Hi, I’m looking for advice. Here's a bit of background info: I'm 48 y/o f, high functioning with sensory issues. I've been working with professionals(OT, psychologists, councilors etc.) for the past 27 years . I was official diagnosis about 5 years ago (but I've known I am autistic for about 10 years). I am currently seeing a therapist, however, a lot of the tips and tricks that are applied to neurotypical patient does not seem to work with me. So, I'm trying something different by reaching out to this platform. I am currently going through a situational depression and had health issues earlier this year. For some reason, these life changes/events are triggering a sensory overload. Keep in mind, I'm not necessarily great at describing how I feel. So, the best way for me to explain it is that it makes me feel exactly like I would feel when I'm overwhelmed/overstimulated by my environment (i.e. lights, sound etc). However, there are no environmental triggers. It's almost like my brain is recreating sensory overload without any of my usual triggers being present. The one that I am struggling with the most at the moment is texture. Other than my clothes, I've never really been that overwhelmed by texture, most of my stims are texture related so this has never come up before… I got sick (Covid) in March, lost partial sense of smell and taste. Since then, every time I try to eat, I gag. Gagging is a reflex so I cannot control it. I'm looking for anyone who has gone through something similar with a family member (It doesn't matter if they are verbal or not). I'm looking for ideas for coping strategies that I can try to stop the gagging reflex. So far, this is what I'm working with: -I drink Ensure since my brain does not react to liquids. -I am trying very plain food, one at a time to try to minimize the overwhelming feeling of texture. -I try to eat alone so that don't feel self conscious -I started a list of food that seem less triggering Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks Chris

Posted by Chris_Savoy at 2024-07-30 17:08:10 UTC