Sensory processing
So today's post is going to be about how I am affected by what's around me. Everyone has senses, but not everyone perceives them the same way. Humans have five senses and I'm going to go through each of then and how they make me feel.
The first is taste, now I'm lucky that I'm not overly affected by tastes.
The second is smell, I find that I am frequently overloaded with smells. Certain smells knock me sick, one of the worst ones is tobacco smoke. My mum smokes and sometimes she'll smoke at the back door rather than the front. The smoke comes right into the living room and I have to go upstairs. But other smells get to me, the smell of food cooking knocks me sick, "damp smell" also makes me sick. I find many perfumes make me agitated because they are usually such a strong, sweet smell and I hate it. I have scented candles that I use, and I have learned that I can use them to calm down.
The third is sight, I have to say that photosensitivity is a problem for me. I find that bright lights hurt my eyes, but not just that lights that most people find comfortable are far too intense for me. Even when the lights don't hurt per say, they can still make me feel agitated and anxious. I find it surprising how much light can affect me. The use of candles also helps with lighting, also I have a lava lamp and had rgb lighting. I'm looking to replace them soon as the ones I had broke.
The next is sound, I am incredibly sound sensitive, when I was younger it was very bothersome but as I've grown up I have learned that I can use it to my advantage. Don't get me wrong I am still bothered by sounds, loud and "busy" sounds get to me most. By busy sounds I mean bring in a room where lots of people are talking or lots of different music is playing.
The last is touch, now I know that I am going to miss so much out in this section because it's so extensive. Most people don't think about it, but temperature, clothes, interpersonal contact and so much more are felt with this sense. I find that I am not bothered by temperatures that most would find uncomfortable. Even now at my age I find myself often refusing to wear some items of clothing based solely on the way they feel when I wear them. As you probably could guess this makes buying clothes online difficult and also clothes that I have received as gifts. Even the small clothing items like socks have to be certain types otherwise they really bother me and I'm not exactly sure why. Now here comes the most sought after section, contact, it can mean anything from cuddles to being in a fight. Let's start off on the nice side of contact, cuddles are often seen by many parents as needed in order to bond with their child, also it's the go to response when a child needs comforting. But most people with autism find contact with other people uncomfortable. I am one of those people. That doesn't mean I never cuddle my mum, it just means she has to wait for when I want to cuddle. And that's the advice that I'll give to you, don't force kisses and cuddles on your child, just wait for them to come to you, it may take a while, but they will come.
The first is taste, now I'm lucky that I'm not overly affected by tastes.
The second is smell, I find that I am frequently overloaded with smells. Certain smells knock me sick, one of the worst ones is tobacco smoke. My mum smokes and sometimes she'll smoke at the back door rather than the front. The smoke comes right into the living room and I have to go upstairs. But other smells get to me, the smell of food cooking knocks me sick, "damp smell" also makes me sick. I find many perfumes make me agitated because they are usually such a strong, sweet smell and I hate it. I have scented candles that I use, and I have learned that I can use them to calm down.
The third is sight, I have to say that photosensitivity is a problem for me. I find that bright lights hurt my eyes, but not just that lights that most people find comfortable are far too intense for me. Even when the lights don't hurt per say, they can still make me feel agitated and anxious. I find it surprising how much light can affect me. The use of candles also helps with lighting, also I have a lava lamp and had rgb lighting. I'm looking to replace them soon as the ones I had broke.
The next is sound, I am incredibly sound sensitive, when I was younger it was very bothersome but as I've grown up I have learned that I can use it to my advantage. Don't get me wrong I am still bothered by sounds, loud and "busy" sounds get to me most. By busy sounds I mean bring in a room where lots of people are talking or lots of different music is playing.
The last is touch, now I know that I am going to miss so much out in this section because it's so extensive. Most people don't think about it, but temperature, clothes, interpersonal contact and so much more are felt with this sense. I find that I am not bothered by temperatures that most would find uncomfortable. Even now at my age I find myself often refusing to wear some items of clothing based solely on the way they feel when I wear them. As you probably could guess this makes buying clothes online difficult and also clothes that I have received as gifts. Even the small clothing items like socks have to be certain types otherwise they really bother me and I'm not exactly sure why. Now here comes the most sought after section, contact, it can mean anything from cuddles to being in a fight. Let's start off on the nice side of contact, cuddles are often seen by many parents as needed in order to bond with their child, also it's the go to response when a child needs comforting. But most people with autism find contact with other people uncomfortable. I am one of those people. That doesn't mean I never cuddle my mum, it just means she has to wait for when I want to cuddle. And that's the advice that I'll give to you, don't force kisses and cuddles on your child, just wait for them to come to you, it may take a while, but they will come.
As always thanks for reading and remember that a little patience can go a long way,
Spec.
Just as a little note, the time stamps on blogger are incorrect and I will be manually adding them in the posts until I work out how to change it, this post was written at 16:44.
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