---

Okay. Gotta ask this. What drives my husband crazy is how easy I am to drive crazy.

Clocks ticking, snoring, any repetitive noise makes me want to scream. If it's repetetive enough, it can drive me to frantic tears. Clothing can bother me, though it doesn't always. Socks can drive me nuts, I am obsessively fussy about socks because they drive the craziest.

I'm not OCD, just can't block out external stimuli. I can't pick a voice out of a roomfull of people talking.

So what I want to know is, is this part of the dyscalculia pattern, or is this just evidence of my general neurotic personality?

---

12/8/08
Maybe part of the dyscalculia or maybe some other undiscovered companion symptom. When I go to my kitchen in the morning to get a cup of coffee, the dumb dog in the yard next door reacts as though the neighborhood were under attack and barks hysterically. He/she has the most awful sounding half-squeaky, half-aphonic bark, as though in some kind of pain. I cringe. And if I could afford to sell my house and move, I would. - jus'

---

It was written in one of the reports from when I was a kid that I was incapable of tuning out outside stimuli. I remember being driven nuts in class when the teacher would be trying to help someone, and it was like their whispering drowned out my own thoughts. It's not as bad anymore but it still gets on my nerves.

Otherwise, I DO have OCD. So my experiences are biased.

---

I am more attuned to things that other people it seems. Sounds seem to bother me when other people don't even seem to hear them. I get irritated with noises easier than most, especially repetitive ones.

But stuff like voices, I can tune them out really easily. Alot of times when I don't want to.

---

Hi Dulcy,

I am frightened by the "flash" of lightening - I know the boom is coming but its the flash that frightens me the most - I even react when I am sleeping -I jump - (drives my hubby nuts!)I cannot stand fire works either - the flash then the bang! - too scary for words! I have thought of being hypnotised but I don't like the thought - so meanwhile my cat and I resort to staying under the stairs in the cupboard in the dark - P.S. My hubby bought me block out eye masks - (it does work! - but I still catch a glimpse of the flash! maybe I need a complete head mask - I think they call that "A Bag"! Happy Christmas every one and a brilliant new year to come.

Cheers and enjoy the fireworks!
Kathy

---

Dulcy, you could have what is called Sensory Hypersensitivity, which can be associated with any of the senses. Which is quite a common problem.
Vision, hearing and touch can be effected. Their are de-sensitization techniques that can be used to try and reduce the sensitivity.
It has been suggested that sensory hypersensitivity is in fact our natural level of sensitivity. Though in our modern world with sensory overload, most people's senses have been dulled. As it's the only way to cope.
For tactile hypersensitivity, various brushing techniques are used to reduce it.
Also for auditory hypersensitivity, 'white noise' generators are often used.

---

Good to know Geoff...

I have hyper-sen to clothing, noise, light, smell, some touches, pretty much the whole gambit.

Clothing-I cant stand to sleep with rings, earrings, neckalaces, and the collars of my shirts drive me insane...I love turtle necks, but I cant stand them for more than a few hours. Socks while sleeping, unless loose will make me want to kill something...

Hearing/smell-I am often the only one that can hear/smell them, and then after a spell of time other people can "tune" into them.

Light-bright light has always drove me insane, I always attributed it to my light blue eyes, but then I realized how I had other sensitivities and figured it was related. You will never find me without sungalsses in any weather or season.

Noise-my biggest nemesis, during tests is the worst.

Touch-I love peeled apples, but can not stand to touch the flesh after they are peeled, same with peeled potatoes.

Would be intersting to know if there is some sort of relationship.

---

12/9/08
Tammyk1 mentioned Light-bright light. I'm not sure that this is what it means, but I hate the headlights on cars that have those lights with no yellow color to the spectrum they produce. The headlights that have the colorlessness the same as a florescent light,.. but they are super-bright, and pointed straight at you? I have the feeling immediately that they are harming my eyes, even though (surely?) someone has tested them before putting them on the road. - jus'

---

Oh, man. Light. I am convinced that in Hell, it's very, very bright.

I ALWAYS wear shades outside. Even my eyeglasses turn dark. If I get too much light, I get vomiting migraines.

My last trip to the eye doc a couple weeks ago had tears pouring down my face. That light they shine in your eyes is really something, made my eyes just pour water.

And my eyes are very dark brown.

---

This is one of the things that make me somewhat dysfunctional (not that I am saying you are, but you are one of us:D) I have al sorts of weirdness, for example I smell people...yes when people walk by I smell the air. This of course is acurse due to they fact that there are many smelly people (dirty or too perfumed) and that bothers me.
I also have to touch things, esp. fabrics. In stores I am always feeling things to see how they differ, It doesn't matter if it a tire or a flannel shirt.
I can't have tags on my shirts, socks must be on a certain way and nothing too tight.
I also WILL NOT BE TOUCHED by people unless I am 100% comfortable with them. I have hit people for this. (claimed they surprised me:o )
I wonder why I am still single?

---

12/9/08
Tags on clothes. Yes, they are 'evil' I tell you, 'evil'! If I try to cut them off wiithout putting on my strong glasses, I end up cutting into the fabric. Then I have to get out the needle and thread and take a few stitches so that the neck won't unravel. Hence, I never know what size anything is that I wear, or even what brand it is, because I always cut off all the tags. - jus'

---

When I got tested for learning disabilities, I had one score that fell far, far below all the rest of them. My score in this category was 55 (an average score is 100 + 15). The category? Auditory Processing.

When most people are in a "loud" scenario with a lot of different noises, like a crowded party, they can pick one sound - like a person talking to them - and effectively tune out everything else so they can properly hear the one sound. I can't do that. I hear everything, all the time, and I have a very difficult time separating sounds and hearing them properly.

It's not a problem with hearing necessarily - I can hear the sound itself fine - I just can't process the sound and distinguish it from the other sounds around it. Because of this, I find it important to look at people's faces when I speak to them, so that whatever I can't hear correctly I can determine from reading their lips. I am also very easily agitated by repetitive sounds, because unlike a normal person I can't just tune it out. Some soft "white noises" I can get used to, like the sound of a fan or an air conditioner, but others literally make me want to break whatever is making the sound so I don't have to hear it anymore (for instance, some idiot sitting in a car not wearing their seatbelt).

I have no idea if this sound processing deficit is related to the dyscalculia or not. I do know that it impacts my dyscalculia in a classroom setting, because I already can't always hear what the professor is saying, and I can't even make an educated guess with it comes to numbers (versus in other contexts).

This is probably just a quirk of mine, but I also have a very sensitive sense of smell. Most of the time it is inhibited by my allergies (which is actually a good thing) but during the two months out of the year when my allergies aren't acting up, I will be nauseous several times a day due to strong smells wafting by. Even WITH my stopped up sinuses, sometimes at work I will have to excuse myself because a customer's perfume or food or even the air freshener we use in the bathroom will just make me sick from the smell. My friends make fun of me for my "pregnant lady sense of smell" all the time.

---

If I'm trying to do anything math/navigation related, I can't deal with any outside noise. Even someone asking the teacher a question would throw me off completely in school during math tests.

I commute via public transit. So I get a nice combo of cell yell, bus noise, gum cracking, etc. Then we sometimes get people who decide their seats aren't enough, they want part of your seat too. Or who recline their seat practically into your lap. I love my music/ocean sounds. I bought some headphones with a foam earbud, which you can roll just like foam earplugs and that helps a great deal with the noise.

---

Crowded malls at Chrismas...no worse hell can be found.

I come close to violence. I demand my space be preserved (and those that have seen photos of me know it's a bit of space)

PS...Lost in spatial....nice!

---

OHHH I am so there with you.

ANY crowded store for me...and people that WONT move while I am trying to hurry to get the F out of there...almost got into a fist fight at Walmart because this women wouldnt move her 400lb rear out of my way. You know the type that leans on their cart and takes up 99.9% of the aisle, and no matter your level of politeness, they still WONT!!! I then throw all politeness out and express my anger verbally...GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH:@

---

I could have written CheshireKat's post. :o

And Reverend Blamo's and tammyk1's about the corwds. I cannot even TOLERATE crowds and being impeded. Jostling me will send me into an instant belligerence.

I have an incredibly acute sense of smell, although as long as I can walk away from it, it doesn't really bother me. It only truly bothers me if it's on my person, so deoderants and laundry detergents must be perfume free. Interestingly, I do like environmental scents, like incence and candles, but only if it's not a cloying, heavy scent. Usually, I'll fire up a stick of incense, burn it for a few minutes, then blow it out. That's enough for me.

I am beginning to think this is part of it.

---

This is why online shopping was invented! I try to do most of mine online. I usually have a bunch of vacation time to use up in December, so whatever I don't get online, I buy on my days off, early in the morning before the crowds gather. I work/get my bus near Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall & Fifth Ave. Needless to say, as much as I enjoy the holiday season, I'm so sick of being bumped into, I'm glad to see it end.

Just be thankful you're not a woman. Try buying stuff in stores from registries for bridal & baby showers. Before the internet, you actually had to go in the store, find the registry and buy the item. After one such adventure for a bridal shower, a friend and I were going to start a business where scantily clad men would serve hors d'oeuvres and drinks and parade housewares around so we could buy the gifts for the bridal shower in a more comfortable environment. :D But then the internet registries started so we never got past the planning stage.

---

Hey guys this is possibily irrelevant but i find i can not toolerate people standing behind me nor too close to me. I am fine with people i have built trust upon. But my main and worst phobia if you like is people's EYES. They are really freaky. I can not look at people's eyes at all. I get really agitated and quite embarrssed. This is a massive big problem with me. One of my BEST mates who i have known for a whole year now was talking and asked me "what colour of eyes do i have" I said i don't know. She couldn't believe that i have never looked at her eyes. I am just totally freaked with the EYES. I obviously an look at mines(i would be a bit worried if i couldn't) I can not wer contact lenses as i have this phobia. I can not put Mascarra on either. I was wearing some the other day and my mates thought it was hilarious as i was totally freaked out- had tears streaming down my face. I look at people's mouths and chins. I am more comfortable there than the eyes. I wanna laugh when i HAVE to look at people's eyes. I was made to as a child hence me looking like i am lookign at your eyes when actually i am looking at the mouth or chin.

I suppose this is my Autistic side coming out. My colleague at work said god you are actually Autistic ooopsss

I am quite picky with hygiene. I HAVE OCD TO SOME EXTENT i am always cleaning and washing my hands. My mate was laughing as i always carry hand gel soap with mr. I was ill the other week and she was like i do not know why as you always clean your hands 3 or 4 times each time you wash them. Not good

I love the smell of petrol its amazing

---

I once almost hit someone because they were leaning in near me to press an elevator button and didn't give any warning! While I'm not thrilled to have people get that close to me (unless they're good friends, family, etc), I can deal with it as long as I have some warning (e.g. saying excuse me as you lean in to push the elevator button).

Come to think of it, I'm not really a hugger or toucher unless it close friends, family, etc.

---

I guess I am kind of an anomaly on this thread, because lots of loud noise doesn't bother me at all. It's not VOLUME so much that aggravates me; it's having multiple sounds going on at once and I can't pick out the one I'm trying to listen to.

The only time that sheer volume aggravates me is when I go into stores that play loud music (Hollister comes to mind immediately). A lot of stores play music, but they play it at a moderate volume so you can still THINK while you're shopping. On the other hand, some stores play it so damn loud and with so much freaking base that I can't even think about what I'm doing, or hear the person next to me, and I just end up getting upset and leaving without buying anything.

One of the myriad jobs I have had in the past was being a camp counselor... you can imagine how many external stimuli play into that occupation! Kids screaming, yelling, crying, laughing... kids don't do anything quietly, regardless of the emotion attached to it. Then there was music playing, other counselors yelling, lights going on and off, games and crafts everywhere, people constantly running into you, hugging you, brushing past you, tugging on you to ask questions... if you can't handle extreme external stimuli, the best advice I can give you is to NEVER work with children. I love it, but that's just me - I thrive on chaos. I also don't mind other people touching me. In fact, I am a "hugger" who is constantly bestowing hugs on other people all the time.

I am curious to see how many people who are hypersensitive to external stimuli have more than just dyscalculia. Is it possible that what we have "in addition to" dyscalculia is making it worse?

For example, ADHD runs heavily in my family, and while I've never been tested for it my family is quite sure that I have it too. I think that (probably) having ADHD makes me more conditioned to lots of external stimuli - because I am constantly hearing and seeing things from all over the place, unable to focus my attention on just one. I've been that way my whole life, so it is natural for me to take note of and observe multiple things at once.

Then again, for someone with another kind of disorder, that disorder secondary to dyscalculia could make the external stimuli sensitivity worse. Does anyone follow me on that?

---

12/12/08
I took a test two weeks ago for a government job with the Census. The lady administering the test said that there would be NO talking by anyone before everyone was finished with the test. It was a timed test, one half hour exactly, so I thought, "Great. Finally. Someone who'll take it seriously that we all need quiet to do the test properly." Well, wouldn't you know it, just a I was on the 'home stretch', trying to finish the last three questions, the most important Admin person present started talking out loud to the test administrator lady. This completely ruined my concentration, as the questions required reading maps and charts (something I'm slow at and have trouble 'retaining'), so although my final score was 'good', I wasn't able to finish those last three questions. And since getting hired was probably as much about whether or not they liked you as your score,... I just kept it to myself that they had sabotaged me. - jus'

---

Hey LostinSpatial-

I am not a hugger either and that i also an uncomfortable thing for me to do. As a family we are not a huggie family. So when i started going around with my group of friends now. They are all BIG huggers. It's took me a year to accept this. Its not like i hate it, i just feel uncomfortable. I don't mind hugging someone for a special occasion as it is custom to do it- Christmas/Birthday's/New Years Day and Hogmanany. These are exceptions

---

Can I get a job application?

---

Hmmm...This is interesting.

For me, I think it depends on what I'm doing. For instance, I'm a big reader. I can tune out just about anything when I'm reading a book. I literally read and understood what I was reading in the middle of a Super Bowl party full of screaming, shouting fans (well, acutally, I was in the room next door, and since I don't like football, I was reading because I was bored). Also, I'm constantly in trouble for not hearing something that is said to me when I'm reading, because I tune out everything - voices, sounds, etc. But it takes real concentration, and if someone disturbs me, I can get snappy.

However, loud parties kill me. At my friend's Sweet 16, the music was blaring so loudly that I was going insane. And I don't understnad how people acutally communicate at places like that - I couldn't understnad anything anyone was saying. ANd stupid things like tags on clothes or a collar on a shirt not done just so drive me nuts. I can't stand the sound a fan makes, or even the sound a computer running makes, either. The sounds that annoy me are the quiet ones that no one else notices, in fact. Therefore they're kind of hard to complain about.

Also, in crowds, I have a lot of trouble keeping up with the group. Other people seem to be able to look around and simutaneously know where they are going, but I can't do both. Crowds intimidate me, and when I come from a crowded place I'm always exhuasted.

Like I said, interesting topic!

---

I find too many people talking in a room quite hard to deal with. I am so confused that i will just not listen at all. In work at the change over of shifts the office can at times be crammed with 20 people which is OTT. I have jjust found out that i am so annoying at work as i play with things all the time. For example Sunday morning at 8am i was in the office playing with a big thick elastic band. I was having a ball snapping it off my fingers and hands and wrists. My mate went ape at me as i had done it for 20 mins solid and was driving her insane. She stole the elastic band off of me and binned it heehee!!!

Oh people who crack their knuckles annoys the life out of me, also people who use the same word over and over ie "Like", "OMG", "Shocking" totally annoys me. I know i can be annoying but come on.

People who are over bearing in the way they act. One of my mates is so loud we actually switch off when she speaks as normally she will speak fine, the next she is shouting WHY!!??? we are all here and listening AHHHHHHHH.

I do love the corners of shirts and jeans and have done ever since i was 2 years old. According to my mum i use to sniff the corners of shirts. I like to dig my nails into them and still do more to jeans though- the pockets on the bum are great for that. The sensation is fab

God i now know why people call me a freak heehee!!!:D

---

Clocks ticking. Water dripping. Sports on TV is the WORST - screaming people, loud speakers, argh. The sun can be tricky too - my curtains are only open when it's dark. The sun is sort of okay when I'm outside, but hurts my eyes and makes me uncomfortable when I'm inside and it's shining in.

I can't wear certain types of fabric. Nylon, wool, leather. In fact, I think the only type of fabric I own is cotton, except underwear. Makes bying clothes a little hard sometimes, when you absolutely LOVE the design but just know it would drive you crazy to wear.

Smells of for example gasoline or nail polish remover gives me instant headache symptoms. I can't figure out if this is all in my brain or not. But I do know, that I feel it's real.

Snoring however calms me, and makes my brain go into sleep mode. I love having boyfriends that snore. I should put that on my list, hehe.

I've always been aware that I'm more sensitive than others. I'm not sure if it's that big of a deal. I think it's an essential part of who I am. And if I start to hate that, I start to hate me. You know? I hope I make sense.

---

12/17/08
I'm with you on these, Ert. Fingernail polish remover and gasoline give me an instant headache. Sometimes it escalates and I end up pacing the floor, hoping that the extra strength Tylanol will 'kick in'. And I put the TV on mute when sports comes on. Here, it comes on on ALL channels simultaneously, so the only way to get away from it would be to watch an info-mercial on some obscure channel. Even switching to Spanish TV doesn't help, as they are just as "fanatic" and loud, only it's about soccer instead of the usual fare. - jus'

---

Yeah, I just turn it off too when there's sports on, but sometimes just flipping the channels is enough to make me cringe. There's like 5 all sports channels in my cable subscription, but I deleted them.

Oh, and David Letterman. The acustic is AWFUL, people screaming and clapping, combined with screaming instruments from the band. Can't watch that.

---

sensory overload does bother me too - I am unable to hear people talking in busy rooms, as I can't tune out everyone else's voice in the room and concentrate on just one, hence I tend to spend a lot of time smiling and nodding and hoping to heck I'm doing so at the right time!

I have always had a very acute sense of smell as well, in one of my jobs I could tell when my boss came out of the house on a morning (she lived on site) as I could smell the cigarette smoke of her first cig of the day from over 100 meters away on the bottom stable yard, AND she'd be having that first cigarette INDOORS in the static caravan (for americans - mobile home) we had at the top of the farmyard site as a break room. (As she wasn't allowed to smoke in the main house)

My colleagues always found it incredible that I could suddenly state "she's here" before they had even heard or seen her.

I get very annoyed at being touched too much, while I enjoy hugging my boyfriend, it irritates the heck out of me if he strokes my hand or arm etc as it is nothing more than irritating annoyance to me. I appreciate the lovely gesture but it doesn't just tickle, it makes me want to rip my damn skin off! I have to stop him doing it as politely as possible while restraining myself from batting his hand away outright.

Wonder if my apparent hypersensitivity to sharp pain (needles) is related? so many people insist injections don't hurt, especially when you can't see them, but it just isn't true for me - it's agonising pain even when I don't know it's coming.

A case in point - I have needle phobia to such an extent now that I have to be knocked out with nitrous oxide gas at the dentists so that they can inject my gums. Bearing in mind I am UNCONCIOUS by the time they inject me - the pain of the injection (which I have no way of anticipating in that state) still gets through, and apparently I will thrash about and fight them off while still apparently out cold, and even scream out loud.

The wierd thing is that my needle phobia only relates to when the needles are coming at me, or into human flesh. I have worked as a veterinarly assistant before and on hundreds of occassions I have injected dogs, cats and many many horses both intramuscularly and subcutaneously without a problem.

Kirsty

---

Kirsty - You probably react so strongly to being injected even under nitrous oxide sedation because the gas doesn't actually put you completely under the way general anesthesia does. You are conscious, you are just in such a subdued state of consciousness that you do not remember it afterward.

Whenever you get your wisdom teeth removed, it's the same way -- some people will be "aware" to some degree of what's going on when they have them removed, able to remember hearing voices or feeling some pressure, because they have a higher threshhold of conscious awareness and are harder to keep sedated in that fashion. Also, if you have ever been knocked out so a doctor can re-set a broken bone, it's the same way... a patient will have to be restrained from thrashing and will scream and cry while the bone is being re-set, because they ARE conscious and it DOES hurt... they just don't remember it at all when they 'come to' from the medication.

So in short, you're still having a conscious, phobic reaction to the needle being injected into you, it's just much more tolerable for you because you can't remember it afterward.

---

This is a problem for me too. I cringe when people try to hug me without warrant, or you know just touch me in acknowledgement. It's not that I don't appreciate it, my body just can't take the surprise of it I suppose.

I have no problems with touching people when I know it's coming, or when I make the initiative to do it. I hug, pat and play all day working with kids, so I'm always challenging myself to be a bit more open to sudden touch. Again, I have no problems with hugs and touching in general, just when it's out of the blue.

I guess my brain doesn't give clues to my body that something good is coming (you know what I mean... being touched by other people and hugs are good for most people, sets off positive chemicals in fact, and there's studies that show that no human fysical contact can be harmful), so my body think it's an attack? It's a theory I have.

---

ert, when somebody I don't know well touches me, I freeze and feel very uncomfortable until they "leave me alone". A crowded bus is a nightmare because I have to sit next to strangers which I hate.
I was bullied a lot in school, pushed (even beaten up once or twice)and told to go away all the time and I sometimes wonder if that could be the reason.

I don't like noise, especially if noises mix, such as someone talking and music playing at the same time - it drives me crazy and I have to leave.
I dislike the sound of rattling paper or plastic bags, don't know why but I never liked that sound.

---

Ert - It does sound a lot like your body is "misinterpreting" the sudden contact as being an attack rather than something pleasurable. All humans are hard-wired to crave contact with others, with the exception of certain people with mental disorders that affect their social interactions (namely autism spectrum disorders). But for average, healthy people, it is normal to want to touch and be touched, and studies have shown that we are as a whole happier and healthier when we have those contacts throughout the day (it doesn't even have to be a hug, just a touch on the arm or shoulder or another friendly gesture can partially satiate that need to make contact).

But we are also hard-wired for survival, which means that our brain, specifically our sympathetic nervous system, is on a hair trigger to alert us to danger from a mile away. If it wasn't, we wouldn't still be around as a species. We have no claws, no fangs, no wings, no venom... we are essentially useless creatures, except for our huge brains. If we had never developed a brain that allowed us to see danger coming and take effective measures against it (generally running, then later in human evolution, creating tools to fight back) we would've been eaten up a long time ago.

It sounds like your brain is just on "hyper vigilant" mode all the time - constantly seeking out threats, always aware of your surroundings and ready to respond with extreme speed to any potentially risky situation. A hundred thousand years ago, that would have been really, really handy, and while it is still a good survival mechanism now, it often causes more problems than it solves in our lives today. Are you generally a high anxiety person? Do you find yourself jumpier than others, or more prone to nerves? If you are, it would make sense, since anxiety is a sympathetic nervous system response.

---

9/9/09
I know that this is only partially on-topic, but...

The lady at work who does 'scheduling' and keeps track of 'tardies', 'absences', and 'Paid Days Off', etc. (a 'numbers' person- you get it.) has always had the knack of being blunt, a little bossy, and a little presumptuous (like when she told me that if I tried to change my weekend schedule, I would loose my job!), but she hadn't done anything particularly obnoxious for at least a week. So, today, I asked my supervisor to let me go home two hours early (for a test), and I got his permission to leave without penalty, as they didn't have enough work for everybody who was there. Then, I needed my time card from the 'numbers lady', but she was talking to another Rep. In order to gently interrupt, I put my arm around her shoulder and gave her a little hug, which she seemed to really like, but she didn't 'get the hint' that I was standing there because I needed her attention. So, she kept talking to the other Rep. Finally, I said that I was leaving and needed my time card, which she quickly produced from her file box.

On my way home from work, I got worried that I should have had my supervisor actually 'sign' my time-card, so that no one can say that I 'left early with penalty'. So, I called my company. The 'numbers lady' answered, and she has never been so helpful in the (almost) year that I've worked there. She said not to worry about needing a signature for that at all, and she was calling me 'honey' (quite common in the Southern U.S. between ladies).

So, yes, Kat, as you said, "... But for average, healthy people, it is normal to want to touch and be touched, and studies have shown that we are as a whole happier and healthier when we have those contacts throughout the day (it doesn't even have to be a hug, just a touch on the arm or shoulder or another friendly gesture can partially satiate that need to make contact).

And, I think that what happened today with the 'numbers lady' illustrates the power that a friendly touch, in the right circumstances, can have. - jus'

---

I might have mentioned this before but I detest unfamiliar people touching me and have hit people for touching me unexpectedly. I do let people touch me ( jokes go here) when I am comfortable with them. I don't think this has anything to do with my LDs but more based on being a complete nut.

---

Haha, I think if there was some sort of International Dyscalculics Convention that we all went to, you guys would stay away from me with a five-foot pole in hand. I am a total hugger, that's just what I do. As soon as I see someone, even if it's someone I'm not super familiar with, I will hug them. When I meet you, at the end of our interaction I say, "It was great meeting you!" and give you a hug. I just love hugs!

Even beyond the realm of hugs, I'm just a "touch" person. I touch people's arms when I want their attention or am talking to them, I touch their shoulders, their upper back, their hand... I don't even realize I'm doing it half the time, unless someone says something about it. I can understand how that would make someone else uncomfortable, though I certainly don't try to make anyone feel that way around me (most people tend to feel more comfortable around someone who touches them lightly on the arm or hand, actually.)

---

I am a very touchy<tactile> person too and enjoy hugs - part of it comes from the various activist/consciousness-raising and "what-is-said-in-here-stays-in-circle" kind of group activity I've been involved in since college. Part of it is my experience with d/Deaf, including my own husband - deaf w/o HA's. Some of it now has to do with my hearing status. And a large part of it is just that I am an intuitive, tactile person. It is very natural for me to get someone's attention by touching their shoulder, or if I feel some emotion from them, giving them a bit of a light touch. This past weekend someone I didn't know was sitting in front of me at the UU congregation I sometimes go to. It was Sunday talk and one of the things commonly done in UU is share "joys and concerns" if desired, so ushers go around w/mic's and give people who show interest chance to speak their thoughts. One woman did and her thoughts were very sad and powerful. After she sat down I reached forward and gently squeezed her shoulder.
Now, if I know - or consider possibility, based on behavior - that someone has an ASD or is DeafBlind/deafblind/has low vision , then I wouldn't be so much <or at all> touchy with person, especially when not knowing them. If communicating w/d/Deafblind I would try to involve some tactile to my degree of ability and depending on how they desire.

---

My folks have also always been very physically affectionate with me. They do not really show affection for each other but hugs and physical contact and expressive gestures are very common in my family.

---

9/10/09
So, at our International Dyscalculia Convention, it will be RottieWoman, Kat, and Jus' doing the spontaneous 'group hug' along with various and sundry patting. For the rest of you, we'll provide a sign-up sheet, where you can tell us 'when', 'how' and 'with what intensity' we get to hug and touch you. ;-) - jus'

---

Rottie - My family was the opposite, there has never been very much hugging at all. It is peculiar that I turned out such a touchy-feely person given that my mom was never inclined to be affectionate towards me.

Jus - Hahaha, I love the sign-up sheet idea. We'd carry it around and announce on the mic, "Alright _____, it's time for your hug! Come on up!"

---

jus' :)

we will also need many many copies of these sheets for those who lose them, as well as various "sheets on tape", and diagrams and pictures of the appropriate amount of contact described in those sheets. For us "body contact" people we we'll end up with pillows to share and extra clothes for accidental spillage of ingested items due to Spontaneous Hug Overload Syndrome.

And Duct Tape. For taping the pillows to us so we can give different softness of hugs and taping up the body contact diagrams so people can always see them, and also for attaching the Sheets on Tape to the bookbags that will be distributed so participants can also carry the actual sheets in the bags. And their extra clothes.

we will also need many assorted digital and voice-activated clocks

which will also fit nicely in the carrying bags:)

---

This sounds like an awful lot of organizing for us... half of these things will probably be forgotten in the process, LOL.

---

9/10/09
RottieWoman, that was so funny. Now I have tiny little 'laughing tears' in my eyes from trying not to LOL in my college's computer room.

I think that the best-selling item would be the carrying bags. Another thing that would do a good business at our International Dyscalculia Convention would be a key-making kiosk,... like maybe even more important than a hot-dog kiosk.

My family loaded up the car for a trip when I was a little girl. The trunk (I think the English call this the 'boot'?) was filled with every imaginable suitcase and article for survival for a two week trip. One adult checked the contents of the trunk, re-positioned a few things, and shut the trunk. However, in order to re-position those items, she had laid the keys down in the bottom of the car trunk and hadn't picked them up again before shutting the trunk.

Yes, we did get to go on the trip,... after the back seat of the car had been removed, part of the contents of the trunk removed through the 'holes' behind the back seat, through those same 'holes' part of the contents had been re-positioned (yet again), and the keys had been 'fished' out from the floor of the trunk. I think that lots and lots of sets of keys are better than jewelry. - jus'

---

Jus - My car is almost locked-in-key proof. If you try to lock the doors after you've turned the car off, if the keys are still in the ignition (even if it's off) the doors will immediately unlock themselves and make a noise at you. If you open the door at all with the keys in the ignition, it beeps incessantly until you remove them.

The only downfall is that there is no reminder to not set your keys on the passenger's side seat while you're going through your purse to make sure you have everything... that is how I have ended up locking my keys in my car several times. I will take them out of the ignition, set them on the seat, check my purse, then get out and lock my door and upon shutting it, realize what I left sitting on my passenger's seat.

I wish I had a hide-a-key on the underside of my car, but I don't, so I keep a spare car key with me in my purse for when those sorts of things happen. The man I bought the car from several years ago actually had THREE copies of the car key... considering Toyota keys cost about $90 to make a copy of, I thought that was a little excessive, until he described to me how frequently he and his wife locked their keys in the car. It ended up costing them less to pay $200 to get two spares made than it did having one of them take off work to drive across town to unlock the door, or for them to have to wait for AAA to come forcibly unlock the door.

---

9/10/09
Kat, what you've just described sounds just like something I would do. And for that reason, I keep a copy of my car key and a copy of my front door key in the little zippered pocket of my billfold. It's 'saved' me on several occassions. An much as I'd hate to loose a set of keys and leave an establishment (work, a restaurant, a party) without finding my keys, there can't be a much lonlier feeling than standing in an empty, dark parking lot, with a freezing wind blowing, wanting nothing more than to go home, and not having the keys to just get in your car and drive. On a couple of occassions, that's happened to me, but I was able to drive home with that key from my wallet. I didn't used to keep a key to my front door in my wallet, but experience has taught me that this is folly, too. (The glass window in my house's back door is still broken, and covered up.) Toyota's keys cost $90 dollars?! - jus'

---

Now that's exactly why my husband and I have a set of all the important keys each..
Oddly enough, I have never lost my keys. I've lost gloves, a shoe once when I was a kid, buss passes and a coat.
I've forgotten more things than I care to remember, though.
My ex lost the house keys once and decided that I didn't need my keys until we had a new copy made, selfish git. I wasn't able to leave the house for a week because of this because the door could only be locked from the outside using a key.
When we moved here, we got one set of keys. One fine evening, we went to the basement to pick up the laundry and closed the apartment door and suddenly my husband looked very funny - he'd forgotten to take the keys from the table..
I was not impressed and may have muttered a few words under my breath. We hadn't had our dinner and I wanted our clothes which we couldn't get to because the basement is locked.
The story had a happy ending after all. My husband had the car keys in his pocket and the owner of the apartment had a spare set of keys so off we went on a two-hour trip, wearing slippers and no jackets to get the keys.

---

9/11/09
Good story, Mohinga.

In South America, I was a guest of a couple who had a concrete, second floor patio. The clothesline was out on the patio. You could all probably take these 'facts' and each of you write your own story with them. And we could have a contest... Okay, but here's what actually happened. I went out on the patio, one fine sunny, but cold, day, for 'who knows what reason', probably to check to see if my socks were dry. I was wearing nothing but a long 'housecoat' and slippers. I had a great view of the city, and the city had a great view of me, when... the metal roof door went shut! Yeah, it went shut with the finality that only a metal door can provide. There were wires on the roof. They were holding the 'ham radio antenna' up there where it was supposed to be. And there was a coil of coaxial cable on the roof, and precious little else. So, although I knew that I was 'home alone', I banged on the metal door and yelled. Then I eyed the coil of cable and the other 'electrical' looking items that were laying around. Banged some more. Looked over the edge and contemplated any possible 'footholds', which, combined with the coaxial cable, might provide me with my freedom. But, (to my credit) I decided that cold, hunger, and boredom were a small price to pay for not having to go to the hospital, and so I waited,... and waited. Okay, since you've 'told us your story', Monhinga, I'll tell mine, too. My (now) ex thought that this was just really, really funny. Well, I have to admit, it was kind of funny. - jus'

---

noise, - i can zone out... a bit more than i should. i can also hear small things others cant.. they drive me nuts!!! i can also be mental with the repitive noises. and if some one repeats something 2 times i just stare and im like, i hear you the firist time!!! but thats my personality type (INTJ) we pretty *** off with that



light, not so much

smells- of ceritain food genraly.


some touches- jep. but not clothes. any one touching my hand drives me nuts or my arm.:)

---

OK, here's a locked IN story for ya' ...
I was installing a stereo in a car at my parent's house. I had mostly everything hooked up and was making final adjustments to the amp in the trunk (yup) I had the key on in the "assc" position and the stereo on (not loudly) so that I could adjust it. As I thought to myself that I should stick my foot out of the trunk so that the lid doesn't close on me I heard "thunk" and was in the dark. :o
It was about 10:30/11:00 in the morning and I knew that my mom came home at noon for lunch so worst case scenerio would be that I would be there for an hour.
My mom did not come home. At about 3:30 I started disassembling the lock/latch with the few tools I had in the trunk, a screwdriver and wire strippers...in the mostly dark trunk. I had a little light as I peeled some of the weather stripping away for fresh, cooler air.
I got out at about 4:45. my mom got home a little after 5:00.

---

9/13/09
That was a terrible thing to have happen to you. I'm so sorry. Why do car manufacturers make trunk locks so that they can't be opened from the inside? Were they intending for car trunks to be used as 'temporary detention' sites? - jus'

---

i think its a safely hazard.
what if your kidnapped and in the trunk/boot???
.

---

Wow Rev, that sounds like a horrible day! I guess it's people like you who are part of the reason why all new cars are required to have a safety release latch on the inside of the trunk now. :) When I was in high school me and my friends used to put each other in the trunks of our cars and drive around the school parking lot in the morning (stupid, I know) but I would never go in the trunk because I am very claustrophobic... I can't even imagine what it would be like to be stuck in there for hours. *shudder*

---

I read somewhere that you should kick the tail lights out, then wave through the hole, the driver apparently won't notice but other car drivers will and will probably dial 999/911

that doesn't help if you're stuck in the boot of your own stationary car though!!!

---

jus'
just wanted to get back to ya' - glad you liked my satirical ramblings:)

---

My mom has story about when she had just moved to the area in her 20'ss, from Indiana, and had just met my dad. They were both buyers for high end clothing places and my mom was renting a room from an older woman - she was renting the finished attic space of this person's house. She sometimes would have my dad pick her up in morning to take her to work - she hadn't learned to drive yet <like me, she learned to drive out of need - much later she had me, and she had me late because she had complications> . One morning for her new job, she got ready as usual and went out in the morning - leaving her keys in the upstairs room she rented. She called my dad and he came over with his roommate and they found a ladder from somewhere and used it to get to the second story where they managed to get into my mom's area and get her keys. I am not sure how they got the ladder but I think they broke in to get to the keys -

---

I am crazy hypersensitive!!to everything! it's my fantasy to own one of those deprivation chambers to sleep in or just to get away from stuff.. *sigh* that would be so nice..

---

I'm a very light sleeper and usually I can "tune" out all of the distractions that keep me awake but last night there was a strange smell that kept me up. I think I drove my husband nuts searching for possible sources of the smell, especially when he couldn't smell it until much later.

I'm still not sure what the smell was but we identified that it was coming from outside the apartment and was 'sneaking' in under the windows and doors with the wind. Fortunately the odor is gone now but I wasn't able to sleep much last night.

I don't know what I'll do if a smoker moves in next door. Does anyone have some ideas?

---

Saruna, that happened to us once, and as it turns out I was smelling a fire three floors up from us in BF's dorm that NOBODY else could smell, and the smoke alarms in that kids room had not detected.

Sometimes it pays to be so sensitive!

---

I have horrible problems tuning things out. It is so bad that I literally bring my iPod with me everywhere and got earbuds that help block out sound. I turn on my iPod to songs that I know I can tune out, and that is the only way I can study. I have even been known to sleep with my iPod in and on because otherwise little sounds drive me nuts. Interestingly enough, normal sounds my animals make never bother me. In fact, the ABSENCE of those sounds can get me stressed or wake me up from a sound sleep.