binturong blog

Clothing tags, sensory differences

So there's an image going around socials recently of the "sensory nightmare collar": a silk collar covered with clothing tags.

Hiss. Very no. Do not want. I generally pull tags out of clothing as soon as I can. But, it was good to see something about it, and also appreciate from the way others responded: it's not just me? I don't really talk about it much, but I've always been picky about clothes: tags, seams, fit, textures, materials, washing and drying. (I mean, this from a creature who'd rather have fur anyway. Sure. :3)

So, here's a quick blog post about sensory differences. It's from my perspective, and as such framed with reference to autism, like the UK National Autistic Society's pages on sensory differences -- but, neurodiversity is different for different creatures.

Sensory differences are as they sound: creatures finding their perception of the world to be more or less sensitive than others would ordinarily expect. If that sounds imprecise, yes, I'd agree: folks will have varying sensitivity for all sorts of reasons. For me, my differences are persistent, even as they can come and go: I have gotten used to them being something I need to account for, and I do things differently as a result.

Touch is my main one. Clothing, sure. Very occasionally this has gotten so bad that I'm compelled to wear my softest clothes, but I suspect then there's some other contributing cause too: stress, dry air, etc. Ticklish? Very. Getting water in my ears, eyes or nose has been a problem. From the link above, there's a few other things that may or may not be related: sound and noise sensitivity, motion sickness which broadly went and then came back. Just a touch of synaesthesia, too; sometimes I can see sounds, but it's subtle.

What's it like? It's kinda similar to restless legs: I notice itchiness or discomfort, the feeling builds, I have to act or the sensation becomes very unpleasant. Or, for some fabrics and situations it's an immediate no; I feel it and that's all I'll be able to focus on. I had just figured everyone had that with senses to some degree: not everyone likes purple, or coriander, or backrubs. You can try and ignore the thing, or avoid it entirely.

(I seem to be using lots of colons. Good job I grabbed some extra ones this month.)

More broadly, it's helpful to be aware of the extremes of sensory differences: bright lights and colours, busy environments, strong scents or tastes, unexpected sensations. All things that some might find irritating, uncomfortable, or potentially painful.

Back on touch and clothing, though, I was happy to look around and see that there's now some online shops focusing on clothing for sensory needs: no tags, no seams, no fuss. Lovely. Kids seem to be the main audience, but there's some stuff out there for adults as well. Could be worth a try. :)

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