Sensory Processing Disorder and the Need for Quiet:
Quiet down before I scream
I was a teenager, I was sitting across from my dad or standing in front of him. I got caught or ratted out for breaking a rule or rules. My dad being the old soldier he was was giving me an ass-chewing. I hated ass-chewing because It was worse than the spankings I got when I was younger.
I would shut my dad out, and that angered him more
I didn’t do it on purpose, if I knew at the time how to turn it on or off at will I would have done it. I zoned out my dad. He was ranting and raving. My body was there, but I was miles away.
The funny, or not-so-funny thing. My dad knew it was happening and it got him madder than he already was. Neither of us understood that I might not have been able to help it.
The question she asked still bugs me
A few years ago, I was homeless in Minneapolis Minnesota. I had State Insurance that paid for weekly visits to a psychotherapist. During a session out of the blue, she asked, Do you have trouble picking up social cues?”
I was perplexed by the question and answered that I didn’t know what she was talking about. Years later, I read a story on Medium about Autism. In the story…
