Sensitivity for temperature, an experience

A fragment of a post from Rod Wintour from Auckland New Zealand on LinkedIn on January 7th 2014

Aspergers – What is it like to be Tactile defensive?

If you are a teacher, you may have experienced a young ASD child stripping off in the playground. It’s rare but it does happen. Often it happens later in the morning or afternoon. The morning may have been cool but as things got warmer the feel of the child’s clothes may have gone from feeling nice to repulsion. Sweating is a factor as well. As revolting as it sounds as an adult I have my back shaven in the summer. If I am sweating and I have sweat going down my back I cannot tell the difference between that and black spiders crawling on my back. The sensation often causes me anxiety. Hairs on my back have the same effect so I get rid of them. Yet in the winter I don’t experience these problems, only when it’s hot. My oldest son is the opposite and he’s more sensitive when it is cold. Tactile sensitivity is also a barrier to learning , but can also be used to our advantage and reveal characteristic’s which are warning signs.

In the section prior to this one, Wintour discusses another tactile sensitivity: pain.