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Synaesthesia

Synaesthesia is reportedly very common in Autism.

I experience many forms: so many in fact, that I can't categorise them all or make distinctions of where one stops and the next begins. Growing up, I assumed that everyone experienced sensory input in the same ways I did, with multiple forms of perceptual and processing overlap. It wasn't until my undergraduate Psychology class that I learned the term "Synaesthesia" and realised only 1% of the population share the gift of being a synaesthete.

Does anyone here have Synaesthesia?

Have you ever been involved in research studies?

I'd love to hear people's experiences and their thoughts on how it helps / hurts / enriches / complicates your ability to process information.

Here's a link you all might enjoy:

https://network.autism.org.uk/good-practice/evidence-base/synaesthesia-autism

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Comments

  • Statest16Statest16 Citizen, Mentor

    Yes; I see music in colors
    Example I see A major as bright red and A minor as a darker burgundy red etc......

  • I have no synesthesia, alas!

  • Prometheus81Prometheus81 Citizen, Member

    I have never experienced any synaesthetic phenomena of any sort, although I'm regretful that that should be so, since I've heard that the condition is associated with photographic memory, and other talents I'd very much like to have. I'm not allowed to post links, but the Wikipedia page for 'Solomon Shereshevsky' is fascinating in this regard.

  • When I hear music, I can often see many colors, geometric shapes, other wonderful and abstract effects. I used to write paid music reviews for Epinions.com, and my reviews were popular because I could describe music in such vivid detail. Other times, such as when I'm on YouTube, people will wonder what kind of drugs I'm using when I talk about music the way I do...lol. None. It's just synesthesia!

  • I have trouble understanding this concept. 😲

  • @ting1984 said:

    Other times, such as when I'm on YouTube, people will wonder what kind of drugs I'm using when I talk about music the way I do...lol. None. It's just synesthesia!

    😜 That's funny!

    I perceive music in shape form, like it's 3D. A few songs have specific colours but it's mostly about shape for me. I'm particularly fond of round-shaped songs.

  • When you’re upset about other things, do you use synesthesia as a ray of colorful sunshine?

  • It doesn't really work like that for me, because it's involuntary.

    Maybe other people can use it for good when needed, but mine is too complex to control or preplan. I guess I could think the same word or number over and over again to maintain a pleasant colour? But otherwise there's input from everything and everywhere, all at once.

  • HylianHylian Citizen, Mentor

    I have something I've always wondered and hope isn't a rude question.

    When people with synesthesia say they "see" something, do they actually see it or is it more like involuntary mental imagery?

  • IsabellaIsabella Citizen
    edited November 2020

    It's not rude at all. In my case, it's not actually seen. It's not literal. But it's an unmistakable connection or essence and it doesn't change over time. I don't know how to describe it. For example, the letter E is a wispy yet dark blue. It's pretty much inconceivable to me that it's not the same for everyone, with or without synaesthesia. I picture the blue in my mind, but I don't really see it with my eyes when I'm reading -- although the mental trigger is there when I read.

    When other people with synaesthesia tell me that E is red, or yellow, or pink .... I get very stressed out.

    It would be like if someone told you that the sun was actually purple, and you'd been seeing it wrong all your life. It would be just astonishing, and wrong. E is blue and that's all there is to it for me lol.

    (I could write about 5,000 different examples of my synaesthesia).

    I know it sounds fun, and it is ... It's a great memory strategy because I can remember the colour of someone's name or phone number, and I could memorise material in University by colours, but there are downsides for me. It can get overwhelming. For example I'd have a hard time avoiding prejudice of certain names or places or whatnot, if they generate a synaesthesia response of something that I don't like. It can clutter my mind and my sensory awareness. I have to remind myself it's not "real", and root out how I actually think about various forms of input independent from their colour / shape / taste / association, etc.

    As I said before, the associations don't change either. It's like crazy glue.

  • Naming my daughter was pure hell, because of colours. Thank goodness her surname was white, so it went with everything and didn't clash, but getting a Christian name and middle name colour combination that I liked, that were also names that I liked, that were also names that her father liked .... with no other associations that parents usually worry about with names .... pure hell. LOL. I was obsessed with naming her and I can still remember all the work that went into it. She had to have a white and blue name. I didn't want red, white, and blue or it would seem American. I didn't want anything that would clash with blue.

    Yes, I'm weird.

  • HylianHylian Citizen, Mentor

    Ohh, that's really interesting! I can definitely see how that's good for memorization, but also stressful and possibly distracting, especially for someone with autism who already may have issues processing and coping with sensory information.

    I associate some things with certain colours, but that's more because of cultural influences and not an innate trigger or anything. Like how the ABCs are always respectively red, blue, and yellow on children's toys and such, so I associate those letters with their respective colours and see them as those colours when I think about them. The only other letters that I have a colour association with are D, P, and Y, which are orange, pink/light red, and yellow.

  • SheldonSheldon Citizen
    edited November 2020

    @Isabella said:

    When other people with synaesthesia tell me that E is red, or yellow, or pink .... I get very stressed out.

    It would be like if someone told you that the sun was actually purple, and you'd been seeing it wrong all your life. It would be just astonishing, and wrong. E is blue and that's all there is to it for me lol.

    But it isn't reality, objectively speaking, to see colours related to "E".
    Isn't it simply a personal quirk/idiosyncrasy?
    As a result of some different re-wiring in the brain? 🤔

  • @Isabella said:
    I have to remind myself it's not "real",

    I guess that answers my question. 😎

  • @Hylian said:
    Ohh, that's really interesting! I can definitely see how that's good for memorization, but also stressful and possibly distracting, especially for someone with autism who already may have issues processing and coping with sensory information.

    I associate some things with certain colours, but that's more because of cultural influences and not an innate trigger or anything. Like how the ABCs are always respectively red, blue, and yellow on children's toys and such, so I associate those letters with their respective colours and see them as those colours when I think about them. The only other letters that I have a colour association with are D, P, and Y, which are orange, pink/light red, and yellow.

    Funny you mention the alphabet. I remember my cousin had a wallpaper border with the alphabet going around the top of her room, and the letters were all the wrong colours. Literally, all of them. It always stressed me out and I hated going in her room. That was when I was about six and just learning to read.

    I read somewhere that synaesthesia is caused by an overlapping of brain synapses or something like that. Like the sections of your brain for processing different stimuli are wired together by mistake. I don't know if that's true or not, but that's what it feels like for me.

    By the way ABC isn't red, blue, yellow for me lol. A is a soft sage green, B is a horrible brownish orange colour (I really don't like orange), and C is white. There are other white letters too. I don't have 26 different colours for the alphabet, but white occurs the most. There are also different shades of blue. Your name @Hylian is a dusty blue, lighter than the letter E. H's are a gorgeous colour actually.

  • HylianHylian Citizen, Mentor

    @Isabella said:
    Funny you mention the alphabet. I remember my cousin had a wallpaper border with the alphabet going around the top of her room, and the letters were all the wrong colours. Literally, all of them. It always stressed me out and I hated going in her room. That was when I was about six and just learning to read.

    I read somewhere that synaesthesia is caused by an overlapping of brain synapses or something like that. Like the sections of your brain for processing different stimuli are wired together by mistake. I don't know if that's true or not, but that's what it feels like for me.

    By the way ABC isn't red, blue, yellow for me lol. A is a soft sage green, B is a horrible brownish orange colour (I really don't like orange), and C is white. There are other white letters too. I don't have 26 different colours for the alphabet, but white occurs the most. There are also different shades of blue. Your name @Hylian is a dusty blue, lighter than the letter E. H's are a gorgeous colour actually.

    You answered another question I had! I figured that you probably wouldn't have a new colour for every letter, but I lowkey wondered that because they're still all different letters. Also, that's cool! I like that colour of blue and I'm genuinely glad that you perceive my screen name like that. :)

    I don't know why I associate D with orange, by the way. I just realized that's kind of out there since I obviously associate P and Y with pink and yellow due to their spelling, but D is just... random. I think one of the first things I learned to read with a D in it was "Donkey Kong" so now I associate D with the orange Donkey Kong 64 cartridge we had.

  • P's are an awful colour for me just like B's. P's are pink but it's more of a fleshy, salmony, coral pink. It's almost ... um ... uncomfortable for me somehow.

    I cringe when I write P names. Again sorry to anyone with a P name. I have to untangle that association from my mind so it's not unfair to anyone or anything.

    Y is kind of a rust colour, but it's very far away. I don't know how to describe it. It's off in the distance spatially even though the colour is still visible.

    D is white.

    When I read a name, each letter has its own colour if I stop to think about it, but the first letter is dominant at giving a colour and when I'm reading it's really the only one that my mind has time to process. If I think of the name / word in isolation I can see all of the colours.

    Yellow for me is S and the number 2. 27 is a cowboy. Go figure.

    It's interesting that you think your connections might go back to certain triggers like Donkey Kong.

    I can't figure out any of mine.

  • I just realised I like PR names or words, but not P without the blend. Strange. I think the R colours the P in a better colour and makes it richer.

  • @Isabella said:

    I read somewhere that synaesthesia is caused by an overlapping of brain synapses or something like that. Like the sections of your brain for processing different stimuli are wired together by mistake. I don't know if that's true or not, but that's what it feels like for me.

    Personally, I don't see this as a mistake. Rather is see it is a quirk, or variation, the same way I see autism as a difference, rather than something that is wrong. 🐨

  • Rule number 1: There are no rulz. 😎

  • HylianHylian Citizen, Mentor

    @Isabella said:
    I just realised I like PR names or words, but not P without the blend. Strange. I think the R colours the P in a better colour and makes it richer.

    Like the R and P mix their colours together? That's interesting!

    You and me think about P in the same colour. Mine might be a bit more of that girl-associated pink colour, but it's light and sometimes kind of reddish, which is why I also said light red.

  • I agree @Sheldon. I don't think it's wrong or a mistake. I didn't even know it was different or uncommon until I was in Uni. I thought everyone did it. It's a fun quirk but one I've had to manage and accommodate, just like my ASD.

  • HylianHylian Citizen, Mentor

    @Sheldon said:

    @Isabella said:

    I read somewhere that synaesthesia is caused by an overlapping of brain synapses or something like that. Like the sections of your brain for processing different stimuli are wired together by mistake. I don't know if that's true or not, but that's what it feels like for me.

    Personally, I don't see this as a mistake. Rather is see it is a quirk, or variation, the same way I see autism as a difference, rather than something that is wrong. 🐨

    Whenever I hear about changes like this I also don't think of them as an inherent problem/mistake, as long as they don't actively cause issues for the animal experiencing it, but even then they're not a "mistake". Nothing would have evolved if every little change, even benign or positive, was seen as a "mistake" and culled.

  • Posts like this ^ make me wish we had like buttons.

    ❤

    I love how you think, @Hylian. (OK, you too @Sheldon).

  • @Isabella said:
    Posts like this ^ make me wish we had like buttons.

    ❤

    I love how you think, @Hylian. (OK, you too @Sheldon).

    I am glad I am at least an after-thought. 🙃

  • Yes, a yellow afterthought that reminds me of a little girl with a yellow crunchy dress from when I was 7.

    She was hit by a train, but that's another story. I don't think of that, just the colour association of her dress.

  • HylianHylian Citizen, Mentor

    @Isabella said:
    Yes, a yellow afterthought that reminds me of a little girl with a yellow crunchy dress from when I was 7.

    She was hit by a train, but that's another story. I don't think of that, just the colour association of her dress.

    Does that colour association involve splashes of red after the train incident? (Maybe too morbid of a joke. lol)

  • lol no, but I feel the texture of her dark, wiry hair.

    I don't know why I think of her with SH words. Her name had nothing to do with those letters.

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