Published on 12, July, 2020
If an autistic individual struggles with one of their senses being ‘overly’ sensitive, is it reasonable/common to have another sense be ‘under’ sensitive?
For example, I am very sensitive to noise- to a painful level. This is something, by reading on here, that I know a lot of us struggle with. I also know that others recognise sensitivities in their other senses. I would argue that my sense of smell is pretty sensitive, as is my sense of taste. My vision not so much. I can spot tiny details, but often miss larger things right in front of me. But the sense I really find lacking is that of my ability to detect when I’m cold or have hurt myself. My pain threshold is pretty high as a result. I detest being hot and I also don’t like being touched, except with warning from a select few people, but I really struggle to pick up on when I’ve hurt myself. A few months ago I walked in from a satisfying time in the garage of cleaning, organising and finishing a project, went to talk to my wife who immediately asked what I’d done. She looked a bit concerned, but I didn’t really know what she was worried about until she’d told me. I had a really deep cut on my leg and was bleeding to a reasonable level. I just didn’t feel it or recognise that I’d done it. It wasn’t anything bad, just required a bit of looking after it and now have an oddly shaped scar. But this sort of thing happens quite a lot to me.
It might not be a thing, but it was a question I’ve been wondering about. It would be great to hear your thoughts/ experiences. Perhaps it’s just something linked to me, but equally, I’d be interested to see if other people have comparable instances or to see if it is something linked to autism or not.
Hello, I think I can contribute to this
I recently had a big flare up of eczema. Normally, a gp palms me off with the steroid cream dermovate, ‘use it sparingly’, and that’s it. This time, a different gp who I remember seeing as a child, put me on antibiotics, anti histamines to help stop itching overnight, and different steroid creams for face and body. Anyway, my skin is starting to repair but I didn’t realise how deep I had scratched on torso and legs. Quite a bit of scarring.
I also found out from completing my sensory profile, that you can be both hypo sensitive and hyper sensitive, depending on the stimuli, etc. I had a cystoscopy a few years back and the pain was almost intolerable. Yet, I can hit a kettlebell into my leg or arm and feel very little. When someone hugs me, usually a parent, I’m aware that they are catching round me but feel almost nothing. Sometimes, I rest my 5kg dumbbells on my shoulders, just to feel something. I also find that my lack of spatial awareness and grip is becoming more noticeable as I get older. And the more strength I develop from weight lifting = more everyday clumsiness with the most basic of tasks.
I suspect that I have a better tolerance to cold temperatures. I can run my hand under very cold water and feel not phased for a while.
Loud environments seem to stop me from speaking, because it’s as if I lose hearing of my own voice, and then I don’t have any concept of whether I’m speaking loud enough, too quiet, etc.
Autism really is a complex thing. There can be so much variation of how a person receives the world and everything in it, and it’s different for so many people. :)
It does seem like a bit of a daft rule though when you think about it. If something needs repeating again, where’s the harm in that?
I think the social rule of just asking once has never registered with me
That's good and what I should aim to do too.
I think trying to ask more than once makes me feel embarrassed and increases my anxiety, meaning I am even less likely to be able to take in what was said. I know there's no need for me to feel embarrassed, it's an automatic response that started long before I knew I was autistic.
I often use subtitles too. My hearing is fine. I have never been concerned with asking someone to repeat something more than once. If I need it repeating 3 times, I need it repeating 3 times.
I use subtitles too- especially when watching films. I cannot for the life of me workout what was said when you throw in sound effects and music at the same or similar times. I can’t seem to zone in on the voices, or transition to them quickly enough. I’m expecting a phone call soon and am dreading it.
I'm like that. If I'm watching a drama I record it first and then keep rewinding and replaying conversations, until I understand what was said.
I have the subtitles on too, even though there's nothing wrong with my hearing. Seeing the words on screen seems easier for my brain to process.
Unfortunately in real life I haven't yet come across a person with a rewind button! You can only really ask someone to repeat something once.
I think that's why I find phone calls so difficult.
Cool, your hand tools will be perfectly organised. A very logical idea.
If I don't get every word off someone, or hear every word spoken on the telly, it's hard. I need to know everything of what was said. It's like my brain can't cope with that gap in information and just get the general picture like my partner is able to do.
I can be doing a task I am engrossed in and before I know it, three hours have passed, it's gone dark and I haven't put the light on, I'm bursting for a wee and I haven't had anything to drink in all this time. It just doesn't register. I think thirst is a big one for me. And I often make a drink and forget to drink it or get distracted. One thing I read on a link off here is interoception about feeling full. For a lot of people it's feeling hungry. But for me I can eat and eat but I'm trying to be more mindful now and really listen to if I am full. Maybe I'm just greedy.
Thank you. I am working on creating a tool wall for my hand tools. Having everything there and ready to grab will help with my future projects. What is satisfying about this project is that everything will have its exact place, outlined on the wall, which will have the added benefit of making tidy ups easier and knowing what is missing when something isn’t there.
Oakling said:I hope so too. It’s always beneficial to learn something new and, if useful, apply it to life. I hope to do that with this new information.
Knowledge is power.
What are working on this time? You seem to have a very methodical approach for completing your projects.
Noise only distracts me occasionally. However, I catastrophise. I automatically jump to the worst case scenario when something happens; like sliding when weighing myself, this afternoon.
I hope so too. It’s always beneficial to learn something new and, if useful, apply it to life. I hope to do that with this new information.
I did finish the project, but have since started again on a much larger scale. It’s been hard, but I’ve actually broken this down into much smaller chunks. When I’ve finished the bit I’m working on for that day, I don’t start the next if it isn’t scheduled, that way there is a ‘completion point’ each session that I’m happy to stop at (so it doesn’t feel unfinished). It was a bit of an attempt to mitigate the difficulties I faced last time.
Yes the hyper focus does explain the lack of eating and drinking when engaging in something too. Everything else outside of your current interest or your mission is kind of forgotten about when in a flow state.
Did you finish your project though?
Now you know more about interoception hopefully you will be able to reduce the number of instances like the one in your initial post.
That all makes a great deal of sense. The time needed to adjust is significant and therefore explains the delay.
I do generally have a higher pain threshold, and have a number of instances like the one I mentioned as a result of this. However, I do believe I was hyper focused in that instance, as probably in the other examples too. I was on a bit of a mission that day. I didn’t really drink or eat in the way that I should have too, which once again, is explained in the article you linked to.
You are very welcome. I am glad the article was useful reading for you.
Oakling said: Change having an impact was certainly worth reading and explains a lot.
This makes a lot of sense really because if your external environment changes your internal environment (interoception) will need sufficient time to acclimatise and process everything. This need is heightened probably for us as autistic people because our nervous is highly sensitive and we are consciously processing much more information than other neurotypical people.
My pain threshold is quite high too, but it must be frustrating to not even know when you have hurt yourself badly.
Were you hyper focusing on a task when you injured yourself? If so, the autistic monotropic neurology means that anything outside of that current single attention tunnel would have been missed.
I had a good practise in childhood back at home with my three younger sisters
it was either listen to their highpitched neverending chitchat or learn how to talk so they stop and listen. But I could only do it with them until I was 16
Haha! I’ve done that a few times when somebody makes the mistake of starting a conversation about some of my specific interests. Good luck joining in!
My working solution is to talk them to the death, never allow them to interject anything LOL