If you tune in to it, you amplify it… that’s the basic principal… so tune in to your own heartbeat, the sound of your own breathing, the annoyance of a particular sensory stimulus, and guess what… you amplify it. It ain’t rocket science and it ain’t what people on the autism spectrum necessarily want to hear, but it does need saying…. and what’s more problematic than someone whose Obsessive Compulsive nature hones in on sensory discomforts, thereby amplifying them? Well, a co-dependent over-carer who has neurotic tendencies and takes over, mollycoddling and completely validating the sensory discomforts, removing the person from these at every turn and so both increasing their phobia and associated sensory amplification but also decreasing their potential Sensory Accommodation through which they might progressively reduce that amplification and ‘get over’ particular hypersensitivities. Plus, in compulsively rescuing them the co-dependent carer reinforces the person’s own helplessness along with their own supercarer status which does nobody any favors in identity development and risks increasing any co-occurring tendencies to Dependent Personality Disorder, also easily called ‘the autism’. This does not mean the person doesn’t also have sensory integration disorder, which is another piece of fruit salad in its own right and part of the ‘similar isn’t same’ problem when people confuse similar co-occurring conditions which may have very different causes and treatments. But one thing they share in common is that if one does not work to address either of these issues, the person’s fullest social and occupational potential risks remaining reduced as a result.

Somatosensory amplification (SA) is a tendency to perceive normal somatic and visceral sensations as being relatively intense, disturbing and noxious. It is a common feature of hypochondriasis and is commonly found with fibromyalgia, major depressive disorder, some anxiety disorders, Asperger syndrome, and alexithymia.One common clinical measure of SA is the Somatosensory Amplification Scale (SSAS). It is unclear whether persons with SA have a truly increased physiological sensitivity to bodily sensations. One study paradoxically found lower levels of SA in hypochondriacs who reported being constantly aware of their own heartbeats.

from Wikipedia

Donna Williams, BA Hons, Dip Ed.
Author, artist, singer-songwriter, screenwriter.
Autism consultant and public speaker.
http://www.donnawilliams.net

I acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the Traditional Owners of this country throughout Australia, and their connection to land and community.