Touch

     I've been thinking about touch and the way it can affect me sometimes. I didn't give it much attention until I watched the show Atypical. The main character Sam has autism and he's very sensitive to touch, he doesn't like it when hugs aren't tight or when people touch him softly, like a butterfly touch. No idea if there's a word for that, but there is now. 😌

     At that moment I was like wait a minute, that's exactly how I feel with soft touches! I had never put two and two together, but at that moment something clicked. I always seem to get very agitated when someone touches me lightly, it makes me sort of want to run away or jump out of my body or something. Funny how you sometimes need little nudges from shows or books or whatever, to learn something new about yourself.

     That also argues the point on how important it is to include different "disabilities" and just different people in general on TV, because it can be so incredibly helpful to get to know and understand yourself more if you're being represented in media / entertainment you consume. It can be so validating to feel seen and understood, aswell as other people being able to learn more about it, which leads to more recognition hopefully and just, wouldn't we all want that :)

     But I digress.

     For me touch, especially hugs, became so much more clear for me and I got a much better picture of why I reacted sometimes, aswell as what can actually help me better in stressful situations and what to do to make it better.

     It's funny, because I've always appreciated things like people giving firm handshakes and I never understood it, until now. It's such an insignificant thing perhaps, but it's nice to finally understand why I seem to gravitate towards certain things more and why other things put me off so much.

     We're always out there learning more about ourselves one step at a time. 🙌🏻