Guest guest Posted January 3, 2006 Report Share Posted January 3, 2006 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 > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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