• Replies 19 replies
  • Subscribers 81 subscribers
  • Views 6429 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

How do you guys explain yourself to other people?

Einfallspinsel

I just recently realized that what I think of as buffer overflow is officially called sensory overload. I mean noisy busy babbly situations that "drain my batteries", so I leave. If I stay, my perceptions sort of... stop adding up to a meaningful whole, and eventually I "forget" what talking and moving is. (Luckily it only rarely gets to that point because I stay away from these situations.)

But for example last week I made the mistake of trying to go to a concert (being over 30 I thought I could handle it by now!), and I just barely escaped. ;-) I paid, unsuccessfully tried to be invisible for half an hour, and fled before the band arrived. I didn't sleep that night and my knees were still trembling the day after (no drugs!). I couldn't explain to my friend why I walked out on her ("because everything was wrong"?).

And now I heard my company is planning another "team building" day. I don't want to go, or at least I want to be left alone, but how do I explain that to them? (I'm glad as heck I have this job, I don't want to jeopardize it.) What if I go braindead there too, or stop talking or look away? It just makes my colleagues try harder to "cheer me up" (Like last year, where I eventually left the campfire and stayed away from the madness in a sleeping bag at just above freezing)

Do you have some advice how I can get the message across, do you ever have this problem? 

It's not against my colleagues and (potential) friends that I prefer to be alone. From my point of view, it's rather a compliment that I invest the bit of energy I have in them sometimes. Guess that's not much of a compliment. 


I have no excuse not to go, other than that I hate pretending to be fine while I'm not. I am not even officially diagnosed with anything -- I just see quite some overlap with your list of ASD symptoms, and was hoping for some advice from people who might at least understand what I'm talking about.
Parents

  • Yes, I agree with Longman. Just because you have sensory overload does not mean you have aspergers, but sensory overload can be disabling in its own right and can even be a standalone condition- sensory integration dysfunction. Or it could be caused by dyspraxia or dyslexia.

    Asperger's is present from babyhood, but the signs become apparent in toddlerhood or very early childhood. The main symptoms are social: just having problems with noise or busy environments will not secure you a diagnosis. You would probably also have some need for routine and some obsessive behaviour. It would be hard for you to understand other people, to understand emotions, to deal with surprises. ASpergers would have affected you at school, teachers would have been concerned. I am not saying you don't have AS, you may well do, but what you describe is not AS specific. And not all people with AS have significant sensory disturbances (although many do). I only have a few sensory annoyances, and they are not the most disabling part of my condition.

Reply

  • Yes, I agree with Longman. Just because you have sensory overload does not mean you have aspergers, but sensory overload can be disabling in its own right and can even be a standalone condition- sensory integration dysfunction. Or it could be caused by dyspraxia or dyslexia.

    Asperger's is present from babyhood, but the signs become apparent in toddlerhood or very early childhood. The main symptoms are social: just having problems with noise or busy environments will not secure you a diagnosis. You would probably also have some need for routine and some obsessive behaviour. It would be hard for you to understand other people, to understand emotions, to deal with surprises. ASpergers would have affected you at school, teachers would have been concerned. I am not saying you don't have AS, you may well do, but what you describe is not AS specific. And not all people with AS have significant sensory disturbances (although many do). I only have a few sensory annoyances, and they are not the most disabling part of my condition.

Children
No Data