Ok I think we need an adult sensory thread - Page 2

[wonderwahine]

as a kid i used to need to be coocooned in my bed, everything tucked in perfectly before i could sleep, now as an adult i dont need the tightness, but i like the blankets up near my neck regardless of if its hot or not.

[jauncourt]

Originally Posted by savithny

I also gently stroke my eyebrows when I'm thinking.

This is really cool. I've never done it deliberately before. It feels neat, very comforting.

I left out some other things -
I have left right confusion. It affects my typing, all kinds of things.
I have balance issues, but not consistently.

Honestly there is so much that I feel weird about making a list of it.

Also WRT the genetic question - my grandmother also hates eating sounds (i've seen her reaction to them) and I think she's resisted getting a hearing aid for her progressive hearing loss precisely because it has given her so much relief to not have the auditory input. My mom cuts tags out of clothes, and has smell fetishes (she LOVES perfumes but I hate them...). because of that, I am certain the sensory issues I have are hereditary. We also have a history of learning issues, with a tendency towards giftedness in spatial relationships in both sexes combined with dyscalculia in girls and dyslexia in boys, sometimes really profound. My brother sounds out words to read, just like I have to work out which number I'm looking at or 'sound out' notes when reading music. It goes back generations. We have one ancestor who never learned to read and so passed his medical exams orally.

I'd be really interested to see what kind of correlations there are and if there were any real studies done. Probably not, because if it's genetic, there's no cure...

Maura

[FancyD]

Oh snap! I can't believe I forgot about running my fingernails against my teeth. ALL.DAY.LONG. Love it.

[savithny]

Originally Posted by jauncourt

This is really cool. I've never done it deliberately before. It feels neat, very comforting.

isn't it?

I'd be really interested to see what kind of correlations there are and if there were any real studies done. Probably not, because if it's genetic, there's no cure...

It really has been fascinating, because we've gotten it from both sides. We're lucky in that all our parents are open to new information, they're not all "Well, we did it this way and you turned out fine." While my mom was listing sensory behaviors of hers, and her mothers (my grandmother had a bunch of hilarirous stories about the consequences of her *and* her sister cutting the elastic on all their slips and underwear because they couldn't stand anythign tight around their waists) -- my FIL was busily naming ways in which DS is just like his uncle, who was *their* challenging child.

Poor kid, getting two different family's full load of sensory stuff. Its remarkable he copes as well as he does. I think the hypo stuff from my parents somehow is counteracting the hyper from DH's side of the family...

[celestialdreamer]

My list would be extremely long and my brain is exhausted right now As you can see from the DDDDC under my username I do have an aversion to socks, anything on my feet and athletic sock material (ewww). My dd is on the autism spectrum and has severe sensory issues and has been in occupational therapy for over 1.5 years. My DH has many sensory issues also and has a 2 family members with Asperger's. We are just a whole sensory bunch here

[bdavis337]

I was thinking about this very thing today while driving Mark to OT and I realized I was biting the insides of my fingers as hard as I could (like, until they're numb). I have so many "things" that mark me as sensory dysfunctional as well, many I've outgrown or only do during stressful times, but many are still here.....I've not time to list them, but biting my fingers, pulling my own hair and chewing on stuff...

[Kristine233]

I have a HUGE aversion to things being on my feet. So much so that I wear flip flops for as long as I can (until there is actual snow on the ground) and then all winter I try my best to get away with only wearing ballerina slippers or other light weight slip ons. I prefer trouser socks to regular socks because they are so thin.

I sleep with a heated blanket, 2 comforters and 7 pillows. I must acheive a full cocoon effect to fall asleep. I had 3 comforters and an extra 2 pillows but Dh started complaining that he was too hot and there wasn't enough room for him in bed. When I'm over stimulated I curl up in bed randomly during the day in my cocoon. I found Ds unwinding on the couch surrounded by pillows and with his limbs all pulled into his shirt, so I guess the apple doesn't fall far.

I'm also a picker. My poor babies were getting picked from brith, lol. I also did my own piercings (non of which I still have) and then would cut myself with a razor blade. Mostly to deal with emotions I couldn't otherwise comprehend or express, physically feeling it was much more relieving. (this was as a teenager) I didn't find my tattoo painful at all and can't wait for the next one.

Also attracted to glue and wax. I don't keep glue in the hosue anymore and you can't light a candle in the room with me. My mom was excited when she could finally light candles again after I moved out.

If a food has a strong smell I wont eat it. I smell EVERYTHING.

I touch everything, especially in stores. This is the main reason I don't buy much online.

I chew on my lips till they bleed.

I thump. At least thats what my Dh calls it. I shake my legs or feet in order to concentrate, calm myself, fall asleep, just about everything. Its my stim and I never realize I'm doing it until its pointed out. Like what you'd see cracked out nervous drug addicts doing, lmao. Its just that fast and random.

I'm totally addicted to caffine. MUST have caffine and I can drink rediculous amounts. Coffee doesn't really do it. I must have the total sensory experience that is carbonation. It calms me down vs waking me up.

I get "stuck" on things. Like if I walk into my kitchen when I'm supposed to be getting ready to leave I can get stuck on the fact that its dissorganized. I can't move on to something else until its rectified. If I get really stuck Dh finds me thumping my foot while muttering "not clean" to myself over and over again. Therefor, we found it better to keep the house as organized as possible.

Magazines... this helps mask disorganized areas. I have my magazines that I organize on tables around the house. I only read half of them but if I line them up nicely and they stay that way I can focus on those instead of some other mess in the room. I'm probably one of the only people that buys magainzes just so I can put them out on my tables to help me process the room. If Dh is ticked at me he'll move a magazine out of alignment because he knows it will irk me.

There are a ton more but those are my main ones.

[2bluefish]

Wow, I guess I'm like the poster child after reading this list - I have so many of the same things - how am I functioning? :-D

I am definately addicted to soda - Mt. Dew is my drug of choice - I need the carbonation and the caffeine and I can totally *feel* the endorphines release in my brain when I drink it. I drink it at breakfast... I've tried to break it, and I'll go for a few weeks or months, but as soon as I allow myself just 1 soda, I'm back 100% addicted.

As a kid in the 80s my the waist band on my jeans was always really tight, and it gave me the impression I was badly overweight even though I wasn't. When I got pregnant, I discovered I loved not having waist bands. Now I cannot stand to wear anything with a waistband around my true waist. I pull my pants up to my rib cage under my shirts.

I seriously freak if dh asks me to put mayo on his sandwhich. I cannot stand the smell of the stuff. Mustard and pickles are major aversions too. Sometimes I get a sandwhich from a fast food place, and I suspect the person who made it had pickle juice on their hands or *gasp* maybe just picked it off when I ordered it plain and dry and it's all I can do to choke it down.

I don't know if it is sensory related, but I really hate the telephone and really have to pysch myself up to use it for anything other than talking to dh or my mom.

I pick too (I thought that that was just a mother thing... you know, grooming?) Looking at newborn acne is torture.

I really like to suck water out of a sponge. Just a really great feeling.

I can't sleep uncovered no matter how hot it is.

Loud noise makes me feel angry....

[Kitsune6]

Originally Posted by 2bluefish

Looking at newborn acne is torture.

It took EXTREME amounts of self control to not pick all that off. Both kids had tons. It was a nightmare. I actually talked DD into picking off a scab yesterday because I honestly could not even look at her without thinking about it.

My poor kids!!

[loraxc]

As a child, I chewed my hair, pencils, and pens constantly. I still chew pens and pencils. Don't borrow my writing implements! I also chew the insides of my cheeks.

I will compulsively pick. Thank god I don't have acne anymore. I pick because it itches.

I am incredibly freakishly uptight about how the bed is made. The covers have to be exactly even and in exactly the right spot. They may not hit my neck or face. They must be folded over the right amount. I can't tolerate certain sheets. I can't sleep without a blanket. My poor husband is used to me getting up in the middle of the night and making him get out of the bed so I can strip it and remake it.

I can't stand having pants hit me on the waist. Thank heavens for the lowrider trend.

I cut all tags out of my clothes, and if there aren't scissors immediately handy, I will rip the tags out, sometimes sort of subconsciously, sometimes in a panic. I have ruined more clothes this way...also, the entire tag must be removed. No remnants can remain.

I can't stand to wear makeup, especially lipstick, which I will rub off on whatever comes to hand without even knowing I'm doing it.

Very picky about tight, restrictive, fussy, or uncomfortable clothes or shoes. This one is bad enough that wearing business clothes is really a problem.

If I am trying to sleep, I am extremely intolerant of tiny sounds no one else can hear, especially if they are repetitive. I sleep with earplugs a lot.

Certain kinds of lighting situations make me very uneasy--bright light through blinds, bright lights in my peripheral vision. Loud bass, like from cars with big sound systems, phsycially nauseates me and activates a fight-or-flight feeling.

What's funny is that my DD is my opposite--a sensory seeker all the way. I have to restrain myself from "fixing" her bed and cutting her tags out! The only thing we have in common is chewing. I think I'm orally underresponsive--I have no food aversions and love strong-flavored, spicy, intense foods. I'm a huge foodie, actually.

[bdavis337]

I read in the Sensational Kids book an example that made me laugh out loud. Talked about needing total darkness to sleep, to the point of even having the blinds taped to the wall.........I had my mother tape my windowshades to the wall for years so I couldn't see even one single sliver. I still need near total darkness to sleep.

The things that bother me most are the things that made me "stick out" as a kid. I smelled everything, and as an adult it take serious willpower to abstain from sniffing everything that looks interesting. I scratch, and I have this little neck cracking thing I do repeatedly that is very annoying for other people to watch. As a kid, I was embarrased by not really being able to fit in at larger social functions, and I was very impulsive, anxious and moved around alot with big clumsy motions.

I still do most of these things, I just hide them really well. Damn, no wonder my kids both have such sensory and behavioral issues.....

[bjorker]

I could probably comprise my list of copy & pasting much of what you guys wrote. but instead, I shall ramble incessantly, like I always do.

- The sock thing. They have to be lined up perfectly on my feet. I have purchased SOOOOOOO many socks in my lifetime, mainly because as soon as they get loose, I will go insane if I keep trying to wear them. Or I'll realise right after I bought them that they don't sit quite right on my feet, or are too loose to begin with, etc.

- I CANNOT DEAL WITH BEING HOT AND/OR HUMID. Being wet in clothes, being in hot weather, or even showering can be torture. When I'm showering, I have to stay *IN* the flow of water. If I step away from it at all, then it's just hot and humid and torturous. As long as I'm in the water, I'm okay. When I get out, I have to have fresh air, not the humid closed-in shower air, and have to be 100% dry before I put any clothes on. Forget being in hot weather, especially if it's the least bit humid, I seriously can't function.

- DP likes to rub me repeatedly, like fingers on my arm or whatever, no matter how many times I tell him that IT HURTS. He just forgets, repeatedly. He used to not believe me because he was doing it "so lightly", but it doesn't matter. If he's rubbing the same spot for more than a few strokes, no matter how lightly, it really, really hurts.

- I cannot sleep if anyone is touching me whatsoever. This was torture when dd was nursing through the night. She pretty much had to be attached to the boob as an infant in order to sleep, so I basically got no sleep in that time. Actually, I can tell when someone is near me when I'm trying to sleep, or even when I'm not... I swear it's like I can feel it, even if I can't see it and they're not moving. I first noticed this with my bird when I was a kid. If he sat on my shoulder within about 2-3 inches from my face, I could feel this weird tense feeling.

- I am a huge, huge, huge picker too. I've put a lot of focus into that lately and have been getting much better for awhile now. I also used to cut, etc when I was a teen. Although this is definitely part-sensory issue, I think there were definitely other reasons for doing that.

- I'm extremely sensitive to food textures. Or just sensitive to food in general, really.

- I do that foot/leg/arm/hand shaking thing, as someone else mentioned, without ever realising that I'm doing it unless it is pointed out. However, it drives me nuts when other people do it.

- I can't wear rings. I have to continually push them up on my fingers. Something about that sharp feeling against the base of my fingers... but then I start driving myself crazy doing it. I hate the "loose" feeling of a ring... even if it's tight... I just have to have it pushed all the way up. And they never stay there.

- I have to have the covers surrounding my body and pulled up exactly right over my shoulders before I can go to sleep. Even if it's really hot, I can't sleep without some kind of blanket over me in this exact way. And laying in an exact position.

- I'm extremely sensitive to loud noises. Unless it's my own music turn loud, or loud white noise-- it helps mute my mind to let me sleep. Anything else, especially sudden, can be excruciating. Or multiple noises at once, like when dp has a movie on AND is playing a game on his laptop. That's a quick ticket to insanity. One clear memory I have as a kid-- I used to get really upset at my mom if she didn't warn me ahead of time when she was going to grind her coffee. Then I could leave and/or cover my ears and prepare myself.

- I'm also extremely sensitive to light. I lost my sunglasses recently and it was all I could think about to replace them immediately. Going outside in the daylight without them is pure torture. Also lighting placement-- I have a hard time watching a movie or something with lights in wrong places. Especially between me and the tv. Soft lighting behind me is probably the only way I could stand light at all, but no light would be much, much better.

- I don't wear white, and can't stand white in general, in part because I don't like looking at it. It just bothers me. I've been so used to white walls most of my life so I can deal with that in my (rented) house, but as a teen I finally got my mom to let me paint my bedroom wall, and I painted it a fairly dark blue.

ohhhh I'm sure I have lots more, but I've rambled enough and need to get off my butt and go cook dinner now.

[bdavis337]

Mmmm. I also really, really don't like to be touched. It's ok for me to touch someone else, but not for them to touch me. That's wierd, isn't it? But I can hold the kids and it's ok, but if they just come up out of the blue and touch me, I have to fight back the urge to yell. Blug.

[ananas]

Originally Posted by frontierpsych

I didn't start wearing jeans until middle school, they felt... scratchy.

For a period of about 5 or 6 years, I only wore leggings. I hated jeans and any other kinds of pants.

Originally Posted by jauncourt

eating noises, lips smacking (this includes kissy noises), chewing, slurping, even crunching
Repetitve noises, small sharp noises, dripping water noises, soft noises when it is quiet (right now there is a strip of rubber flapping on our screen and I can't stand it. Wait, I'm gonna deal with it. (....) Ahhh! All better!)
Soft music and speech also bothers me. I can hear it just fine, but it makes me feel hyperaware and panicky.

Biting the inside of my cheek. I've developed "wings" on my inner cheeks from doing this.
Being bitten.
Chewing on things. Non-food things, and I don't eat them, just chew on them, sink my teeth into them. Crayons are great for this.

I hate the sound of people eating chips. It's so disgusting to me.

I also agree on the repetitive noises. Drives me insane. As for the soft music, it bugs me SO much when people turn down the car radio to talk and have it just *barely* on. I'm still very aware of it and I usually ask them to either turn it up or turn it off.

I bite the insides of my cheek constantly. Every time they're just about *healed* I start in on them again. I also bite my wrists and fingers, and I chew on absolutely everything.

Originally Posted by Jenifer76

I love repetitive noises or white noise. I find it very comforting.

I sleep with a fan or sound machine on for this reason.

[quote=Kristine233;10214394
I thump. At least thats what my Dh calls it. I shake my legs or feet in order to concentrate, calm myself, fall asleep, just about everything. Its my stim and I never realize I'm doing it until its pointed out. Like what you'd see cracked out nervous drug addicts doing, lmao. Its just that fast and random.
[/quote]

Yup, do this too.

I chewed pens all the time. I still do actually. I blame it on the dog. I got teased about it too much. I actually once chewed the cap off and accidentally swallowed it.

I have to have a lot of napkins by me. It's a comfort thing. I don't even use all of them, I just have to have them.

When I make my bed, the blankets HAVE to go in order from lightest to heaviest. If they don't, I can tell once I get into bed and it drives me crazy.

[ananas]

Originally Posted by bdavis337

Talked about needing total darkness to sleep, to the point of even having the blinds taped to the wall.........I had my mother tape my windowshades to the wall for years so I couldn't see even one single sliver. I still need near total darkness to sleep.

I used to be that way, too. I've pretty much outgrown that one.

Originally Posted by bjorker

I
DP likes to rub me repeatedly, like fingers on my arm or whatever, no matter how many times I tell him that IT HURTS. He just forgets, repeatedly. He used to not believe me because he was doing it "so lightly", but it doesn't matter. If he's rubbing the same spot for more than a few strokes, no matter how lightly, it really, really hurts.

YES! Omg, that hurts so bad it's unreal.

[wytchywoman]

Originally Posted by jauncourt

My parents did not understand my aversion to eating sounds, and my dad eats REALLY LOUDLY and messily.

Me too!!!!! There are some Carls Jr commercials on TV that make me gag and retch. I just can't handle the sound of people licking their fingers or smacking their lips. Use a freaking napkin people!!!!!!

Other aversions:
Cotton Balls: They squick me out really really bad. Simply can not touch them.
Any bottled water that is not Dasani: Arrowhead is particularly bad but other brands make me gag too.
Tupperware: The smell is horrendous.
The cleaning products aisle at any store: once again, gagalicious.Same with the coffee aisle. Gross!
People touching my face, head, ears etc... people touching me anywhere actually. I don't handle spontaneous touching well at all.
Body hair- super ick. On me or other people. Head hair I am ok with, anything else I can't handle.


Seeking:
Water, although if I get one hand wet I have to get the other hand wet too or it drives me crazy.
Biting objects or being bitten
oral motor stuff- chewing gum etc...
twidling pens between my fingers

[jauncourt]

Originally Posted by ananas

YES! Omg, that hurts so bad it's unreal.

Oh, yes, DS2 has been doing this to my left elbow when nursing and I've gotten to the point that I can hardly stand to be touched at all. I've taken to wearing a sweater to keep him off it.

I had not even made the connection!

Maura

[ananas]

Originally Posted by wytchywoman

Other aversions:
Any bottled water that is not Dasani: Arrowhead is particularly bad but other brands make me gag too.



twidling pens between my fingers

I won't even say what I though that said. Just add an I to pens. I was like "Uh, wow...that's an odd one"

I hate Arrowhead. Ugh, it's so disgusting. Dasani is the only one I can stand too.

[wytchywoman]

Originally Posted by ananas

I won't even say what I though that said. Just add an I to pens. I was like "Uh, wow...that's an odd one"

I hate Arrowhead. Ugh, it's so disgusting. Dasani is the only one I can stand too.

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!! It would be quite a talent if I could twiddle one of those between my fingers.

[Mylittlevowels]

Like I said in my earlier post, I could write a book because I recognize about 90% of these. My god, how do I live?
The needing to sleep in the dark. Black posterboard taped to the window when I was a kid.
I also must have a fan on me when I sleep (white noise and my need to not be hot). My dd now has a little fan in her room (aww, she's freaky just like mama ).
Must wear soft tshirts and yoga pants to bed. No socks, ever. Even if it's 40 below, inside :
Breastfeeding, sadly, is hard for me. I feel like jumping out of my skin, especially when he starts twiddling. He's all but nightweaned because it was really getting to me badly. I don't feel too bad, he's almost 3.