Thick with the ‘tism – ASD Social Space

Hiya folks, I shared this question over on the ADHD thread, and figured it would be relevant here as well!!

@Adge @Shaz51 @Blackcloud @WizardMotor @tyme

Been thinking a lot about sensory sensitivities lately, and the ways I've found to try to mitigate some of the impacts - thought I'd throw it to the community and see if y'all are the same lol

And see if anyone has any hot tips or hacks!! hehe

I'll break it down!!

Sight - in my house, it is a CRIME to turn on 'the big light' lol all my lighting is soft/red/warm white

Sound - noise cancelling headphones ALWAYS. Also struggle with misophonia which means sometimes having to leave the room when someone is eating. I also use white noise to sleep cos if I'm lying very still and hear noises I can feel it in my whole body

Smell - Incense is my liiiiife!! Also have to keep bins and recycling away in a cupboard and like, constantly needing to deep clean the bathroom 😅

Taste - I've been a fussy eater since I was a kid!! So like certain foods are bad not cos the taste is, but cos of the Texture (e.g. I love the flavour of pickles, will order a cheeseburger as normal so the flavour is there but pick it off cos WHY IS THERE CRUNCH WHEN I AM EATING SOFT BURGER? CRIME).

I will also always chop my veggies SUPER fine when cooking, nothing worse to me than like, ordering a stir fry and there's HUGE chunks of carrot! Cos then my enjoyment of delicious stir fry is interrupted by SUDDEN OVERWHELMING TASTE OF CARROT

Touch - my skin is SO SENSITIVE. I literally have to wear extra layers to protect my skin - not just from itchy tags, but itchy seams as well! Like.... the NORMAL PART OF THE CLOTHING is too sharp for me, I will actually develop a rash! I'm currently trying to remove the polyester from my wardrobe (thanks to advice from my textiles-obsessed partner, and conversations with the lovely @creative_writer about fabrics!!) so hopefully that will help!! That and my trusty stitch ripper for all itchy tag removals needed!! Like legit I don't leave the house without it, just in case a seam or a tag becomes SUDDENLY TOO MUCH.

So that's me!! How bout y'all? How do you cope with the loudhotbrightsmellypointy?

@Jynx the 'loudhotbrightsmellypointy' is cracking me up!! xD

Honestly I can only relate to the Touch part and using white noise to sleep.

I too have very sensitive skin, so I always need to wear something that has only cotton in it, as well as for when I need to lay on my bed -- I would only need to use a cover sheet, a blanket and a pillow case that all have cotton in them! otherwise, any other material of any furniture/object that's not cotton that I touch will give me bumpy flare-ups. Also the tables that I'll be sitting at where I would need to wear a short sleeve top on would have to have a surface (a smooth surface/texture) that's not very rough, otherwise i'll eventually get the bumpy flare ups on my arms too. or i can just wear a long sleeve top/jacket/sweater etc. if i do need to sit at a table where the surface is gonna be rough - just like how I did this morning/afternoon whilst working on my essay in the library.

Yesss the bumpy flare ups are the WORST @Blackcloud and then like, NOTHING can touch my skin for the rest of the day pretty much!

@Jynx yeahh, true that 😕 it really sucks having sensitive skin. why can't things be easier for us no matter what we do or what we use 🥲🥲

@Blackcloud Right?! Just wanna be wrapped in silks and furs at all times lol but nooooo too expensive!!

Very interesting @Jynx

Hello @Blackcloud ,

hi @Shaz51 i hope you're well xx

OK here just tired @Blackcloud

How are you my friend 🧡

@Shaz51 same im pretty tired too right now lol. been a bit busy today but busy is good.

@Blackcloud @Shaz51 @Adge @WizardMotor @Jynx , lately, I've found white noise machine/sound to be really helpful to help we focus a little more so I don't experience auditory overstimulation. I'm quite sensitive to sound.