Autism and Sensory Overload

To an autist, sensory overload can’t be described with words. You don’t think, “this is sensory overload, let’s deal with it by getting somewhere quiet.” You don’t usually have time to prepare. It is everything, all at once, so overwhelming that it takes you over. It is pain, but not from a wound, or a broken bone. It is everywhere. People may be asking, “what is wrong?” but you can’t hear them over the other sensations that have taken over your body. For me, someone who is proud of being so good with words, it is especially distressing because suddenly all my words are gone, precisely when they would be most useful.

Can I predict when sensory overload will happen and thereby avoid it? To a degree, yes. Since my diagnosis, one of my primary coping mechanisms has been identifying the kinds of situations in which sensory overload is likely and avoiding those. Instead of forcing myself to pretend to be normal and then having to flee or having a meltdown in public, I have learned to be kinder to myself and to not expect the impossible. But there are still times when unexpected sensory overload happens and I’m aware enough of the neurotypical world that I don’t try to explain it most of the time because it makes no sense. It seems like such an extreme reaction to normal stimulation. In fact, many people suspect that autistic sensory overload is an attempt to manipulate those around them, when it is very far from this…