I’m hypersensitive. I think I’ve mentioned that more than once already… I’ve talked about physical touch and emotions, but really, my extreme sensitivity (which is very common for people like me) affects many other parts of daily life too.

Loud or unexpected sounds, bright colors and lights, constant chatter, repetitive noises… and strangely enough, even conversations that jump from one topic to another can cause me a lot of problems.

Some noises (not necessarily super loud ones) actually hurt my ears. Not just annoying: painful. That’s why I often walk around my city with earphones in, even if they’re turned off, just to reduce the pain. And yet, listening to loud music doesn’t bother me at all.

Bright light hurts my eyes. Physical pain, usually behind my right eye, to be precise. At the same time, I can’t stand wearing sunglasses, so in summer I always look grumpy or sharp-eyed.

Constant noises grab a chunk of my focus. If I’m working, designing, thinking, or even just chatting, I feel like a part of me is tied up and pulled toward that noise. I lose focus, lose track of what I’m saying or thinking, and my responses get worse.

Messy, scattered conversations give me headaches. When I start talking, I try to be as precise as possible, without drifting too far from the heart of the topic. Maybe that’s also why I can’t stand small talk…

Each of these everyday situations (things most people don’t even notice) can push me into autistic overload. (“Stimming”, “masking”, and now “overload”… we’ll get there!) When overload hits, I disconnect from the world around me until I absolutely need to isolate myself.