Five Minutes of Sensory Processing Disorder

The world can feel like a sensory onslaught and drive us rapidly from regulated to the verge of a meltdown in the right wrong conditions. I am so sorry if the background noise of this video also drives you into sensory overload. Rather than cause harm, my goal is to share how Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) can take a regular everyday situation, and turn it into a sensory nightmare for anyone who has SPD. There are triggers everywhere.

Sensory Processing Disorder is:

* A common co-occuring condition for neurodivergent people, that turns this world into a total misery-inducing, tormentous ordeal. Unless you are lucky enough to altogether avoid wherever other people are in general, and crowds of people specifically.

* The reason noise cancelling headphones were invented.

* What Occupational Therapists are legendary at supporting people with.

I was wrong - not all autistic people have SPD, as I said in the video. I am sure I heard that somewhere, but I can not back that up with research despite scrolling for hours to attempt to do so. The best I found was that 90-95% of autistics have SPD.

I was fairly distressed and highly masking whilst filming this video, and was pretty hasting in suggesting that my kids and I are medicated to go out into the world. Whilst this isn’t necessarily the case - and I did not have the capacity to explain myself very articulately - I do use medications as part of my toolkit to cope with this world, and to be able to function within it. Although the extent to which I function day to day is debatable!

Apologies for not returning to the pool to re-shoot the video and provide correct data, but I never want to go back ever again. Of course, I will have to go back next week for the next sensory onslaught my kids’ swimming lessons.

Do you have SPD?

Let us all know in the comments!

There is a free online self-test linked below that could suggest whether or not you too are blessed with this condition. To know for sure though, you will need to see a qualified practitioner for an assessment.

Whilst a range of professionals may be qualified to assess you, I would recommend seeing an Occupational Therapist who is neurodivergent, has SPD or at the very least has a strong interest in these areas.

They can work alongside you to design a sensory diet that supports your needs and sensory preferences. It has nothing to do with food though! I will cover this in another article soon. (Please remind me when I inevitably forget…)

ADDitude Magazine online:

Symptoms - Signs of Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) in Adults

Self-test - Sensory Processing Disorder: Adult Symptom Test for SPD

Treatment - How to Treat Sensory Processing Disorder

Fun fact: Sam Galloway is an AuDHDer who self-medicates using coffee!

If you would like to buy me a coffee, the button above will take you to my page.

Thank you! ☕️

Podcast episodes about adult SPD:

There is a quick three question poll for autistic perimenopausal people asking about your current support needs:

Please come on over to this post to fill in the poll. It will only take one minute but will help our community. There are 25 responses so far, thanks so much to those people! I think we will all be surprised at the results so far. They show we have a lot of work to do as a community to identify our support needs and access a network that will support us accordingly. I hate the idea that we are all struggling and suffering alone.

Here’s the post, just open the link and scroll down to the poll..! Easy peasy, please and thank you. 😊

What People Are Saying 🥰

💕 Thanks so much for starting this Substack. I'm in early perimenopause and a neurodivergent Mom. All the unknown is hard around here and this journey is no different. I love bringing together the voices of lived experiences and so appreciate that you're sharing yours and building this community. Thank you.

💕 I find such relief when I hear my email go off and look down and see that it’s from you. You bring me comfort every single time I receive an email. I get to learn about myself and how to help myself. You are my guide and I am so very sure you are the guide of so many. Please please hear me when I say thank you for saving my life. Forever and always grateful.

Come and enjoy The Auti Peri Q&A Series, where you can read about other autistic midlifers whose sensory processing issues have or still are impacting their daily life. Let’s all commiserate together…

I would love to share your story!

Please message me on Substack or email me back if you would like to be involved in the Q&A series.

Get full access to The Autistic Perimenopause: A Temporary Regression at samgallowayaudhd.substack.com/subscribe