Talk about sensory issues. Do you also have sensory processing disorder? What kind of clothes do you wear? What foods do you eat? Are you sensitive to light or sounds? How do you deal with overstimulation?
While I don’t have sensory processing disorder, I do have quite a few sensory issues.
I prefer soft baggy clothes, usually in cotton. I can’t stand things with a scratchy texture and I usually rip the tags out of my shirts if they have them. Though lately it seems like a lot of companies are now just stamping the tag directly into the shirt which is nice. I usually wear jeans or cargo pants (cargo shorts in summer) and t-shirts. I generally prefer short sleeves and being able to don a jacket than to wear long sleeves. The exception to this is a couple sweaters I have (I have three of the same sweater in different colours). They’re pretty much the most comfy thing ever and I wear them all the time.
Food wise things with a pudding-like texture such as oatmeal or applesauce often make me gag, which sucks as I do like the taste of pudding and applesauce. I can eat these sometimes if I’m having a good day and others just the thought makes me cringe. Onions, are a big issue. Onion powder or very, very finely diced onions are okay but I cannot stand to eat anything with noticeable chunks of onion in it. I have a difficult time trying new foods and generally stick to eating the same things every week.
Generally, it seems like everything is too loud. People talk loud, cars are loud, people sitting in class are loud; it’s very annoying and distracting. Movies theaters are awful sound wise, I don’t know why they have to have it so blaringly loud that it’s painful. I’ve taken to bringing my earmuffs with me to help muffle the noise. Interestingly I quite like loud self-controlled noise or music, I guess because I have the option to turn it down/off if it gets irritating. I find fluorescent lights are super irritating, ridiculously bright and they flicker and hum and really grate on my nerves. To combat this I often wear sunglasses when in public buildings, it also has the bonus of blocking eye-contact.
My mother says when I was little, I was pretty much a near constant toe-walker. They used to call me their ‘little ballerina.’ I’ve mostly stopped this and can walk pretty normally, though I’ve been told I have an odd gait. I do still have a habit of going on my toes if I’m excited or stressed. I try not to do it too often though as it has a tendency to make my calves tight feeling afterwards.
The thought or feel of fabric running across my teeth is horrifying and makes me super uncomfortable. Having my mouth packed with gauze after I got my wisdom teeth out was awful and I think that’s where this issue started. Also a similar sensation is triggered when the tips of my fingers run over the rough side of the sponge when doing dishes and it’s awful then as well.
Pressure wise I seem to be hyposensitive. As mentioned before, I love deep pressure with my weighted blankets. One of my favorite thing is burrowing down into a pile of heavy, fluffy blankets.
A specific sensory aversion that i have to deal with every day is a certain set of silverware my mother bought. Not sure if a result of sensory issues or my inability to adapt to change, I’m guessing the former, as since this happened we’ve gotten an additional set of silverware that I don’t have an issue with. A few years ago we got this new set of silverware because we kept running out of forks. These new forks are weighted differently and they’re a bit thinner about the stem. In the beginning I complained endlessly about how they were wrong. They were too light, and the weight was distributed differently. The stem was too thin. They just feel wrong, I can’t use them. My mother of course has no idea what I keep complaining about and insists they’re nearly identical. But they’re not. These forks are absolutely awful and I still refuse to use them, I’d rather use a spoon or wash the dirty forks before I use these ones.
To cope with sensory overload when I’m out and about I usually have a bunch of stim toys for me to try and distract myself with. I also like to listen to a metronome or ASMR videos. When overstimulated at home I hang out in my closet. It’s under the stairs and when I was little I used to hide in there and pretend I was harry potter. I turned it into a sort on mini sensory room. I put a small TV in there along with all my old Disney VHS tapes. Disney is always a good way for me to decompress. I have a bunch of light up things such as a fiber optic fan light, and a little bunny and police light; I hooked up a blacklight to the ceiling which is really cool. I keep my box of kinetic sand and a bunch of stim toys in there. I also have a futon mattress and a ton of pillows, blankets and, stuffed animals. It’s so nice and soft and comfy; a good place to calm down.
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