that clings to my wrists. I used to have trouble wearing long sleeves at all, but at this point I’m fairly comfortable with button downs, which have relatively open sleeves, and hoodies, which tend to be very loosely stretchy. Sweaters are usually made to cling, though, and I’m uncomfortable in them and long sleeved T shirts because of that. I can tolerate this as an adult, but it’s unpleasant and I tend to prefer to be cold for short periods of time.

Thank you for mentioning the possible EDS connection there. I hadn’t thought about it like that before. But, it makes complete sense that “just” having the sensitive, more fragile skin because lousy collagen could cause extra trouble with some fabric textures. (Things like clothing tags/seams rubbing against your skin, too.)

When other things tear up your skin more easily than most people’s, no reason rough-textured fabrics shouldn’t too.

Probably multiple reasons that, yes, some things really do feel that unwearably rough/scratchy/like sandpaper. One of those things that I feel kind of dumb for not considering before, but hey.