Adults with AS develop personal strategies to manage sensory overload. Recognizing these as coping mechanisms rather than rudeness helps relationships: **Examples from Lovett:** - A man trained himself to fall asleep instantly in situations at risk of sensory overload. His wife understood it was AS, not rudeness. - A young woman in a college choral group would need to be "rescued" with a flight ticket home to escape the overwhelming sights, sounds, and scents of 20 women on a bus. She told others she felt ill (the stress genuinely made her ill). **For someone with AS:** - Carry a notebook/index cards for directions with more than two steps - Move conversations to quieter spots when competing noise overwhelms - Check the Autism Society of America website for auditory integration training **For someone who knows someone with AS:** - Recognize sensory problems are real — "magnify the feeling of fingernails on a chalkboard a thousand times" - Warn the person or schedule problematic activities when they're not around Sensory problems become much more severe when the person is tired or stressed. **Source:** Lovett, *Solutions for Adults with Asperger Syndrome*, Ch 5 (pp130-133) See also: [[Sensory Processing in AS]], [[Sensory and Auditory Integration in AS]]