Something positive - awesome goosebumps

If, in common with many autistic people, you have become a collector and connoisseur of cod-Latin/Greek and initialisms, may I offer you another for your collection?.. Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR)  [Mmmm, delicious!]

I experience this too, often induced by my tactile synaesthesia. There has been something of a meme'y thing going around the internet for a while about it, including lots of videos which are purported to induce it (the vast majority of which I find either boring or slightly disturbing). Much of this is, I believe, flim-flam by people with raging confirmation bias (the word "orgasm" seems much favoured). However, I have spoken to enough people about it who aren't just desperate for a bandwagon to jump on that I believe that it is a genuine phenomenon.

Music sometimes does it to me, including when I'm playing an instrument. I also get it from certain visual stimuli, usually the ones which bring out my synaesthesia (e.g. watching ripples on water, certain kinds of fractal-like or tesselated geometry). I've known that my nervous system does this for as long as I can remember, but had no idea that it was in any way unusual or had it own special tongue-twister of a name until I started talking to other people with synaesthesia (I thought that was "normal" too until it was identified at my autism assessment).

Enjoy!

Trogluddite said:

However, I have spoken to enough people about it who aren't just desperate for a bandwagon to jump on that I believe that it is a genuine phenomenon.

I definitely get this, though I didn't realise it was a 'thing' and certainly didn't realise there was a bandwagon to jump on. Mine is mostly triggered by music but on occasion by something I see in a film. A quick online search of ASMR tells me that none of the commonly considered triggers of it would even be comfortable for me never mind pleasing. 

I'm done with Christmas Cards said:

Felt like I was being shrinkwrapped in awesomness.

That is a brilliant description of it. 

Leaf said:

none of the commonly considered triggers of it would even be comfortabl

The ones involving voices (especially whispering) and watching people closely just creep me out completely - I suspect that a lot of people are mistaking ASMR for their hackles rising, to be honest. The connection with sexual frisson which people seem to talk about a lot leaves me non-plussed as well - I have never thought of it as erotic in the slightest.

It's a balalaika-style effect placed over the top of the strings simulating an alarm bell so it makes your ears *** up - don't know what quality/bit-rate you're listening to, but on my stereo, it's a real tingler.

It's a balalaika-style effect placed over the top of the strings simulating an alarm bell so it makes your ears *** up - don't know what quality/bit-rate you're listening to, but on my stereo, it's a real tingler.