I know why, it’s a neurodivergent trait, but… I can withstand large amounts of consistent physical pressure, often applied punitively to “special needs” children and vulnerable adults not viewed as people by society. I can tolerate and enjoy a lot of sensory experiences that neurotypical people often find unpleasant. I like to say the sensory disorder part of my autism is less of a disability and more a genuine case of “differently abled”, or a superpower with downsides - because yes, there are sensory things I cannot handle that are perfectly fine, pleasant, or at most minor annoyances, for most neurotypical people… but I have never met a pressure device or compressive restraint that I disliked as much as I was supposed to, I have very odd safe foods and preferred textures and I will try eating any new food or wearing any new fabric once - I regularly find myself loving the texture of a food NTs around me find gross, and I don’t have the social/cultural ick factor because I don’t do NT social norms, so all that really matters to me is the actual texture and taste. (Just a couple favourite foods: My favourite Vietnamese restaraunt does their signature soup with bits of tripe as one of the meat choices, it tastes like absolutely nothing but I really like the texture, so I always order it. My dad’s favourite sushi place offers octopus, with the suckers on, and he and my mum think it’s weird, but the taste is pretty mild and the texture is so good. Neither vinegar nor lemon juice have any interesting texture going on, but for some reason I absolutely love the taste of vinegar, and lemon juice is a better match to some recipes when I’m using it in cooking or in sauces or dressings and almost as good.) The only food I cannot stand is mushrooms, and I really dislike raw onions (I don’t like cooked onions either, but they are far less awful cooked - mushrooms are just disgusting regardless). And not even all mushrooms prepared all ways, just the typical kind you buy at the grocery store that my mum puts in way too many recipes. I’ve found solutions to most of my worst can’t do it period level negative sensory divergences from most people, so my sensory differences have really started to feel like one of the few net positive traits of my neurodivergence - being autistic in a world designed around NT social norms is exhausting and painful, but at least we get incredible positive results from sensory-seeking once we understand our own sensory profiles, because every sensory processing disorder case is different. A really good sensory experience can get me a positive altered state that NTs claim is unachievable without substance abuse, which makes all the sensory incapabilities and other stupid disabling shit feel worth it and like I’m genuinely more just different than disabled.

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