Sensory matters

[Xinyta]

Here's another thing that just hit me.

I was listening to a YouTube video, because I can't comfortably be in silence, and was about to drink my morning coffee with milk.

Since the taste of things is very important to me, and I was using a brand of milk that I had never tried before, I muted the video so that I could properly taste the milk.

I do this a lot and now, with this new possible prospect of who I probably am in the back of my mind, I had to question this lifelong habit.

If I suspect that there is a funky smell invading my home, my first action is to turn off anything that I have playing in the background. Music, gaming video, interview, tennis match...

It's as if my sense of smell or taste won't work well enough if my ears are working.
The same goes the other way. If I suspect that there might be someone calling for me, or an alarm ringing, etc., I'll stop what I'm doing, close my eyes and "stretch" my ears.

Also... I can tell if food is salty just by smelling it my mom would often ask me to sniff the food to tell her if she'd added too much salt.

I'm sorry for asking so many questions. But I am really questioning everything about myself, and other people in my family, since I "discovered" autism.

Thank you.

These are definitely not unusual things.

I am definitely someone bothered by certain sounds. Especially loud obnoxious noises. I cannot hear myself think and the sound just takes precedence.

The thing with hearing smell and taste, interswitching, based on what's actively used, is something I am unsure of with myself. I may not have that, but it would be worth paying attention to. Just in case.

Smelling salt is certainly an interesting gift to have. For me, I think my tastebuds are jarringly aware of flavors. It's why I cannot have soda anymore. It tastes too artificial for me, now that I've dropped it. I can just taste the chemical lab in the soda, with a mild taste of the soda's specific flavor. If it has one.

Though some people I've met say that soda tastes like ash to them. I can only imagine how putrid that must be, for them.

Also, I wouldn't worry about asking too many questions. You are looking for answers to things that are burning in your mind.

Nothing wrong with that.

 

[jsilver256]

In which way do motions bother you?

It's hard to describe. It feels like someone shining a bright light in your face but without the light. It's the main reason why leaving the house is likely to result in overwhelm. I'd been staring at the floor or the sky all my life (which is not a source of motion) without even realizing why.

Sometimes I can't watch certain TV shows because the edits are too jarring.

 

[Neia]

These are definitely not unusual things.

I am definitely someone bothered by certain sounds. Especially loud obnoxious noises. I cannot hear myself think and the sound just takes precedence.

The thing with hearing smell and taste, interswitching, based on what's actively used, is something I am unsure of with myself. I may not have that, but it would be worth paying attention to. Just in case.

Smelling salt is certainly an interesting gift to have. For me, I think my tastebuds are jarringly aware of flavors. It's why I cannot have soda anymore. It tastes too artificial for me, now that I've dropped it. I can just taste the chemical lab in the soda, with a mild taste of the soda's specific flavor. If it has one.

Though some people I've met say that soda tastes like ash to them. I can only imagine how putrid that must be, for them.

I never liked sodas. But because of the bubbles. They hurt too much.

The only one I love is natural bubbling water, it comes out of the spring like that. It helps me with my digestion problems.

The one I get is flavoured with tangerine syrup, because the natural water is salty, and I hate the flavour of it.

 

[Boogs]

I muted the video so that I could properly taste the milk.

I think I get something similar, because I'm totally one-tracked. Can only consciously process things one at a time, terrible task-switching skills, and whatever sense I focus on, the rest tune out and that sense is 'amplified' (for better or worse).

 

[Jumpinbare]

I have zero vestibular function. Vestibular compensation is possible in everyone, but works best in those who became deaf from infanthood on (such as was in my case) so the brain wires itself without needing a sense of balance.

I have met a few people who had vestibular dysfunction as an adult and they lived with constant nausea and wobbliness. That is awful.

After an ear infection, one of my inner ears had nerve damage resulting in permanent dysfunction of my vestibulary system. I was living in a constant spin that made walking or even just standing without support very difficult. My doctor told me my brain would adapt eventually. It took about 3 months for the spinning to stop.
Now my balance is entirely visual. Put me in a dark room and I will almost certainly fall if I try to walk. I once got out of my car on a moonless overcast night. No streetlights reach my yard so it was pitch black. Before I could turn on the flashlight on my phone, I was struck on my side by something very solid and heavy. It was the ground. I'd had no clue I was falling until I hit the ground ground.

 

[Misty Avich]

Who would have known that my annoying habit of asking questions would ever be useful

Lol but aww you're not annoying.

 

[jsilver256]

After an ear infection, one of my inner ears had nerve damage resulting in permanent dysfunction of my vestibulary system. I was living in a constant spin that made walking or even just standing without support very difficult. My doctor told me my brain would adapt eventually. It took about 3 months for the spinning to stop.
Now my balance is entirely visual. Put me in a dark room and I will almost certainly fall if I try to walk. I once got out of my car on a moonless overcast night. No streetlights reach my yard so it was pitch black. Before I could turn on the flashlight on my phone, I was struck on my side by something very solid and heavy. It was the ground. I'd had no clue I was falling until I hit the ground ground.

Yeah, that's a good explanation.

One time I was wearing a VR headset and the VIO (which is what moves the screen as you move your head - giving an impression of a real world that changes as you look towards it) crashed.

Now the simplistic explanation is that VIO relies on the concept that you are looking at some part of a "fake" world and the IMUs is what allow the screen to adjust to this world to move as you move your head. Basically, VIO is the software component which makes VR, VR.

Well, the VIO crashed once. Which means: it flew into outer space and the screen along with it.

I was sitting in my chair and I honestly thought I was falling hard, very hard, head first to a hard stone tile floor. It was like someone grabbed my head and was trying to smash it to the ground. One of the scariest moments of my life.

In reality, I never left the chair.

 

[Misty Avich]

Yeah, that's a good explanation.

One time I was wearing a VR headset and the VIO (which is what moves the screen as you move your head - giving an impression of a real world that changes as you look towards it) crashed.

Now the simplistic explanation is that VIO relies on the concept that you are looking at some part of a "fake" world and the IMUs is what allow the screen to adjust to this world to move as you move your head. Basically, VIO is the software component which makes VR, VR.

Well, the VIO crashed once. Which means: it flew into outer space and the screen along with it.

I was sitting in my chair and I honestly thought I was falling hard, very hard, head first to a hard stone tile floor. It was like someone grabbed my head and was trying to smash it to the ground. One of the scariest moments of my life.

In reality, I never left the chair.

I tried one of those VR things a few weeks ago and it gave me unpleasant vertigo.

 

[vergil96]

It's hard to describe. It feels like someone shining a bright light in your face but without the light. It's the main reason why leaving the house is likely to result in overwhelm. I'd been staring at the floor or the sky all my life (which is not a source of motion) without even realizing why.

Sometimes I can't watch certain TV shows because the edits are too jarring.

Then I also experience something like that. The TV sure is too flashy for me often. Or I get tired from watching it or people in the street or in shops. It's tiring to watch. Sometimes I can feel a strange sensation "in my brain" because of sudden movement. I have photophobia of flashing lights too.

 

[Boogs]

Ears provide quite a few sensory inputs to the brain. Sense of balance, sense of position and location, sense of centre of gravity, sense of air pressure, and more I'm sure. It's a hugely complex organ, the inner ear, and is v. important to the brains 'world simulator' that lets us navigate our environment. A sort of GPS without the satellites, and interestingly I believe there's ongoing work to create an electronic version that could replace the need for GPS and work more like our brain does for navigation.

Well, the VIO crashed once. Which means: it flew into outer space and the screen along with it.

I was sitting in my chair and I honestly thought I was falling hard, very hard, head first to a hard stone tile floor

That reminds me of when I first tried VR with a flight sim on an aircraft carrier - trying to work out how to control the thing, I managed to drift to the edge of the carrier, and went over the edge.
Next thing I knew was I was sitting on my arse on the floor, with a number of nice bruises. It's quite something how the VIO fools the mind even though the graphics are actually quite crude. It seems to be this factor much more than any realistic imagery that syncs the brain to the VR experience.

 

[Peter Morrison]

Neia - Your explanation of specific items and rituals shows that you are dealing with the foundations of coping with those pleasant, and unpleasant feelings that come with Aspergers. I battle anxiety with no recognizable cause. In lieu of that, I always sought diversion. The common thread was single purpose concentration. In order to have that, you must be aware of distractions and interruptions. When I am interrupted, I lose my concentration and a lot of the information my mind had been holding to get through the project at hand. This was frustrating. What did I learn? I learned that I don't function well in situations where I can't remain focused on the project or procedures at hand. Even if I try to tune out distractions, I can't manage it. My loss, but also my reality. Awareness is a key element in helping reduce the frustration and confusion that makes me not enjoy my activities. You are aware of them and from that you can structure your daily life with fewer upsets. It's trial and error, but you may come up with methods that work well for you. Getting upset with anything can ruin a good day. I believe that your awareness is a great start. I wish I had understood this many, many years ago.

p.s. I get really bored easily. My bandaid approach is to keep a book of codeword puzzles with me when I know I might have to wait or have nothing at all to do.

 

[Neia]

Neia - Your explanation of specific items and rituals shows that you are dealing with the foundations of coping with those pleasant, and unpleasant feelings that come with Aspergers. I battle anxiety with no recognizable cause. In lieu of that, I always sought diversion. The common thread was single purpose concentration. In order to have that, you must be aware of distractions and interruptions. When I am interrupted, I lose my concentration and a lot of the information my mind had been holding to get through the project at hand. This was frustrating. What did I learn? I learned that I don't function well in situations where I can't remain focused on the project or procedures at hand. Even if I try to tune out distractions, I can't manage it. My loss, but also my reality. Awareness is a key element in helping reduce the frustration and confusion that makes me not enjoy my activities. You are aware of them and from that you can structure your daily life with fewer upsets. It's trial and error, but you may come up with methods that work well for you. Getting upset with anything can ruin a good day. I believe that your awareness is a great start. I wish I had understood this many, many years ago.

p.s. I get really bored easily. My bandaid approach is to keep a book of codeword puzzles with me when I know I might have to wait or have nothing at all to do.

Yes! I get bored pretty easily as well. If I have to go somewhere, usually a medical appointment, and I'll have to wait, I always take a book, or my tablet where I have majong, or I take my crochet.

I still can't deal with interruption very easily. If I'm doing something and am interrupted, then have to go back to what I was doing before, I'll have to spend a few minuted trying to remember "what was I doing? where was I? I wanted to research something, what was it?" This drives me crazy.

 

[AspieChris]

p.s. I get really bored easily. My bandaid approach is to keep a book of codeword puzzles with me when I know I might have to wait or have nothing at all to do.

IPhone…… the ultimate time waster. I don’t know how I ever lived without it.

 

[Neia]

IPhone…… the ultimate time waster. I don’t know how I ever lived without it.

I just wish people couldn't call me on it any time they want

 

[AspieChris]

I just wish people couldn't call me on it any time they want

30 years ago I had a pager. Nobody else did and it was before cell phones. I was basically on call to any one of my friends and family members 24/7, but it was ONLY me…. not them.

After about a year of having it I threw it out of the window on the freeway. There are times I would like to do that with my phone, but it’s an expensive little thing. So I have settled for ignoring phone calls and making excuses on why I didn’t answer, in order to retrain everyone that I’m not their on-call girl.