The Sensory Issue Combat Zone

In society I believe everyone follows a process of wearing masks and veneers. For a person with Asperger Syndrome perhaps we are much self conscious of wearing a mask or veneer and may find difficulty when exhausting to keep the veneer or mask on. The biggest difficulty is for adults in employment. Most jobs demand or require a person to be competent and more importantly fulfilling a social requirement or team work to undertake and or complete a task.

One of the biggest issues I have is the sensory overload factor. When there are more people, there is more and more non verbal communication going on and trying to use your sensory radar is like as Dr Temple Grandin describes a bad cell connection. I often find I can become disorientated by sounds and furthermore sensory overload tends to affect my rational thinking. When combining both factors, your mind is trying to shut out over stimulation and focusing becomes more difficult and problematic.

What and how then can "The Sensory Issue Combat Zone" be controlled? I think from personal experience people with Asperger Syndrome prefer space because our minds easily become over stimulated by excessive neuro processing. It is easier in quiet space as there are less sensory issues but when you put an Aspie into a sensory environment then the two struggle or do not combine. As a male with Asperger Syndrome, I find sharing of space with another person especially draining. I find continually having to try and make conversation excessively draining and often you can be perceived as being quiet or uninterested in conversation. This is not always the case. I find jokes are often confusing and I do not know why people say then when they don't really have a purpose but I understand it as being or possessing a lighter side in the other person. Throughout my own life, I have struggle and still struggle with small talk and chit chat. I need to use high levels of mental energy to make sense of it and I am missing out on visual and non verbal queues in the process. It is really difficult to have a lighter side.

People often find it difficult to perceive sensory overload but it is like the light you see becomes intense and your ears super sensitive. When under pressure, the drop of a spoon or even someone coughing can drive you into sensory overload and when I am stressed I can become very literal. I think a lot of Aspies are very literal when stressed and people often get rubbed up the wrong way in not always understanding the stress levels of Aspies. Perhaps sensory overload affects different people in other ways but how many of us have sensory overload difficulties? I think sounds once intense can be very threatening and drive a person into sensory overload. Watch the link by pressing the title in this post link to find out more.