Published on 12, July, 2020
Part of why I got an assessment was to access helpful adjustments at work, because I'm very sensitive to both sound and smell.
Currently the two people that sit next to me at work smell awful, and it's really inhibiting my working ability. They're also loud (talking, tea-slurping, apple eating, etc), but I can cover that by wearing headphones. The smell I cannot. I'm sure the guy on my left doesn't wash his clothes, and the guy to my right has terrible breath.
Does anyone else have this issue? Its' driving me mad, and my work cannot offer me a better place to sit.
Thank you - it's good to hear the diagnosis has helped you
You're welcome - I do hope you don't have to wait too much longer for your diagnosis.
For me, it was a huge relief and I can honestly say I have no negative feelings about it. It explained so much, about so many things in my life. It's definitely easier to take care of yourself once you know what you are dealing with too (as per the above topic!)
I'll give it a go I can stand my ground when I need to.
That's a good argument for the eczema too.
I agree with you there - a lot of NT people just can't see things from our perspective (which makes it ironic that we're the ones often accused of lacking empathy). I'm lucky that my partner's very considerate and understanding of my sensitivities, even if he doesn't experience things in the same way as I do.
I'm a woman too and wasn't picked up during childhood. I'm now 25 and have been on the waiting list for nearly a year. I'm really hoping I hear from them soon so I can get my answers.
Thanks for all the advice
Try it - people will think you're a bit odd, but it will also prompt people to ask why on earth you have a hoodie on in the office, and when most people realise how bad it is, they won't expect you to put up with it. It does require a certain amount of standing your ground though.
The eczema could work with the too hot bit as well - you can tell them that because your skin is so sensitive you are very limited as to what deodorant and products you can use, and if you get hot and sweaty it itches like crazy, and if you scratch it it makes it worse .... and so on.
Unfortunately I think sometimes it helps to find a reason that is more relateable to the NTs in the office. It's a tall order to expect them to understand the full impact of sensory sensitivities, because they simply do not experience things in the same way that I do. My other half is actually quite interested by that and says he wishes he could swap places and see/experience things as I do for a day. He finds it quite fascinating. On the other hand I think some people think you are just being a bit princessy if you complain about the stuff that causes you problems.
It sure does explain a lot when you finally get a diagnosis and accept that other people do not see/feel/process things like you do!! (took 45 years for me, Aspergers but female so it was never spotted - I figured it out for myself in the end and it was near breakdown due to sensory overload that pushed me to that point)
I'm glad the knuckle cracker's left and "carrying voice lady" seems to have taken the feedback on-board!
Those are really good ideas about the perfume/lighting issues I actually have eczema, so I've occasionally told people that I'm having a flare-up and the air con dries my skin out. I'll think of some more ways I can bend the truth a little I'm liking the idea of the "thug life" strategy!
Thank goodness, the knuckle cracker left about 3 months ago. That was a huge relief. I am lucky in that I get to do 3 of the 5 days per week from home. No distractions, good light, and frankly I can get twice as much work done.
I did in the end ask the office manager if she could have a word with "carrying voice lady". I can grit my teeth and put up with people having calls at their desks (and will just put my noise cancelling headphones on - the nice guy next to me even gives me advance warning now!) but that is when it is reasonable, i.e. there are a number of people on the call and the ones near me might speak for 5 mins of a 30 min call. Yes, it distracts me, but I feel I would be being a bit stroppy if I objected to that. My problem with carrying voice lady is that she will have a 30 minutes call and spend 25 minutes of it talking herself - she REALLY likes the sound of her own voice. Most of the time it's hard to understand why she needs the telephone at all, as she speaks so loudly people in the next county can probably hear her.
Anyway, I put it as a simple case of office etiquette, i.e. if you know you will be talking loudly for 25 mins and distracting the people around you, don't do it at your desk, book a room. I think that is what she was told, as the long and very intrusive calls seem to have stopped, or been taken elsewhere at least :-)
If you don't want to disclose yet/at all, my mother in law pointed out that she would also have to object to the perfume as she is asthmatic and it would set her off. Also, glaring lights of bad light level could cause problems for somebody who suffers a lot from migraines. You might be able to bend the truth slightly to see if something can be done before you get a formal diagnosis. People got the message about the air con when I started sitting there in a fleece hoodie with the hood up and refused to take it off as I was freezing and sitting in a howling gale. Since the "thug life" look wasn't that well appreciated in our fancy corporate office, they had to do something really!
I struggle with sensory issues too.
I find public transport is the worst for smells - too many smells (often body odour on a hot day) in a very small space. The people in my office talk and eat very loudly, so that's a nightmare too.
People don't realise how distracting these things can be - it really impacts my concentration. I can just about get through the working day, but I have no energy by the time I get home, so that impacts my studies and my 'me time'.
This sounds like my office! It's really hard to get any adjustments because nobody knows that I have sensory issues (I'm waiting until I have a diagnosis to disclose my autism). People just assume I'm moaning when I say I'm too hot or can't cope with the noise of the air con/strength of the blowers (I sit right underneath it). The artificial light is horrible and they're on sensors, so they go off if nobody moves for a while. Just as I'm enjoying the sensory break, someone walks over to switch them back on (even if it's only the lights above me that are switched off, and I explain that I like it dull). I was once told, "We can't always cater to the minority" when I asked if there was anything we could do about the lighting levels!
Wow moggsy. Thanks for this share.
I had to leave my job, I couldn't cope in an office environment. You highlight some of my biggest problems too. I had thought I was silly for feeling like that for otherwise mundane office happenings!
Something must be done!
(To NAS38192... no replies from yourself to anyone after all of that?)
Robert124 said:
"I find some smells actually quite pleasurable.
The smell of freshly cut wood in gardens and building projects .
The smell of new tarmac on roads being resurfaced.
The smell of books. "Same here on the the above. I'm quite sensitive to smell both ways though. Until he gave them up around when I was 20 I hated the smell of my Dad mainly because he was a smoker. The worst times where when he would smoke in the bath and the the fags mixed with his sweat was truly repugnant. When I told him he was quite offended. Certain perfumes really affect me too. My wife bought one a couple of years that made me feel sick, it had a really low frequency... I always compare smells and taste to musical notes... and this one had a real stomach churning low end. I prefer perfumes with more of a zing in the upper-mids.
I find some smells actually quite pleasurable.
The smell of certain types of glue.
The smell of books. Buying a new book and opening it for the first time gives very distinctive smells and a memory that lingers. The smell of certain libraries always had a calming effect on me. New libraries lack these smells.
Your list of smells is so similar to what mine would be although I think your sense of smell might be slightly more sensitive than mine, I don't think I could smell cheese that had been eaten hours before. I also find smells like paint and nail varnish over powering. Coffee and perfume are probably the ones that find the hardest.
I don't like over the top patterns in clothing either (or people that wear lots of different colours together) but I've never considered why that bothers me. Never thought about it being to do with processing.
I notice smells a lot anyway, but when it is my 'time of the month' I become acutely aware of all smells and it can be torturous. I personally hate the smell of wine breath - it is potent and it clings to people.
I agree with all this. I would add dentists' fingers to the list - I know they wear gloves but I can still sometimes smell their hands.
I went to the physio recently and had to go into an office smelling of stale Pot Noodle. Yeeuch!
A relaxing massage was ruined because I got such a strong smell of eucalyptus oil from the couch.
It's a mixed blessing having such a strong sense of smell. On the positive side I am good at detecting gas leaks.
Disambiguating Cynosure said:Yes. I use smell uncommonly often. As if that is what it is for, detecting people who smoke, or smoke Cannabis, or are sweaty, or have not bathed in 32.5 Hours, or have just drunk something really sugary, or they have Influenza,
I freak my partner out because I know when he is ill or coming down with something because his smell changes. I can smell when someone has a sore throat or throat infection from a good distance. The benefit of this is you can learn who to avoid or keep your distance to try and minimise your risk of catching something.
My sense of smell is very sensitive, so I have learned that most things that I can smell, most other people cannot so I often avoid making a fuss of every smell I come across that is overpowering; however there are some smells that I just can't tolerate:
I think the worst is when you are on public transport because that can be an assault on the senses. The other week I was travelling home and the train was unusually busy which was stressful in itself - but on top of that the smell of B.O, perfume, sticky sweets smells from children, dirty clothes and bad breath, I was in a state for the rest of the night.
Other sensory annoyances are people's voices - similar to what has already been mentioned, there are a couple of people who work in telecommunications roles, who to me have grating voices that seem to project and amplify to unbearable volumes....they also insist on talking and never shutting up.
The clothes that people wear can affect me too - I don't like bright over the top patterns as I just find it all to much to process.
Wearing an NBC suit to work would probably be a bit excessive, plus very warm too! :-D
(I am replying to myself just to Post, but this is <> a suggestion for the Starter...)
If in a repeated, confined situation, I would try the following: - Coat myself/bathe in a Smell which is Okay with myself. -Use some Scented things (Candles, Incense, Scented Water) - Use discreetly some small Spray or Diffuser towards the offending smell(s).
...Again, just me, but If the 'stinky' person complains, then I would use those same complaints to complain right back at them. (I am a timid person, but if I cannot stand/tolerate something, then I say so; but this is not always allowed to work, so I usually just avoid.) I would also suggest wearing a Mask, but, well, this is not Japan, is it... :-/
My sense of smell is not as acute as yours but it is very sensitive. I can smell and taste pollution - and sometimes detect a trace of cannabis from a car speeding by. It's awful if something stinky happens like foul water flooding at work. My dog is quite smelly but I find her scent really appealing!