How good are your senses?

[Daydreamer]

I am fairly hypersensitive, with hearing being the most sensitive and touch/pain is the least.

My sense of smell is also fairly overactive, and there are certain foods that I cannot be around because of this.

I have subtle ways of coping with my sensitivity such as adding water to fizzy drinks (i.e. Lemonade) to reduce the sharpness, and retreating to somewhere quieter if somewhere is too loud etc.

The overactive nature of my senses can be amazing, yet at the same time awful depending on the circumstance.

How about you?

 

[Bolletje]

I'm hypersensitive.

 

[Illumination]

I would say all of my senses are very hypersensitive, but I have used coping methods for years (which are now ineffective), so I am getting "hit like a brick". -- It would take me too long to explain each of my senses, but I constantly get overstimulated by them.

 

[the_tortoise]

Hypersensitive with the exception of proprioceptive hyposensitivity.

 

[Progster]

I'm hypersensitive to sound, touch and smell, but hyposensitive to taste. Which explains my love of spicy food
Stimming can help to overcome hypersensitivity.

 

[techteach]

Progster, this is me exactly. I have a very hard time with movies because of the use of music/sound effects to create atmosphere. I have to turn the sound way down (then no one else can hear it) and have the lights on in the room. With music I know and love I turn it way up and it kind of pulls me out of my body, it can be so beautiful and intense I'm almost catatonic. It is so incredible but I can't do that too often.

Oh, and I love habenaro sauce on almost everything.

 

[Progster]

I have a very hard time with movies because of the use of music/sound effects to create atmosphere. I have to turn the sound way down (then no one else can hear it) and have the lights on in the room.

Yes, exactly this! I have difficulty with the special effects in some documentaries - special effects with white flashes all the time, usually accompanied by a kind of wooshing noise, sometimes an awful steel-on-steel sound like the sharpening of blades, also fast- changing scenes. Is this what you mean?
I most certainly can't watch TV with the lights turned off.

 

[Daydreamer]

I'm hypersensitive to sound, touch and smell, but hyposensitive to taste. Which explains my love of spicy food
Stimming can help to overcome hypersensitivity.

Personally, I can't deal with spicy food at all. Each bite feels like several pin pricks jabbing at my tongue. I once had a small chocolate that contained a tiny amount of chilli in, and it felt as if my body was under attack. Whilst I realise that probably sounds melodramatic, the sensation was all too real. That's why I tend to prefer what most refer to as "Plain food" (very few sauces, can clearly see the various ingredients the item is made up of etc.), it may seem boring to some but at least it isn't painful to me.

 

[LadyBird84]

I'm sensitive to loud sounds, lights and touch, but not to pain or hunger/thirst (anything coming from inside basically). I don't smell much and am a fan of spicy foods (sriracha ).

 

[Graphin]

How is being sensitive related to having good senses?

Hearing and sight are definetly stronger, anything on my skin too. Smell is rather interesting, i rarely notice some groups of smells, while i am much more sensitive with others. In general i stop smelling most things after a few seconds, then i need to completely get rid of the smell for various amounts of time to be able to smell it again. With hearing, a major problem is i notice much more environmental noise, can't sleep because of so many rather weird things (many power supplies make high frequency sounds just as an example). In environments with lots of noise where people speak louder, i suddenly am much worse at understanding them compared to normies.

I can write much more about the weirdness of my senses but i better don't

 

[Tom]

I am naturally distracted and disturbed by noise, moving things, lights, etc, as many Aspies relate. But I am able to really mentally block those things out. I started practicing it when I joined the military. Now I can almost sleep thru dental work or invasive medical tests. Same with blocking out sounds, sights... even touch. I use some basic relaxation techniques, do a measured power down (shut down) and focus on something else. Sometimes I actively daydream.

 

[tducey]

I have good eyesight and pretty good hearing. Don't like loud noises or to much noise.

 

[Gracey]

Currently light and sound are more overwhelming than anything else.

Or at least, I experience more of that because it isn’t always within my control.
(Outside of my four walls)

 

[OkRad]

I have Sensory Processing Disorder, diagnosed. It is awful. All senses are involved. If you want me to tell who has been in your house, I am like a dog and sniff it out. I have actually done that. Accurately. I hate it because if there is a peep in the back room, I hear it. Earplugs almost all the time, even at home.

 

[Graphin]

Depending on situation worse than the issue, but earplugs amplify body, body movement and blood flow sounds for me, while i still am able to hear many of the previously heard sounds through them. Yes quieter is still better.

 

[Suzanne]

Hypersensitive.

Sadly, my husband has this dreadful habit of liking things that smell just awful for me, which has caused issues in our marriage.

I cannot do tasters, because the taste lingers and causes nausea.

Interesting what you said about fizzy drinks. The only fizzy drink I like is lemonade and too fizzy indeed feels uncomfortable.

I like chocolate, but the smell is pretty disgusting at times.

Loud noises that are suddenly, cause agony to me.

 

[Ezra]

I wear sunglasses and earbuds or earphones when out. I prefer fairly bland food. Nothing spicy and preferably not tangy or too sweet. I'm only bothered by the types of odors most others are. Anything in my shoe bigger than a grain of sand drives me nuts. Need soft loose fitting tagless clothes.

 

[SusanLR]

Hypersensitive to sound, flashing lights, and touch/materials. Want clothes, bedding, chairs, everthing to be soft. Not overly sensitive to smells though.
I've learned to somehow shut out a lot of noises as I got older.
I wore cotton in my ears as a child when we went somewhere.
Now I can enjoy rock concerts and shut out noisy places like restaurants and crowds.
Today I spent a few hours at the mall and ate at the food court.
The noise of the people was bad, but, I can tune it out.
The crowd around me is harder to ignore.
I took my food to a table next to an indoor palm tree.
At least I had the table to myself and looked at the tree while I ate.
Hello Mr. Tree, nice to have lunch with you!

 

[LadyBird84]

How is being sensitive related to having good senses

Right, it's not. My eyesight is terrible and my hearing is a little below average I'd say. Smell mostly absent.

 

[techteach]

also fast- changing scenes

Yes, especially the flashing and fast changing scenes, shaky camera (as if someone were running around) and low pitched, threatening sound effects or music. The steel on steel is meant to sound threatening. I can tell myself it is just a director trying to create a feeling but it takes so much energy to sit through it. My boys and wife like me to watch with them and I try but ..
I've noticed that when I am fresh I can do things I can not when I start getting tired. I survive. And they do do quiet things for me. Like just talk. Many times they talk and I listen. So proud of my boys.