Hello, Lovely Peeps! I saw this last night & thought it was brilliant - am posting in case it can help anyone! 😃

During the last year of Najma Omar’s doctoral program in occupational therapy, her prof asked them to think about tools that hadn’t yet been invented to help people — but should exist.

She thought about her sister, who struggled with finding a hijab that could help with her noise sensitivity without adding a lot of weight or increasing pressure around her ears, which headphones or earmuffs did, and developed the 'SereniHijab' (Serenity Hijab), made of lightweight fabric, and padding inserted into the hijab covers the ears just enough that loud sounds aren’t as overwhelming.

'For Najma, the SereniHijab isn’t just a business. It’s a mission.

“Islam teaches ease, compassion, accommodation and meeting people where they are at. Designing a hijab that considers sensory needs is an extension of that. It’s honoring faith while also honoring someone’s sensory needs and neurology,” she said.

“It’s making sure that all women like my sister don’t have to choose between their comfort and then their identity.” '

Expected to launch in May, the first drop ... 'will have 100 pieces, including 50 pull-on hijabs & 50 headcap and scarf sets. After that, the Sereni team will offer pre-order availability.'

https://sahanjournal.com/business-work/sensory-friendly-sereni-hijab/

#ActuallyAutistic #Muslim #Sensory #SensoryFriendly #SensoryIssues #Hijab #SereniHijab #NoiseSensitivity

Hey fellow autistics (& Co) - general curiosity / discussion question:
Do you have a sensory (or "experiential") sensitivity that might be considered generally innocuous or at least tolerable up to a certain point, but ANYTHING above absolute zero has your hackles up? Just nope, shut it down, I cannot be around / experience that because it shuts my brain down.

Mine is whistling. Tuneless whistling is torture, but honestly even someone "good" at it, whistling a recognizable tune, has me like a cat with its fur stroked the wrong way. Instant tension and irritation flooding through my body, physically in fight mode and mentally in freeze / shutdown. It's a disruption / jamming signal on all my internal frequencies.

I think it's because I've always been able to hear higher frequencies and pitches - the vague electronic / electric squealing or whining in the office that no one else can hear but is drilling into my brain and giving me a headache. And while whistling might not be quite as piercingly high-pitched, it's approaching it AND it's a lot LOUDER than those "white noises" you feel more than hear, so somehow it's even WORSE and it really physically hurts me but I can't be the jerk who says, "hey can you knock off being cheerful and whistling a tune? it's causing me pain and mental distress" so I suffer in agitated, disregulated silence.

anyone else experiences sensory overwhelm specifically on their hands? it makes it so hard to do anything but especially typing on a keyboard, it's like every touch is painful

#autism #sensoryissues

I just tried to push up my sleaves. I'm already wearing a short sleeve shirt. 🤦

#Habit #ActuallyAutistic #SensoryIssues #IYKYK

So it turns out when I don't mask as much or repress my feelings I have a LOT of sensory issues I didn't know about even as a kid. Like, I hate when my hands are wet, I hate touching cold and wet things. I work at a grocery store. I have to touch frozen packages all day. I might invest in some "arthritis" gloves.

The squeaky wheel may get the grease, but my AvPD makes it so very hard to squeak and my sensory issues makes me hate the feeling of grease

#AvoidantPersonalityDisorder #sensoryIssues #undiagnosed