Has anyone done their externship with UC Davis? How was your experience? How long did it take for them to do their background check? I am in a situation where I can accept an externship with them with no specific date, or wait 3w - 1mon/longer to potentially get an externship anywhere within 70 miles. Any advices. Thanks!

I'm on referral for autism and ADHD diagnosis, and have been for a little while (almost a year) and OCD, dyslexia, anxiety and depression run in the family. I also have some trauma that I think I have PTSD from but will be asking a professional at some point. I recently gave birth and my sensory issues seem heightened, I presume from sleep deprivation. I'm finding it difficult to do things that make me uncomfortable like washing my armpits and face.

I hate the feeling of residue on me, bar soap makes my skin feel dry so I use liquid soap, but I don't like the bubbles on my face. The issue with my armpits is I don't know if I put enough soap on, then I don't know if I washed it all off because I can't feel the liquid soap and I can't use the bar soap because I can feel it long after washing.

Any advice?

Could I get peoples opinion on something?

I currently wear Bose Earbuds/earplugs with earmuffs over top almost all day. I'm contemplating getting Bose headphones to put over my earplugs instead of earmuffs. Mostly for when I'm out in public because I hate wearing my earmuffs around people and also they hurt my head. But I need to know if the noise protection for that combination is as good as my current set up. Anyone used a similar set up? I don't have a shop in my town that has them to test them out. I tried on Sony in a shop and they barely did any noise protection.

I know Bose are expensive so most can't afford that brand. I get them 2nd hand. Even if anyone uses other brands I'm interested in comparing earplugs+earmuffs to earplugs+noise cancelling headphones. Thanks!

Hi everyone! 👋

We're a team of students from UC Berkeley, TU Delft, and Monash University (Australia) participating in the European Innovation Academy.

We're researching a personalized solution that could selectively reduce specific trigger sounds for people with misophonia, autism, ADHD, sensory processing differences, and other forms of sound sensitivity—while preserving the sounds they actually want to hear.

Before building anything, we want to learn directly from people with lived experience. We don't want to make assumptions about what people need. We've also had the opportunity to connect with a Duke researcher studying misophonia, and we're combining community feedback with expert insights to help guide our work.

If you have 3 minutes, we'd be incredibly grateful if you could complete our survey:

👉 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeQRy5B02oUTlJk-tx4S-G98x9ULBC6VdYjJzCAylx868uiUg/viewform?usp=dialog

The questionnaire is completely anonymous, but if you'd be open to sharing more about your experiences, there's also an optional place to leave your email for a short conversation.

Your feedback will directly shape the direction of what we build, and we're truly grateful for any time you're willing to give us.

Thank you so much! 💙

Hi everyone! I'm a neuroscience graduate with ADHD and anxiety, and I've been using grounding techniques for many years (one of which includes eating sour candy to help get me out of spirals). I've recently begun experimenting with a sensory-focused candy of my own for moments of anxiety, panic, overwhelm, or overstimulation. I'd love to hear your experience with different sensory needs and fun candy textures/flavors.

I put together a short survey to see what people would actually want in something like this (or if they even want it at all). All feedback is deeply appreciated!

If you're interested in helping, this is the link to the survey (I tried to make it as short as I could, it should take about ~5 minutes): https://forms.gle/69WoNqm4sQhoH9h29

Thank you so, so much! :)

Edit: for transparency, this is a personal project I'm tinkering with on my own, not tied to any company right now but might sell them one day if it goes anywhere! I just want to build something that people truly want instead of guessing. Also, to be clear, none of the data is being sold or shared anywhere.

P.S. If you're anywhere near LA and would want to try an early prototype sometime, please DM me, I'd love to get your feedback!

I have a wonderfully exuberant 4 year old who doesn’t test as “anything” but shows a lot of sensory seeking behaviors. He rams things, bangs things, hollars, wants to wrestle 24/7. He’s smart and social. I’m trying to understand how to help him. Getting g to sleep is hard. I can see the scolding’s and comments from peers already starting to shape him. OT seems a little arbitrary. He already does most of the things in a sensory diet a million times a day. What am I missing? How could I help him find a bit of balance?

Hi everyone! I'm a neuroscience graduate with ADHD and anxiety, and I've been experimenting with a sensory-focused product for moments of anxiety, panic, overwhelm, or overstimulation. I'd love to hear your experience with different sensory needs or coping tools.

I put together a short survey to see what people would actually want in something like this.

If you're interested in helping, comment or DM me and I'll send you the link.

Thank you so, so much! :)

Hi everyone,
I’m a mother of a 4-year-old girl, and I became interested in this topic because of our own experience.

My daughter is very sensitive to some clothing sensations, especially seams, tags, and certain fabrics.

Sometimes she refuses to wear certain clothes because they feel uncomfortable.

This experience with my daughter made me realize that something as simple as getting dressed can become a real challenge for some children.

I would like to learn from other parents who experience similar situations. I’m trying to better understand what children need to feel comfortable in their clothes.

I would love to hear your experiences:
• How old is your child, and when did you first notice clothing sensitivity?

• What bothers your child the most: seams, tags, fabrics, tight clothing, socks, waistbands, or something else?

• Are there any specific clothing items that are especially difficult for your child to wear?

• What solutions have you found that help? (specific brands, materials, removing tags, turning clothes inside out, etc.)

• If you could change one thing about children’s clothing to make it more sensory-friendly, what would it be?

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences. It really helps me learn from families who are going through similar challenges.

I’m not looking for medical advice, just personal experiences from parents.

Google says, but is kinda iffy on, other people experiencing coughing fits when overstimulated. For 10+ years I've had near daily painful coughing fits to where it affected my life and mental state. With the increasing time frame I've experienced muscle locking, spasms/numbing, seizure/stroke like symptoms, graying vision, the usual stuff; and of course, a lot of crying just from being near a room of talking people or in bright lights. Not to mention the depression to borderline "schizophrenic?" pipeline.

After quitting my job at an art museum after figuring out that it was the artworks and lights that were causing me to randomly run into walls headfirst or putting me on the floor every shift, I've figured out, about a year ago, that I may be in the SPD area. That my daily life, from school to retail/service, was essentially putting me in a mental deathbed.

Now that I have a possible answer, recovered, and learned what to do when I have a fit; I've lurked in comment sections and talked to others that have sensory issues but only received answers that are generally/normally about how things give them icks or they have emotional breaks.

Is there anyone that experienced more concerningly strong physical reactions like me?

Hi all!

I’m on the hunt for a TRULY unflavored toothpaste. I can’t tolerate mint at all, hate flavors like bubblegum or fruit, and find sweeteners like xylitol completely disgusting. All of the toothpastes I can find (cleure, dr. Bob’s, risewell, oranurse, squigle, jack and jill, tate’s, etc.) that claim to be unflavored turn out to have sweeteners. I need fluoride, but at this point I don’t care if it’s in the toothpaste itself or if there’s a fluoride-free toothpaste + other form of flouride combo. Please help!

Hello, everyone. I have a 3 year old diagnosed with level 2 ASD and we suspect ADHD too.

He needs heavy work/deep pressure through sensory based OT to be able to tolerate everyday sensory input.

If we stop OT, he is unable to tolerate oral input (can't tolerate food or any brushing), when we take him outside to busy parks or stores (he starts running aimlessly to get proprioceptive input or he asks me to pick him up (deep pressure) or he verbal stims to regulate himself). Sometimes, when there are a lot of people around like at a restaurant he either starts running, climbing tables, crawling under chairs or he cries.

ATP, he cannot function without the constant proprioceptive input in daily life.

Does it ever get better? Will things ever change? Or he will constantly elope outside and will be unable to eat without it?

Thanks for reading my post. If you have any information or experiences, please share it with this worried mom.

Anyone has this?

Hi guys, I was curious if anyone relates to this and if it’s worth getting evaluated I can’t tell if there’s a reason, if it’s just trauma, or if I’m just as “weird and unusual” as people say. These are some things that others have pointed out that I do which they find “unusual”. If I remember anything else I’ll add to it

I’m often told I take things too literally. But I’m listening to what they say?

I can’t stand the sound of people chewing it like physically pains me

I hate how loud restaurant are and often have to take several trips to the bathroom just to sit in the floor of a stall and cry where it’s quieter

I eat the same food every day for every meal and will only switch once I get tired of it to the point that it disgusts me (this can span for 6-8 months for each food)

I wouldn’t wear sneakers until middle school and would only wear my purple crocs because I didn’t like that horrid line on top of socks. I can wear them now but I’m v specific on the kinds of socks, I’ve noticed that the line is a lot thinner in cheaper made super thin socks

I don’t sit with my feet in the floor, it’s just simply not comfortable and not my brains default. My knees are also to my chest or I find a way to sit comfortably

I walk on my toes

The sounds of the lights and or buzzing of electricity feel ear piecing and makes me want to stab my ear drums. I especially hate watching tv with the lights on bc how am I supposed to hear it over the god awful noises of the lights.

I used to cry if they changed the arrangement of desks in school

I HATE SPOONS. I will not use them, I don’t own them, I don’t remember the last I have used one, if I had to guess probably early elementary school. I hate the way they touch my mouth.

I recently got noise canceling earbuds and cried bc it’s so peaceful finally.

I am very specific on the times of day I do things. Ie I use the bathroom at 8 pm, not before not later, 8pm, 12 am, 7am. If it’s past those I simply won’t bc it’s not my time, in this example this has led to me getting constant UTIs

They used to have to take my journals bc in elementary school we were told to journal about everything we did in our day, so I journaled every single minute, if I walked, if I stood up, if I laid down, anything. I journeyed each minute anything changed.

I HATE velvet, it should burn. I think it has something to do with the friction and density of the fibers.

I miss what people want me to do. Ie my bf tells me to bring my laundry upstairs, so i bring it upstairs and leave it in the hamper. Then he’s mad because I didn’t put it in the washing machine, but didn’t directly tell me to so I didn’t know to do so.

I despises touching dirty dishes; old food and simply will not

some situations i will accept (hugs for example), however it will feel very forced and not really a pleasurable experience (same with forcing smiles for pictures) other times i become irritated upon being touched (typically when unexpectedly) and completely reject it. I feel trapped, and imprisoned and I’d don’t like the idea of the contact. I’ve never hugged my best friend

I’m am an adult in my 20s but still have majority of my baby teeth

gets emotional attachments to inanimate objects + fictional characters + gets attachments to people easily

I also think people are nicer then they are and later found out that what I think they complimented me for they were actually bullying me for

I don’t grasp the “because I said so” because okay but why? Like I need to understand the purpose and reasoning behind why I’m supposed to do something or why something is the way it is and have it make sense to me before I can accept it as reality. People usually call me argumentative but I just want to understand..?

I skip a lot of hygiene things bc I do like how it feels. Showers feel like I’m dying,

I have an amazing memory, I can directly quote word for work exchanges and the scene surrounding it from when I met people 5 years ago.

I don’t like addressing people by their name.

I can’t do conversations with more then one person easily at a time. I also struggle to know when I’m supposed to talk, or laugh, or not say anything?

I can make eye contact when someone is talking to me, like I can stare at their eyes, but I can’t when I’m talking. I’m usually referred to as “a sweet girl” but also somehow “abrasive and weird” once they get to know me.

Hi everyone, I am glad I found this sub and I hope I could get some help on how to approach this whole topic.

I am in my thirties and my brother has a 5 year old child that shows a few unusual behaviours. That actually reminded me that I myself had some serious trouble in different areas as a child that I eventuall "outgrew" (or learnt to manage). My parents never really talked me through it I just found some old papers when I was a teenager where my orthopedic seemed to have diagnosed me with "sensomotoric integration dysfunction".

The most noticable was being fearful of tons of stuff that required motorskills and coordination in any shape or form. I just could not do it. I remember that even curbs were difficult for me because I had to think about which foot to use first to "climb down". Later at school I just could not plan motor skills at school sports and just sucked in pretty much everything.
At birthday parties there was that game "protect your balloon/ballon dance" where you had to try to protect a balloon that was tied to your leg and at the same time try to pop the balloon of your dance partner. I have videos where a friend actually let me step on hers because I was having difficulties aiming for it without help and even then I was to fearful to pop it because of the noise".
There was also another game "hear, taste, feel, smell" where you were blindfolded and had to guess differnt items. I also was to afraid to participate because I was picky and also didn't like certain textures.
I am prone to get carsick/seasick and loud environments make me tired easily. In general I am rather to sensitive to other peoples emotions and pick up on peoples moods very easily. As a child I was rather quiet and read a lot and was in general a bit of a "dreamer" and a bit forgetful as well. I never took much medication but I suspect that I could react more sensitive to certain stuff as well. I had really bad side effects after taking benadryl for example but also after a pain killer shot that contained adrenalin.

Does this fit into the SPD category? My brothers child shows some of the things that I had. I pretty much forgot about how different I was but I think if I could understand better what this really is I could get him a bit more help with it than I had. One thing that is really hard in hindsight is that I always blamed myself for being different or unable to do what everyone else could. Because I really tried to join in so many games and activities and just couldnt. even today I freeze up often when I get into situations that remind me of it. To put a name on all this for the first time could really help to not make this my personal failures but just a diagnosis.

I was originally diagnosed with SPD around 12, and now I’m 19, almost 20. Sometimes I go online and look for new findings or ways to help with SPD, but I feel like I never see anything new, especially when it comes to long-term treatment.

Ive heard people call SPD an invisible disability which is new to me; I don’t know why but it’s never occurred to me that SPD is specifically a disability, which kinda freaks me out.

The fact that I haven’t been diagnosed with ADHD or any other more recognized mental disorder (that SPD tends to come with or so I’ve heard) scares me too, as a female I’m very reluctant to go try to get diagnosed, I’m afraid that if they find something it will be an uphill battle for real treatment or I’ll waste my time and money trying to find more things wrong with me.

I understand that research on SPD is very difficult as it’s different for everyone, but I would really like a support group of real people I could get in contact with, especially around my age. At the least, I’d love some fresh resources that I could go through to better help me understand my cloudy little brain a bit more.

TLDR, I wish SPD was more separate from other similar brain disorders and such (as in, better researched as its own disorder rather than paired with others), and that I’d would kill for more resources to better understand my brain better.

Sorry if this comes off as just a big vent, I really do want real community, resources, and support for me and anyone else who suffers from SPD

I'm 14F. I've always thought I had misophonia, which I would say I do. Any type of tapping or "ASMR" thing that I don't willingly listen to makes me genuinely want to vomit. But I recently discovered this disorder and discovered I have a few other overlapping issues. I'm very sensitive to light, I absolutely hate when lights are turned on when I'm eating or laying down, my screen light has to be way down. Sometimes it's fine though. The one other thing I found was overlapping is my sensitivity to fabrics. I have basically 3 pairs of pants and one skirt I will wear, because any other fabric; ex: jeans, sweatpants, leggings, I physically cannot wear. Obviously, I feel this has been something that is affecting my life, but I was wondering if there was truly a chance I have it, and if there is, if I should mention it to my parents. Thanks.

My biggest issues are I'm not good with motion-related things (riding a bike, driving a car, amusement parks, slides, anything that changes my balance really), and I have absolutely ZERO pain tolerance. Like, if I get a paper cut, that's it man. My whole day is ruined. And getting any kind of illness? Absolute nightmare scenario. (And with multiple chronic illnesses, this definitely affects my productivity.)

So I've read a lot of things about OT (even from professionals) that are like "wow OT is the greatest it's like a miracle cure for SPD you GOTTA try this thing it's legendary!!!!!!! 😭😭😭😭😍😍😍😍😍😍"

So if I shell out the money for OT, what's going to happen? I just show up and go "hi i don't like motion stuff and have no pain tolerance whatsoever, help" and they wave a magic wand and fix me? What do they actually DO? And more importantly, how long does it last? I've been offered neurofeedback treatments for other neurological conditions that are like "yes just three sessions a week for six weeks and YOU TOO can be normal- for like a few months or so anyway, then you gotta pay for another round of treatment if you want the effects again"

So what happens at OT, and how long does the benefit last? I want to make sure I know what I'm getting into before I shell out my life savings for this.

Has anyone found articles on what the potential causes of SPD might be?

I only ask because I'm fairly sure at least some of it is genetic. My dad is very sensitive to touch and will wear the same clothes for more than a decade until they're literal rags. He's also especially sensitive to scents and my mom isn't allowed to have ANYTHING scented in the house, even if it's just "fresh scent antiperspirant" or Lemon Pledge (one time my mom tried using slightly scented trash bags and he went absolutely manic.) And he will NOT accept substitutions on personal care items- if there's no orange Listerine, he's not rinsing.

I didn't notice anything odd until my diagnosis and now I'm fairly certain that's where I got it from. But I don't know if there's other potential causes as well.

Thoughts?

Hi, I have been sweating more recently (heatwave and probably because of hormones) and it's absolute hell. I hate it so much. It makes me all stiff and afraid to move. I shower and use deodorant and anti perspirant but this heat makes you sweat within minutes. Self attempt at exposure therapy did not help.

I am getting so frustrated and worried. My 14 month old hates anything touch sensory. Sits on a blanket on the lawn and won’t move. Any time she touches grass she screams. When we recently went on vacation, she screamed in the pool then we went to the beach and she screamed on the sand. Today we went to a stream and she freaks the second she even thinks you are going to put her toes in. And it’s not just a small scream, it’s the loudest scream I’ve heard and doesn’t stop even after you take her away. We are so patient with her, we take our time and slowly introduce things, even touching the tip of her toes to anything other than the floor sends her over the edge. We have tried sensory bins to slowly introduce different things but it’s not helping. BUT we have gone to a few playground with small rocks and some with wood chips for the ground and she crawls on those no problem which just leaves me more confused. I’m just lost what to do because all of the “fun” things aren’t fun for her and it makes me sad.

Touch seems to be the only sensory issue so far. She eats EVERYTHING, isn’t worried about loud noises, and hitting all of her communication milestones appropriately.