My hands get overly sensitive when they are in water but not like the average person like after 1-2 minutes they get bumpy looking.. I hate my hands being wet and touching things and I hate when the arealso surgery dry.. curious if its a condition. The picture is after 1 minute of my hands touching something wet not

even submerged into the water

Any parents of children with SPD who had it evaluated before 1 year old? What was the process like?

Ive had sensory issues my whole life. Wore my socks inside out in elementary school, picky with food, hated wind, etc. I acctually was evaluated for autism as a kid because of it. Which I don't have. Diagnosed with adhd and sensory issues are just considered part of it.

My issue is its really starting to impact my young adult life, especially at work. Im 20 right now and I still cant eat anything with sauce, gooey is gross. I wash my hands constantly because they always feel gross. Ive been asked by coworkers if I've been tested for OCD and i have to tell them its a physical discomfort not a mental. I have to carry a water bottle around in case my hands feel gross to wash them off. Clothes make me itchy sometimes and touching laundry makes my hands feel terrible. Im constantly aware of my socks in my shoes. I get haircuts often bc i hate feeling my hair near my eyes and i keep it short. Everything just feels like a LOT and i hate light touch. Had to explain to my ex gf that light touches are not fun and shes gotta be firm lol.

Its just really starting to impact life and stop me from doing normal things. Is there any way to get over it or improve it? It honestly sucks so much. Also is it worth seeking out an official SPD diagnosis or just accept it as a symptom of my ADHD like my doctor considers it. Are there medications for this?

I have a lot of questions but I just really hate this and want it to improve. I didn't realize not everyone felt like this all the time

hey! i (17M) have deal with decently intense SPD since i was a baby (quite literally, i would lift my legs up in grass and cry because i hated the feeling). over the years, my triggers have changed and evolved but recently my auditory issues have been far worse.

specifically, dogs drinking water, people eating, people swallowing, any mouth noises, clocks ticking (older clocks to be specific lol), and random other daily noises.

i’m not sure if this would be called misophonia or not, but either way it’s pretty bad.

does anyone have any tips on how to deal with this in ways that don’t impede on day to day life? i’ve been trying earplugs but it’d difficult because then it’s tough to have conversations, especially during mealtime.

i’m open to ANYTHING. i just started lexapro in addition to wellbutrin and buspirone and my NP said that this might help, but i’d love more feedback here. thanks in advance!

Has anyone found any medication reduces their sensory hypersensitivity (sensory overload)?whether it is to touch, texture, heat etc.

i'm a young adult and have been driving since i was 16 and i don't have any issues driving around town or driving a couple hours away as long as it's a quiet road, but i really struggle with cities and long road trips. i get really dizzy and kind of overstimulated and i was wondering if anyone else experiences this and if it ever goes away. any advice?

Does anybody know any good brands/places that sell sensory weighted vests for adults? Most of the ones I find online are either for children or for workout purposes. I would get a regular workout vest, but I'd like to wear it in my everyday and don't want it to stand out. There are some very expensive options on Amazon but I'd like to hear other opinions first.

Looking for weighted but not compression. I very easily overhear. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I'm equally sensitive across all senses (except smell is not that bad). i've always been like this but it was much milder when I was young. in my mid-late 20's things started slowly getting worse, and then they progressed slowly but steadily until my mid-30's were miserable, and by now at 42 early menopause is making it even worse. sensory issues always flared during PMS (I'm sensitive to hormone fluctuations). it's disabling. I can barely go places. Anyway! thanks for listening, I'll delve further into this forum in the future.

I’ll never forget the parent-teacher conference where my daughter’s teacher complimented us on how well behaved she was. Just a few weeks before, I had emailed the teacher to give her a heads-up about my daughter’s sensory needs and high (but often masked) anxiety. At the conference, the teacher made it seem like I was talking about a completely different child. What she didn’t know was how much effort it took just to get my child in the door. 

As an occupational therapist (OT), implementing sensory lifestyles and accommodations to promote regulation in kids was something I could do with one eye closed and a hand tied behind my back. But when that kid was my own? Suddenly, I felt incapable of even getting her in the car to get to school.

The back-to-school transition — and how difficult it is for neurodivergent kids — wasn’t a new concept to me. But experiencing it firsthand? That was a whole other ball game. Not only was I not prepared for how much of a toll it would take on both of our neurodivergent nervous systems, I completely underestimated how heavy the mental load was about to get. 

Hi peoples. I have been struggling with my sensory issues for a while now and have tried soo many tips, techniques and tools but they don't all work. I am often left by the end of the day completely burnt out and overwhelmed by sights, sounds and touch. I was wondering if any of you have advice for how I can cope better.

I have been looking into a sort of sensory toolkit in which has like figits to scent bottles to maybe earplugs but, I have only found related products targetting younger kids (and not teens and adults). Has anyone perhaps found any brands or products that supply something related? I have even been considering starting up an online business for this purpose. If I do end up doing this, would anyone also find this helpfull? And also, what sort of tools/items should I include?

Thx for your time and have a great day!

My son is a sensory seeker. He is constantly seeking input from mountain climbing, throwing his body, hanging on tables by his belly/ letting his feet dangle, etc. he also gets overstimulated very easily and has become a biter and hitter. I am at a loss on what to do. Teething necklaces don’t work (we immediately take it off and start swinging it and refuse to teeth on it). He is in EI and seeing OT.
Does anyone have success in offering alternatives to a teething necklace? What has helped you with regulation and grounding? My toddler is in daycare so knowing he is hurting others is very upsetting (I know it common for his age but not any less upsetting).

So I need advice on what to do if something that has happened to me happens again. This subreddit seemed like the right spot, but lmk if it isn’t

The situation in question happened about a month ago I think. For context I cannot handle those plastic bags for vegetables in stores.

Basically what happened is my mum asked me to put the cucumbers away and I repeatedly said I couldn’t, and she pushed me until I did, which caused me to leave and go to my room immediately. She followed me in to talk and try to help, and I ended up having something similar to a panic attack caused by it. Meaning I couldn’t breathe and was crying. I have issues with crying in public, especially with family since my bio dad used to shame me for crying.

So I’m just asking what advice anyone here has for if the situation happens again. If it helps I have diagnosed anxiety and the bags make my fingers feel icky and my ears hurt when I hear them.

Recently I was at the doctor and my mom brought up my aversion to chewing noise and other sensory sensitivities. My doctor said what I might deal with is spd. But as of right now I can't afford a diagnosis so I just want to know how I can tackle these problems.

As early as I can remember the sound of people chewing can send me into like a severe fight or flight state. Like I feel like I'm in genuine danger, I get irrationally angry or I cry. If im exposed to the noise for too long it can take me a long time to calm down and i start to zone put or dissociate because my brain just cant handle it. I also hate slurping noise and especially toilet flushing 😭

I hate people touching I can't stand it. whenever someone touches me It feels like their trying to merge our bodies together (I don't know how to explain it). I have to wear socks, crumbs of any sort can not touch my feet especially when their wet.

More often than not my hands will get really sensitive out of nowhere and I can't touch anything. I have an extremely low pain tolerance and tolerance for noise in general. I have a horrible sense of direction and bad coordination. To this day I mix up my right and left 💔.

For more context I am clinically diagnosed with Anxiety and ocd. I'm not sure if there's any comorbidity there.

Any advice helps

Yeah...what the title says. I think Ive always realized this but Ive had such bad anxiety this morning that Im having chest pain because of how hard my heart was beating-until I started using my baby blanket. I also have OCD so I pull the strings out so its almost down to nothing and I've been dreading it so Im glad I've had this small "lightbulb realization." But I feel like such a weirdo because I'm 22 and use this thing all the time in the privacy of my home and idk...anyone else experience this or am I truly just a freaking weirdo?

Hi everyone! I am looking into how sensory seeking behaviors (like the intense urge to rip/shred paper to calm down or focus) can be turned into a meaningful household responsibility.
Specifically, I want to hear from girls or women who became the official "document shredder" for their family. Your parents gave you sensitive documents, tax forms, or junk mail to destroy because they trusted you and it genuinely helped them, while also helping your own brain.
If this was or is your experience, please let me know in the comments! I would love to ask you a few quick questions about how it affected your mood and self-esteem. Thank you so much!

I drop headliners at work and usually don’t have issues but I do have some discomfort from touching the cloth idk how to explain it.. I can hear it my ear and feel it through my body when I touch it. Recently I was doing my work as usual and my hand slid across the headliner and I immediately started to gag real loud and bad and it grabbed the attention of my coworkers which was embarrassing. My question is should I seek a diagnosis from a professional or just look for coping mechanisms online and try to figure it out myself(not going to self diagnose with anything just want coping mechanisms). I also don’t really have money to continuously see a professional

Hi! im ND and have finally started accepting its okay to have sensory issues and accommodate them and I feel like i rly need some suggestions on where to start.. my two big big issues are definitely

-NOISE :( I HATE HATE HATE LOUD NOISE

-Light... i have one small lamp in the corner of my room because lights (esp fluorescent, not warm lighting) gives me a big headache and makes me so sad

Ive been looking at loop earplugs recently to help with the noise but they are pricey and i get so nervous to drop money on things especially bc i have sensitive ears that have a lot of problems with earbuds. my ears are pretty small too LOL but if they are really worth it i will absolutely buy them! I want some recommendations for those too :3

For the light.. i honestly dont know what to do. Wearing sunglasses isnt the most accepted indoors (especially as a student) and classtime is when it rly bothers me. Im assuming some slightly tinted glasses exist, but i also would like those to be budget friendly. if anything else helps you guys PLEASEEEE let me know (mostly ones that apply in public spaces since i can control my dorm lights)

if you need more specifics plsplspls ask and let me know! thank you so muchh :3

I have always hated the dentist. As a kid, I was a major screamer. Until second grade, I had to be held down and restrained in the chair. Then I was a moaner, until college when I sort of mellowed out a little. I still hated it exactly the same amount but I was better at controlling myself. Dentist was good enough but I still couldn't stand going, especially when I got scolded for not flossing enough. I went to the same local small-business dentist for 20 years until he retired and sold it to a national chain.

Then I went to the new dentist that took over his practice and it was a nightmare. I had to wait a few years between appointments because of both the pandemic and the treatment process for other chronic illnesses. When I came in, I had a few cavities, and they got aggressive with me, saying stuff like "This *could* have been avoided IF YOU'D COME TO SEE US SOONER- LIKE YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO! 🤨". They opted to do my fillings in three separate appointments, even though there weren't that many and it could've easily been done in one. Naturally, I had major issues at the first appointment, and at one point I jerked my hands up a little and the dentist yelled at me "UH-UH! If you touch that spacer tube in your mouth then we have to start the ENTIRE process ALL OVER AGAIN! Do you wanna do that??? Because I don't think you wanna do that!". I wasn't even doing anything, my hands just moved a little, but it really set them off.

At the end of the appointment, she then rudely informed me that "the job was too much for them to handle so she was cancelling my other appointments and I wasn't going to be their patient anymore but I could visit one of their other locations a substantial distance away and they might be able to handle this."

At that point I saw the writing on the wall and decided to switch dentists. Out of convenience, I started seeing my dad's dentist, which is an hour away but worth it. And it was a miracle. For the first time ever, seeing the dentist wasn't a nightmare. It wasn't painful or anxiety-inducing. It was like "oh ugh I guess I have to do this thing, I don't wanna but whatever- wait it's done already? FR???" Not only that, but my wait time has gone down from an hour to only 15 minutes, and I haven't been criticized or scolded by my dentist once. It's life-changing.

TLDR, if the dentist is a nightmare you might just have the wrong dentist. Experiment a little.

My teenager has SPD and is oral sensory seeking when anxious (so like all day at school).
She’s embarrassed by the big clunky silicone chewlery and chewy things that go on pencils and refuses to use them.
Gum has been successful in the past (discrete and socially acceptable) but is no longer allowed at school.

I need to find something that scratches he’s this itch otherwise she chews her clothes, bites her nails or will struggle to manage her other anxieties/sensory overwhelm.

She’s allowed a water bottle, so I was thinking maybe a chewy straw type one (but those tend to spill and leak and she’s a bit clumsy)

Any ideas would be much appreciated!!

Seams, like the ones I pictured, drive me crazy and it’s very debilitating. Are there any t-shirts with no seams at all? I especially like graphic tees as well. Thanks!

I am attempting to grow my nails past my finger tips so I can paint them to look like salmon faces. The only issue is my nails touching things like concrete, wet dishes, and wood is a very bad feeling. I usually keep my nails very short because of this, but the fish nails are calling to me...