Autism and Tactile Sensory Issues
This is a poem about shopping when you’re on the Spectrum.
Go in
See something you like
Pick it up
Try it on
Easy peasy, right?
But it isn’t at all…
Velvet and nylon
Woven wool, brushes against my skin
And slowly but surely I pull further and further away from the racks
As t-shirts, dresses and jackets all grab my nerve endings
And tug ruthlessly
Pulling, pushing, snapping and grating
Until I can no longer see the sky blue dress, which one pleased my eyes
I can only feel
Feel the shivers running through my veins
The zaps of electricity as one sleeve of each woollen jumper manages to brush against me
The mere sight of nylon places a frog in my throats
But velvet oh velvet is my kryptonite
I see it and want to run
So I do
It’s been all of fifteen minutes
I think …
And already I’m squeezing my moms hand
A silent signal we devised when I was a child
A signal that that says so much but equates to four simple words
Too much, must leave …
