Welcome to Living-Autistic

Call me OT; I have Asperger's Syndrome. AS is an autism spectrum disorder, or to put it more simply: a Type of High functioning Autism.
I have created this blog as a way of providing personal stories, insight, opinion, resorce, and help to other people living with a ASD's.(Autism spectrum Disorders) I have decided to do this based completely on my own frustration with the fact that there doesn't seem to be much reading material for/about autistic adults and the way they interact with, and get by in the world.

I am admitedly Very poor at communicating, so my posts may, at times seem Ill thought out, or just poorly concieved. Further, My spelling is horrible; but I will do my best to communicate my thoughts clearly, and concicely. Please bear with me.

I hope you find this blog to be helpful, and If you read a post you found particularly helpful , or if you have a question, or an Idea for a post, I hope you leave a comment.

Thank you for reading,

-OT

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

I wear Tights

I have decided to post this story first, because I think it needs to be put out the soonest. This was my biggest issue, and the one on which I have had the hardest time finding valuable information while doing my own research after my Diagnosis

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I wear tights. Despite being a man, being very straight, and being quite conservative, I do in fact, wear tights. My reasoning is not that of a sexual nature however. As part of my Asperger's, I have sensory issues. I hear everything, I am very senssitive to colors and light, and I feel everything on my skin; as such, in addition to many other things, I feel my clothing moving across my skin constantly.
A couple of months ago I decided to start wearing Under Armor-like clothing. I still wear the shirts, but the pants I found very uncomfortable. The elastic openings at the waist and ankles supplied unwanted pressure, and I found I was more aware of them, then I was the pants I found so distracting. I feel like I should give you some history. Growing up, I was always drawn to tight clothing: Tights, leotards, spandex etc. and growing up in the 80's and 90's with 2 older sisters, it was everywhere. Unfortunately, being raised very conservative, and not knowing I had an ASD I never understood, and was always ashamed of this attraction, and therefore never acted on it. In my mind, such things were intended only for women.
It should be noted, that my parrents never said it was wrong, (not that I ever brought it to their attention) and in retrospect, I have no doubt they would have been very supportive.
Throughout my adolescence, this was consistantly a problem, and my misunderstanding and shame drove me to go the opposite route. I wore clothing FAR to large for me; I had a very hard time focusing, concentrating, I had frequent, often violent outbursts, and just in general, I was incredibly uncomfortable and unhappy.
Into my teen years, my misunderstanding, and humiliation naturally evolved into an awkward belief that my desire for tight pressure must be a kind of sexual fetish, as all my research into the subject seemed to point only that way. I was confused, I didn't know what to do about it; It didn't seem like a sexual fetish, though my misunderstanding did make it feel dirty and made me feel like some kind of freak. (even more that an undiagnosed ASD kid already does)
Then came my diagnosis of Asperger's. As I did more research, I came across Deep Pressure therapy. My world was wide open. I couldn't believe it. As I read, all the confusion, the shame, the misunderstanding, ALL OF IT, melted away.
Tight clothing mutes out the feeling of my clothing brushing accross my skin, wind blowing on me, and other physical stimuli to which I am so sensitive; I find these things overwhelming, and when I mute them out, I am far less likely to suffer sensory overload.
I now wear tights and compression shirts pretty much every day. I do still keep it a secret,( I don't wear them openly) but I am very focused, I have far less outbursts, I can cope with and tollerate stimuli much easier, and I am finally happy and comfortable.

If you have these same sensory issues, but feel strange wearing women's tights, http://www.welovecolors.com/ has "men's" tights for pretty cheap. I don't know what the difference is between men's and women's tights, but they are there. I used to own a pair, but they disapeared; they tend to run large, just for the heads up.

1 comment:

  1. I have the same mentality. I was just recently diagnosed with aspergers (25 years old) and have always wondered why I was drawn to tight fitting clothing. As a straight, very conservative guy too, I always felt ashamed.

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