[Muppy]

I have an adult daughter with Asperger's and she also has sensory integration issues. When she is stressed, it seems the Asperger's and the SI are worse. She'll rather chat or text rather than talk on phone and the sensory overload can get so severe she has to stop driving until she is in better control. Is this common??
There are times when we do talk about the Asperger's and her difficulties with it, and she has made tremendous progress since she was diagnosed. Then she knew what to do. I just know that now isn't the time to inquire.
Thanks for any input you can give me.

[-jimi-]

When I'm stressed I fall apart. Some things other people find stressful I don't, but I recently had a long stressful event that most people deal with it fine. I ended up so tired, stressed that I freaked out and acted like a fool. Meh.

The things draining me are... being in person with people... on a sliding scale, doing complex things, change.... When I'm already filled with stress I wish not to add extra energy thieves. Stress is draining as it is. I find texting loss draining than talking, typing less stressful than meeting in person etc. Driving I simply cannot do because it is so much multitasking for my one track mind that I'm unable to learn. I can understand how driving is draining.

When you are stressed you need to add relaxation, not stressors.

[rosska]

Stress will do that yes. Texting is a life saver I think personally, I avoid phone calls intentionally and reply to missed calls with text messages as speaking to people is very draining and awkward because I am never sure when it's my turn to speak so I either say nothing or continually interrupt people.

It's great that she's made a lot of progress since her diagnosis, but it's important to remember that no amount of progress will change her neurology, she will always have AS and it will always affect her day to day life. Learning to cope with it is all we can do.

When driving I like to have a CD on all the time, largely because I tend to get hyper focus when driving if I don't have music on. The music gives my brain enough of a distraction to keep it from hyper focusing but not so much that I'm no longer paying attention to the road. For me driving is one of my stims, I love it. Being away from everybody, alone in my car with some relaxing music, driving around on little country roads (don't like city driving, too many cars, turns, people etc) just me and the car, it's very soothing.

If I have to drive in cities though I do get frazzled quickly and it's not uncommon for me to pull over and just sit for a few minutes to calm down and let my brain rest. It's like any form of sensory overload, step back and let your body settle, if you keep going it'll only make things worse and put yourself and others at risk. She's doing the right thing.

[Muppy]

Both of your responses are very helpful. My daughter didn't learn to drive until she was 27. We knew there were problems but went the standard route...to a pdoc who said she was depressed...no joke...her father were in a very difficult divorce. Moving to a new town went better than I expected since we moved to town I grew up in, so she had automatic friends, relatives, etc. Very small town in S.Georgia.
Diagnosed at age 21, the further tests with neurologist to pin down SI, and along with that she is rapid cycling bipolar.
I am quite proud of her. She is now 30 and has developed amazing coping skills. She uses a service dog and is developing a non-profit agency (for lack of a better term) to help others with neurological problems train their own service dogs.
Dogs are her passion, and she is quite knowledgeable about them. That is one topic she can readily talk about because the service dog community is spread out and they largely communicate via internet. She's developed skills in task training and in choosing an appropriate service dog and she's been called to assist several people in this already.
Her major stressor is that her landlord has put the house they rent on the market. It's a very old house, and tiny, and he's asking way too much for it, but it has her worried. She's trying to find new housing, and because she has service dogs they have to pay a rent premium. I wish I could help her, but not much I can do since she's 4 hours away.
Thanks again for your comments. I thought I had an accurate read and you really helped make it clear.

[worthit]

When I'm in panic mode,I can't process. I can't understand you,can't recognize you and can't read. I I have to have someone talk to me in basic terms. I have schizoaffective/ bipolar type and PTSD.

[-jimi-]

OMG... if I had to move I would be so stressed I'd... die. I think. Suddenly my stressor sounds so small....