I suffer from Sensory Processing Disorder

by Holly Robison
(Meridian, Idaho, USA)

I was diagnosed in August 2011 with Autism, I was 38, almost 39 years old. I have known there was something wrong with me, but was never diagnosed with anything. I was a very picky eater, I couldn't have anything touching on my plate, I couldn't eat anything that was mushy, or mixed together. I didn't like my hands touching anything mushy or while washing dishes, I had to make sure that the water was clean, even if that meant washing them without a sink full of water and just soap on a sponge, but I would throw the sponge away if it had food on it, or to my standards, too much food on it.

Right now, I'm dealing with a husband and his children who don't understand the fact that I have sensory issues and I go into bad panic attacks when I get 'overloaded.' I don't know how to get them to understand, until I found this website today, November 17, 2014, and I'm so glad that I did. My hearing is overloaded, I hear everything, I can't sit with my family at the dinner table because hearing them chew their food is way too much for me. I want to be able to sit down with my family for a meal and not hurt or go into a panic attack when I do.