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Introducing myself - Overstimulated!! - 03-24-2015
Hi,
I am a 36 year old social worker. I work with individuals diagnosed with ASD and/or intellectual disability and for years I've been thinking that if we are all on the spectrum somewhere I'm definitely on the sensory issue end of things. I feel like the older I get the worse it gets somehow, and it affects my ability to focus at work and have good interactions at home. Someone was recently talking about SPD without autism in a client and I read a little then tried to find info on SPD in adults. That's why I'm here - I think SPD could explain so much about me and I would like to get help specifically related to it. I have not been diagnosed and don't know how to make that happen or what treatment for adults looks like.
This is how it manifests for me now - I work in an office setting that is not conducive to me getting anything done. I share an office with one other woman and we both supervise with an open door policy set by the agency. I am constantly interrupted. I cannot finish anything because of the interruptions whether in person phone or email. I feel like it takes me awhile to transition into a task and if I am interrupted I thn have to transition again. I am a good social worker but feel very ineffective because I just am not wired to multitask in a job that demands it. I listen to people all day. I do not want to interact when I get home. My wife struggles with that and I try to push myself but the more overstimulated I get the more grumpy. I sleep very lightly, am reactive to not having enough sleep, and am extremely sensitive to caffeine. I never drink it. I hear noises that other people do not. An example is that if you turn our cable box off via remote and but don't turn off the tv it stays on but looks off. It emits a high pitched whine that no one else in the house notices. It drives me crazy. I cannot focus on anything if there is music with words playing. I prefer not to listen to music at all especially if other things are going on. I do listen to books on tape often while doing tasks like cleaning or driving. I do not like extremes in temperature and I would 3000x rather be in pain than have an itch. The more tired or emotional I am the harder it is for me to process stimuli, particularly auditory stimuli, followed by tactile (no light touch. It makes my skin crawl. I don't want to be embraced if I am overstimulated and emotional. I am not a cuddler) and brightness/dimness. When I get overstimulated and agitated I need to do something physical or I feel like I will explode. I don't know how to compensate other than working to reduce stimuli and when I'm on complete sensory overload to go to the quietest most unstimulating place I can find. Also many times just being in the physical presence of another makes me feel on edge even if they aren't talking or touching me. I need a sensory deprivation tank I feel like. At work we tried different sensory equipment at a training and I loved the weighted blanket. I really want one.
I am successful, smart and resilient. I have a high level of self awareness. I like to read, I am very social (particularly if I can sort of be in control of who when where, etcetera) people tend to like me and I am funny.
In terms of help now, ideas for managing, compensating, and mitigating these effects would be so helpful. Also any advice on where to start with profesdional help would also be great.
Thanks!
Julia