Ok I think we need an adult sensory thread - Page 10

[SAHDS]

I thought of a few more...

Echoes. When we bought our house, I was on OVERLOAD by the end of day 1! 2 kids yelling in 2500 sq ft of emptiness... the echoing was INSANE. I literally had to cover my ears.

I had visual aversion also. I can't even think of what at the moment, but I know I do. Mostly bodily-related. Chicken Pox that seem to stick out too far (don't ask), magnified body parts (real or drawings).

Talk about picking. Both kids have Tonsilloliths (do NOT google, trust me), which are white balls that 'pop' out of their tonsils and can be seen when they open their mouths. EEEEEEEEEEEEW. When I researched them, I scratched myself RAW. So gross.

I also HATE when people touch my face!!! Drives me INSANE!!!

[HarperRose]

OMG, I totally get you!!!

[Hey Mama!]

Re-the sand thing. I lived in HI for 3 years and I LOVED going to the beach and rubbing sand all over my legs and feet. Wish I could do it again!

[Kitsune6]

Check this out. All of our quirks are real life self regulation techniques. We're not weird we're just self regulating

I just bought the Alert Program for DS and this checklist made me feel normal!

[HarperRose]

That's some cool stuff, Jack.

[Kitsune6]

I've seen a lot of new faces around here asking about SPD in their kids so I thought I'd bump up this thread to let them know that there are plenty of adults here that 'suffer' too.



Enjoy!
:

[mamarhu]

Somehow I missed this thread in its last several incarnations. I admit I didn't read all 10 pages of posts, but from randomly sampling, it occurs to me that we are all on a spectrum of some sort. I guess one might call it the Sensory Spectrum. For me, wet coffee grounds on my skin are more than I can bear. I also have other issues (chaotic sound/visuals, other situations, especially if I am tired). But my point is that perhaps everyone is bothered out of proportion by SOMETHING. Maybe our SPD kids just happen to be sensitive to different things than most people. Not really more, or worse or wrong; just not society's standard.

Just a thought...

[shannonnc78]

OMG this thread is awesome! I haven't read nearly all of it yet, but I'm glad to see I'm not the only one with some sensory issues!

Aversions:
shirts that touch my armpits - can't have anything touching the armpits
being breathed on
feeling my hair touch my neck when I lay down
chalk - I never could have been a gymnast or rock climber
any cereal that turns the milk a different color
dirt or debris on my feet (or anywhere on my body, really)
saliva
lipstick
play-do or tempera paint smell. any dish that has had something like that in it I will never use again.

Things I like:
-certain hard surfaces, especially with curved edges, like the window controller in some cars
-certain foods - I've eaten an egg, veggie bacon, and cheese sandwich for either lunch or dinner every day since mid November
-certain shapes. I cycle through several during the day, but I have to trace them in my head several times. sometimes a shape will stick around for a while (even months)
-I have echolalia, but am able to control it. I only do it out loud if no one is around. if people are around, I do it in my head.
-picking

[insahmniak]

Just poppin in to say...
...DP has been helping DD build with Legos and the Digging For The Right Lego sounds are sending me into orbit.

[want2bmoms]

Originally Posted by mamarhu

For me, wet coffee grounds on my skin are more than I can bear. I also have other issues (chaotic sound/visuals, other situations, especially if I am tired). But my point is that perhaps everyone is bothered out of proportion by SOMETHING. Maybe our SPD kids just happen to be sensitive to different things than most people. Not really more, or worse or wrong; just not society's standard.

Just a thought...

But WHY would you let wet coffee grounds get anywhere NEAR you?!?!?here:looking like:

[Nature]

I have echolalia as well. More often palilalia. I can control it so a point. I still have to mouth the words, but I can make it a whisper.

[soso-lynn]

I cannot stand the sound on an open window on the highway. It could literally make me have an accident.

I can hear little sounds from very far and it can really drive me crazy.

The sound of electric guitar and most electronic music can make me vomit in less than 1 minute.

Things around my neck.

Any kind of background noise if I am trying to sleep.

The smell of perfumes and other products people put on themselves.

I always kept my nails really long because I cannot stand feeling things touching my fingertips.

Things I love:
I 'tweeze' my legs with my finger nails.

I chew on things.

I love to excercise to get that soreness feeling later.

There is tons more.

[fanniefarkle]

No matter how low I put a radio, I wish it could be a little bit quieter.

I can't sit still in chairs, like at church or in a waiting room. I always need to readjust my body to try to get comfortable. I've always been this way.

Hate to clean the screen over the drain in the tub. Makes me gag.

Hate the sound of a fast-moving fan or music while I am trying to go to sleep.

I used to like to suck on fabric or string, but I don't do this anymore.

I count down from 10, and then back up, until I am done with certain tasks (like going to the bathroom).

I like cleaning the hair from a hairbrush, and sometimes it is hard for me to stop even if I have more pressing things to do.

I hate the way glass smells and will avoid drinking from a glass container.

[marimara]

Whoa.....I just read thru some of these (not all 10 pages) so forgive me if this has been addressed already. I have lots of these issues and have always attributed them to a form of OCD. You guys are saying Sensory Issues? Is there a name for this? My dd seems to be the way as me. I have never been diagnosed with anything mainly because I don't go to the doctor . But have any of you? Is this a real disorder? I admit it all sounds alot like OCD. Looking forward to the responses....

[Ravin]

Sensory issues? I thought I was just wierd.

I have a friend with some pretty strong sensory issues around food, which she came to understand as such when dealing with the same in her daughter. I used to tease her about it, especially her unwillingness to try new foods.

But I tend to obsess over projects (which often go unfinished when I move on to the next project), I'm a picker (mostly at anything zit/boil/clog like in my skin), and used to do it to DD (the scabby guk on her head, and ear wax) as a baby. Nowadays she's very adamant about not letting me. I'm very particular about how she can touch me while nursing, too. I hate wearing shoes (especially inflexible ones), or any kind of socks when sleeping. I've got spatial perception problems because of poor depth perception which is excerbated, when I think about it, by left/right confusion (I still have to conciously stop and think about which is which sometimes).

As a kid I sucked my middle fingers, up into school age, and my fingers are still scarred because of it. I also had a blanket which I would stroke in a certain way, the kind with satin edging. I was devastated when it disappeared from our yard when I was in first grade.

My handedness is off kilter, I learned as an adult to write legibly left handed because of pain issues with my right, and I've always brushed my teeth left-handed, even though I'm right handed for most things.

I like doing repetitive tasks, which is the only reason I've found working at Wal-Mart as a cashier doesn't suck.

[fanniefarkle]

I think that to some degree everyone has issues with sense, meaning that there are going to be things you try to avoid and others that you seek out. For me, my issues do not interfere with my daily life (except for one, involving food). For someone like my son, sensory issues may affect one in a pervasive fashion.

[2bluefish]

I think it is a spectum of it's own. Some people are just better sensory processors than others. I think identifying weaknesses and strengths in the sensory processing arena can be helpful for anybody.

[kittywitty]

I also have sensory issues. My ds does, and when I was going over the symptoms with him, it was like. My god, that's me, too! I have huge issues with sounds and touch especially. My dh is a musician so you can imagine how annoying I am to him! I have oral...issues. I have to put everything in my mouth. I swear I've eaten so many non-food things on accident. I am also a squirmer. Ds is, too. I will be reading and he will wiggle and squirm and move and do 8000 things and yet he'll still be able to repeat it all back to me word for word. I can do the same thing and nowadays that just gets you the ADHD label in school, so that is one of my reasons for homeschooling him.

I also have some OCD which makes it worse and it gets really bad if I get overwhelmed sensory-wise. I know everyone is different and everyone has quirks, but I talk to dh about it and he literally just thinks I'm crazy.

[caspian's mama]

*BUMP*
:


ds is going through a phase of extreme body awareness. i'm not a nudist but we pretty much have an open-door bathroom policy and i don't care whether he sees me naked other times (like changing). over the past couple months, though, the sight of my breasts or butt has become hilarious to him. i know it's typical little boy stuff and i just try to react neutrally.

him: i see your boobies!!!
me: yup. those are my boobies.

we're both a weird blend of sensory seeking and avoiding but, of course, it plays out in different ways for each of us. it's hard for me to find a nice way to tell my beloved child "stop touching me!" but i'm coping a bit more (better when i have my meds of course).

the biggest issue now is him (seemingly) always wanting to touch my breasts. it's not remotely sexual just "hey! there they are again!" same with my nakey bottom and, occasionally if we're sitting on the couch cuddling, my general crotch area. this is really difficult for me because, while i don't want to be uncomfortable myself, i have a hard time setting "rules" in this area when i try to be much more fluid with everything else in our life.

basically i just tell him that those spots are MINE and not to be shared unless i give express permission. (this kinda goes back to the other touching too, esp my face. i've asked him to ASK me before he touches me, just so i can prepare for it.) i try to relate it to him, reminding him that his dad and i never touch his penis or butt unless we're cleaning them and that no one else has the right to either.

but he's a "spirited" child and my blahblahblahing (like the peanuts' teacher) doesn't always "stick". any suggestions? btdt? somethin??

[Synchro246]

I just found out about SPD a few days ago. I was on another forum and someone asked about where to get weighted blankets for their child and I was intrigued because I love weight and a weighted blanket sounds amazing. (When I was little I had a tent bed sheet and I would fill the tent with enough blankets to smoosh me and it felt so good falling asleep was easy).
After the explanation for the weighted blanket came out to be for Sensory issues I looked around.
I found this adult checklist: http://www.sensory-processing-disord...checklist.html
Have any of you done the checklist? Have any of you been evaluated professionally?

I was shocked after I went thru it. I think there's some confirmation bias to it and I think, like others have mentioned above, it probably only "matters" if it affects your life negatively; but it sure seems like a good place to start.

My number one issue is being overwhelmed by too many sensations at once. I can handle up to two sounds, but like many of you mentioned when one more sound is added I start to freak out. I yell and get angry. I've had many a fight where my anger was stemmed more in being talked to over other noise than over whatever we're verbally fighting about.
If I have to pee it's like a sound and I can only handle one other thing in addition. I've learned to go ahead and stop my other chores to go pee so that I don't loose my temper

I'm not a fan of being touched. I'm OK with nursing little babies, but once they get big (14ish months) it gets really hard and I need to put limits & make sure there's nothing else going on when I nurse or I get snappy.
I prefer hard touches to light touches and when I'm intimate with DH I go batty when he tries to be tender and gentle . A semi-exception is when he tickles me it feels really intense and hard. I do think I could go insane if someone were to tickle me for too long.

I love really spicy & really sour flavors. I eat a lot of pasta and it *NEEDS* to be underdone (3/5ths aldente ) or it feels horrendous and tastes wrong.
Same with veggies--lightly cooked only.

I can't wear my hair down. It must be up or I get angry and snippy with those around me. I've had many a rage-attack due to hair touching my face, neck, or shoulders.

I can't stand the sound of people eating. If I'm eating the same food as the other person it toally ruins it for me.

I have nightmares about gum. Gah. I can't type it out because I'm gagging.

I have to wear pants, preferably soft pants, unless it's REALLY hot (because being too hot is another sensation that's too much to handle if anything else is going on). I will wear shorts to bed though because pants sometimes make me feel like my ankles are being choked. I also only wear socks below the ankles for the same reason. I prefer flip flops and bare feet, but I will wear light-weight shoes snugly if I have to wear shoes.



I feel bad that I get so frustrated and loose my temper because of these things. I feel bad for my family
Just learning more about it is helping me cope though . I would love to get to the point where I don't loose it anymore. I think my family would appreciate it too.