I think I’m an undiagnosed adult autistic person. I identify with many of the stories and descriptions – with one big exception: I believe I don’t have sensory issues of any kind. This is weird for me because sensitivity to sensory stimuli seems like an essential part of autism. Do you think it’s possible to be autistic without it?

gruntledandhinged:

I’m sorry, anon, but I am not a good consult for this. I have almost no knowledge about autism presentations. I rarely work with autistics, and when I do, they’re primarily concerned about the psychosis, not the autism.

sensory sensitivity is not the only way autism presents! people can also be sensory seeking – desiring or requiring much MORE of a given stimulus than neurotypical people do. this is a big part of why weighted blankets are so popular.

basically, iirc, the hallmark of autism is disordered sensory PROCESSING, not necessarily sensory hypersensitivity. so that could be things like:

– having difficulty interpreting sounds when there are too many things going on (i sometimes can’t follow conversations if music is playing, for example -it’s not that it’s too loud, it’s that the sounds get jumbled together in my brain and i can’t sort them out)

-not always noticing when you’re injured (autistics are NOTORIOUSLY bad at applying standard pain scales to their symptoms)

-having unexpected food aversions

-avoiding OR seeking out specific sensory experiences.

and, as an autistic friend of mine once told me, wondering if the presence or lack of a given symptom means you’re not really autistic is something that has happened to every autistic I’ve ever met. it’s practically its own autism indicator. XD

hope this helps! my inbox is open if you want to talk more.