Hi everyone. I am 24 years old and was diagnosed with Aspergers and Sensory processing disorder just last year. I was also diagnosed with OCD at age 5, and Tourette Syndrome at age 10. The last 2 years have just been awful with my spd. Most of my problems are more tactile defensiveness problems. My mom wants me to look nice when we go out for family dinners, or events, but i just can't wear a lot of clothes. I can't wear any nice new clothes, jeans v-necks, clothes with rough tags, and my biggest problem right now is shoes. Every pair of shoes I try on, I have to kick off because they don't feel right. they feel too tight, or just really uncomfortable. I don't even know what to do anymore. I'm not able to work at the moment because I can't wear clothes most days. I mostly wear track pants, t-shirts, and crocs... Not very work appropriate. I live in ontario, Canada by the way. Is there any hope for an adult with sensory issues? Or is it too little too late. I hope it's not the second because I want to look and feel beautiful. I just can't make myself wear new clothes. Any suggestions would be appreciated... Thanks so much.
Hi, and welcome to the forum - it is a great place to get information and ideas, communicate your ideas and such with others, and not feel alone!
Clothes and shoes are an issue for me too. I cut out the tags of everything I wear, and will use a sharpie marker (silver for black clothes, and black for the lighter - to either put the size - or just to know which is the back on some things. There are some fabrics, and some fits of clothes that I can not wear - no matter what.
Shoes - For winter - I will wear a WW shoe - that is more a mesh like maryjane type of shoe - double wide really helps to feel more free in the toe area, even with socks. In the summer it sporty mens flip flops - because mens are just wider and I am too sensitive for the tiny hell shoes made for women! I love sketcher styles but way tooo skinny in the foot width!! I have bought mens sneaker type shoes - because of that - not as pretty - but the size difference is perfect. I wear a womans size 8 (double width) but a size 7 mens. If you can find womens ww you will be in luck though! Footsmart sells a bunch of stylish stuff (but its expensive) Onestop,Womanwithin - they sell plus sized clothing, but they also sell shoes that are WW, and some are reasonable. I hope I gave you some ideas - its hard to be comfy - I sure know that!!! Take care!
stacey
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If you can find (and afford?) occupational therapy, look into it. Even for an adult, it is very meaningful to go to OT. I'm 23 and they were saying that there's still hope to actually change some of my nervous system to make me less hypersensitive.
For shoes - I wear vibram five fingers. They're worth trying on to see if they're the type of shoe you'd like. Your feet do have to adjust to them, but the basic idea of whether they'd be comfortable you can probably figure out in a store. They're the only shoes that feel comfortable to me, they also help with my propioception problems.
For clothing - it helps some if you can identify what known problems are. For example, I can't wear stiff clothing. That makes it easier to skip over what known problems are and others can help you look for clothing that's nicer for fancier occasions. Tags are usually cut-out-able, so check that before you buy anything. The other option to deal with tags is to layer clothing more - I wear compression shirts underneath a lot of what I wear. It gives me some deep pressure input and makes what I can wear a wider set of stuff. Second hand shops are really useful when you have sensory issues with clothing.