Don’t Tell an Autistic Person Not to Sweat the Small Stuff
When you’re autistic, things feel more intense, even the little things. Difficulty with sensory processing can mean the stuff that is in the background for others can dominate your awareness. Our brains don’t automatically filter these things, so it takes more energy to deal with them.
I used to wonder if it was some long-buried trauma that made me flinch at a stranger brushing up against me or caused me to descend into panic on a crowded train.
But there’s a different process at work that has an immediate physical effect. Perfumes send me into a sneezing fit. Strong chemicals give me a headache. The flashing lights from an oncoming cyclist make me feel nauseous.
When something impacts on you in this way you can’t change how it feels. You can’t talk yourself out of it. Sometimes the only remedy is to remove yourself from the environment.
There is no remedy in thinking logically because it’s not about thinking. It’s about feeling and it’s hard to ignore when it feels like my senses are being assaulted. The leafblower across the road feels like it’s being weaponized against me. The speeding motorcycle feels like it’s ripping my insides apart.
