I nearly didn’t listen to this episode, because I’ve never had an eating disorder, but it’s almost more about identity & addiction & autonomy than eating disorders, and is fascinating as a result. @actuallyautistic#actuallyautistic
@Susan60 as someone who has had an eating disorder, i see that as very much what eating disorders are "about"! at least for me personally. and i want to thank you for linking this episode, because it meant a lot to me to hear from someone with similar experiences, who was misunderstood and mistreated in similar ways. it's one of those things i wish we talked about a lot more in ND communities.
It made a lot of sense to me, & gave me a little insight into people I’ve known with various addictive behaviours, people who might well be or have been ND. Glad you found it useful.
Wow. I did have some sensory issues with food as a kid. They were very limited, mainly to fatty or grisly meat. (I loved food generally & as a child who was always growing, very tall, always had a healthy appetite.) And I remember a couple of unpleasant episodes with my mum trying to insist that I just swallow something. (Tablets were another problem.) But she must’ve backed right off, because they didn’t persist. And she was always very supportive & caring when I had gastro, which always distressed me & hit me hard.
@Susan60@actuallyautistic
Food and clothing issues were the only two sensitivities I've always known, in so far as they were always acknowledged. Thankfully, my parents were always very accommodating. Well, at least, after my mother tried the, keep putting it in front of him, because when he gets hungry enough he'll eat it approach. Which failed dismally in the face of my stubbornness and obvious willingness to starve rather than eat it.
My sensitivities seem to have been just a few for each sense. I’ve always worn a hat in summer & worn prescription sunglasses outside for years. Stuffy classrooms. High pitched noises make me nauseous & low pitched rumbling, like that noise used for sound effects in movies & TV, unnerves me. Chemical smells like paints, thinners, insecticides etc. And big disorganised department stores & shopping malls. We went to a big centre yesterday to buy cat stuff & couldn’t get out quickly enough. (Will they ever finish renovating/extending/altering Chadstone shopping centre? Doesn’t really matter. Wouldn’t go often anyway.)
Very emotionally sensitive. Always cried in the right places when watching videos on camps with my students, much to their delight. 😂 But also very sensitive to trauma in fiction, like The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Once & dystopian fiction.
Was terrified of dogs when the new puppy jumped up to lick my face when I was 2. It went back to the breeder. I’d force myself to walk down a neighbouring street where lots of dogs were able to wander out of their yard in an attempt to desensitise myself. Didn’t work, but I did eventually grow out of it.
I’m probably more sensory seeking - naturally fragrant flowers & foliage, textures, colours, music of all types (but I need quiet time too). And I like people. I just don’t always get them, or perhaps more accurately, they don’t get me. And I like activity, games & sports, even though my physical coordination isn’t great. (Much much better than it used to be.)!
@Susan60@actuallyautistic
I had other sensitivities of course. Light, sound, crowds and too much going on. But they were mostly the ones others struggled to see or understand and so I learnt to suppress them. Or at least my willingness to acknowledge them.
@pathfinder@actuallyautistic
I “ate like a horse”, had “hollow legs” & needed to have a heavy “ book on her head”. Was the youngest in my cohort (double whammy on poor social skills), but often the tallest.