Sensory Issues

By sensory issues, I mean having trouble with anything that comes through one sense or another. It's different for everyone, so I can't make many generalizations. Some people with Asperger's may have very severe sensory issues and others may have none at all. For some, the feeling of gloves might be like having hands covered in poison ivy. For others, the clatter of metal against metal might be like nails on a chalkboard. I myself have several sensory issues that can make life difficult. I flinch and cover my ears in pain at sounds others may barely notice. In fact, I have been given headaches by sounds too high pitched to even be heard by most people. While most things in Asperger's strikes me as having both good and bad to it, this is one of the things I have only seen as negative, meaning this could be one of the more debilitating things about high-functioning autism. This is also something that is rarely understood by others. I've often been asked why I cover my ears in some situations, why I won't wear some types of clothes, and why I refuse to eat certain foods. The answer is that I have sensory issues with them. Where an outsider may think I'm overreacting when I cover my ears, I may be experiencing physical pain from the sound, and am covering my ears in the way you might cover your head if someone was trying to punch you.
Tip for those with Asperger's: Explain what's going on in your head. It took me quite a while to understand that the things I couldn't stand were absolutely nothing to most people. It was just so strange to me that such things didn't affect others at all. If someone asks about your behavior, take time to explain what things are like to you. People may be oblivious about things that seem obvious to you, don't make any assumptions about how others see the world. People understand what you mean surprisingly often when you take time to explain.