Re: Yet another newcomer here :)

[Guest guest]

You and I must have been separated at birth!!!!!!

>

> Hi all,

>

> I joined this group yesterday and I can already tell that I'm

among people

> who'll understand. I'm 23 years old and live in the UK. I've

been

> suffering from sound sensitivities since I was a young child and

had to

> share a bedroom with my younger sister. The sound of her breathing

when she

> was asleep used to upset me so much that I would hit her, put

pillows over

> her face, pinch her arms - I would try anything to get her to roll

over or

> wake up. This got me into a lot of trouble with my mum and grandma

(with

> whom I lived) and they thought I was very selfish. They didn't

understand

> how angry and upset the breathing sounds made me. Eventually I

started

> taking my bedding downstairs and sleeping on the sofa, but I got

into

> trouble for that, too, and was ordered back to bed. In addition to

that, my

> mum and gran would always watch TV after we'd gone to bed, and I

could hear

> it through the floor. Bedtimes were not fun.

>

> As I got older I gradually realised that I have more and more

> sensitivities - sound, sight, and touch mainly. The sound of

people eating

> (and the sight of it, too), sniffing, whistling, wheezing, coughing

> repeatedly, crying, brushing their teeth, scratching their heads,

walking on

> carpet with bare feet... and also some other non-human noises,

like ticking

> clocks, clicking computer mice, tapping keys (on a keyboard), bass

music,

> vacuuming, alarms/sirens, static sounds (like the sound that comes

out of

> the TV that nobody else seems to be able to hear), unexpected

bangs or

> shouts (these make me cry in absolute terror), scissors cutting

anything,

> fingernails scratching on top of cotton t-shirt material (sight

and sound).

> I also hate the feel of sandpaper, velvet, nail files, labels in

clothing,

> anything around my neck, anything touching the front of my neck,

and having

> my hair pulled even gently makes me scream out in pain - I think

my scalp is

> sensitive. Then there are the sight sensitivities, like clusters of

> anything, seeing people eating or picking their

teeth/fingers/skin, people

> twirling their hair, any repetitive patterns, any tiny lights on

electrical

> equipment (the little green and red on/off lights, for example),

the way you

> can see the Adam's apple on a man's neck (I have to turn away when

I see a

> man with a really bulgy Adam's apple - sounds crazy, I know). So

they are

> mainly sound sensitivities, but I am also sensitive to certain

sensations

> and sights, as well as some textures in food and even the sound of

certain

> words!!! Most of the words have something to do with either food

or sex.

>

> I explained my problem to my mum, who eventually started to

understand but

> didn't know what it was, and I explained it to my doctor - who had

no idea.

> He suggested tinnitus and I didn't understand where he got that

from. I

> started wearing earplugs at night, which helped a LOT, although I

started to

> get ringing in my ears after wearing them for a while. I started

university

> just over four years ago (I have since graduated) and whilst I was

there, I

> started seeing an occupational therapist to discuss my problems,

as I was

> having a great deal of trouble in exams. In one particular exam

(one of my

> finals - a very important exam) I stormed out in floods of tears

because

> they were showing a film next door and I could hear the muffled

voices. My

> teacher was very unsympathetic at first and basically told me I

had to deal

> with it, that she was sure other people were " finding it annoying "

as well,

> and I told her it wasn't the same for them. She said I wanted

special

> treatment and she couldn't give it to me. So what she did in the

end was ask

> the group if any of them wanted to move into a new room and

several people

> said they did. So those people moved to a new room and that way

everyone had

> been given the choice - thank goodness, or I wouldn't have been

able to

> continue with my exam.

>

> So anyway (sorry - I'm going on a bit, aren't I?) the occupational

therapist

> went through a rather lengthy period of assessment with me and

basically

> told me I have sensory defensiveness. This was a major relief for

me, to

> hear someone confirm that I wasn't a freak of nature and that I

had a real

> medical condition that was causing me to react in this way to

things. She

> wrote up a very long sensory report for me and I was very pleased

with it,

> because it outlined most of the things we had discussed. The only

problem

> was that sensory defensiveness did not account for many of my

> sensitivities - no textbook definition of sensory defensiveness

mentioned

> the eating noises, the breathing noises, the people picking their

teeth, the

> people cutting up their food ready for eating. It was a long time

before I

> discovered references to soft sound sensitivity syndrome and

honestly, when

> I first read the description of it I almost jumped up and down

screaming

> " that's ME! that's ME! " because it was just spot on. Everything

was spot on.

>

> So I think I have now discovered that I do have sensory

defensiveness,

> including hyperacusis, but that I also have soft sound sensitivity

syndrome.

> I am sure of it.

>

> And that was my rather long introduction. Sorry. :/ I am very

pleased to be

> here and will try not to write this much next time.

>

> xxx Bonnie

>