Wordy Wednesday – the sense of smell
“A floor plan? You don't know anything about architecture do you?”
“What I know about architecture could be written on the back of a postage stamp.”
“So why to we have a picture of a floor plan then?”
“Just think of it as a map, put you in the picture as we go from A to B, so you can get your bearings.”
“Fair enough. We start at A?”
“The sitting room, but we never really use it. It's just an extra piece of space like a corridor.”
“Why am I interested in this?”
“Because he can't go in there.”
“Why not?”
“Because it smells.”
“Dare I ask what it smells of?”
“We don't know. We can't smell it. I know! Maybe we should start in E, the half bathroom.”
“He can't go in there because it smells?”
“Spot on.”
“Bathrooms often smell.”
“This is before it's even been used, first thing in the morning.”
“Maybe you need a cleaner?”
“It's the trash can that's in there too.”
“Maybe you should empty it?”
“I empty it every day and wash it once a week.”
“Can you smell it?”
“No. However it doesn't really matter because he can't get into the smelly bathroom because you have to go through the smelly utility room first.”
“Your utility room smells too?”
“Yes. That's where I put the cats' bowls of food.”
“Ah that can be stinky.”
“It's dried and it's usually empty first thing in the morning.”
“Sounds like he's safer in the kitchen.”
“No can't go in there, or rather……he can run through it very fast.”
“Your kitchen smells?”
“Sometimes I forget to turn the dishwasher on at night, or it's not full enough to turn on. Inevitably I'll have to open the fridge at some point, which means all those mixed stinks will roll out in a cool, all enveloping wave.”
“Hmm you make it sound so……unattractive.”
“Indeed.”
“Do you think he has an over developed sense of smell or something?”
Something like that. I don't know if he has more sensors or whether the sensors are calibrated too high?”
“It's hard to imagine, but it sounds all too real.”
“At least he can tell us about them now.”
“True. So it's only the little one.”
“Yup. Tell you what, I'll give you a little 'for instance.'”
“Right.”
“Strawberries.”
“Love em. The taste, the smell, their appearance, everything about them spells summer.”
“What about if they've been in the fridge overnight.”
“How do you mean?”
“Have you ever opened the fridge door, wondered what is that terrible smell, discovered the strawberries and commanded you nose to re-adjust itself so that you can smell the lovely strawberry smell instead of the stench?”
“Er….no……I can honestly say that you're completely on your own on that one.”
“Ah well, worth a try. How about this one? I put some all powerful perfume on the skin under your nose, above your lip.”
“Which perfume?”
“Eau d'Anchovy.”
“Yuck, are you kidding me?”
“Nope, try it! See how you function, whether you can concentrate, whether it's possible to eat or drink, if you can enjoy any of the things that you usually enjoy when you can't get rid of that all pervasive stink.”
“So……if I ever come visit, I'll bring my own peg.”
“Free to all comers!”
“Now if you'll excuse me, I think I may just need to go take another shower now. See you next week.”
“Cheers.”
By the by, “Amanda Baggs” made a superb video about how some people’s sensory systems differ. You may well have seen it before but I think it’s due for another airing.
February 13th, 2008 at 12:13 am
Funny but this very odoriferous issue has been coming up in our house—Charlie has a very attuned sense of smell. But what most would consider something bad, he very patiently tolerates. But my husband has no patience with the coffee grounds I leave in the garbage…….
February 13th, 2008 at 12:39 am
I can’t smell hardly anything, but others in my house can! The sense of sound is where half of them are so out of sorts! It’s so fun when one twin is screaming at the top of his lungs then the other, with his hands over his ears starts screaming because he can’t stand the noise. Then they freak over a pin dropping at another moment. It’s so fun. Thanks for the post! This is something very few people understand.
February 13th, 2008 at 1:26 am
Hmn. Our dirty kitchen sometimes smells.
February 13th, 2008 at 1:27 am
Very interesting post!
February 13th, 2008 at 1:52 am
We are learning about heightened senses in psych this week. What a timely post for me
. And I love your Eau d’Anchovy. Definitely YUCK!!
February 13th, 2008 at 4:00 am
I have learnt so much from Amanda
February 13th, 2008 at 4:24 am
Those fridge smells… hmmm…
February 13th, 2008 at 5:53 am
I can so relate to what you’ve written here! My eldest Sam is diagnosed with ADHD and we think he also has Asperger’s…His sense of smell is incredibly heightened, so much so that if for example there is even the slightest whiff of peanut butter around, he has to leave the room!!
Love the way you write btw.
I can also relate to it from a personal point of view, having endured 3 pregnancies where my sense of smell went crazy…
But the way you describe it makes it far more entertaining than it probably feels on a daily basis. What an interesting post!
February 13th, 2008 at 6:27 am
I can’t imagine being overpowered by smell like that. Wow! Is there anything to do to make it better?
February 13th, 2008 at 6:32 am
Oh the strawberries… that leaves me running away. I am ‘heightened’ smeller myself so I have never paid attention to what the boy does in that area. I know he does constantly smell things before he plays with them, puts them on, etc. I’ll have to pay attention now.
February 13th, 2008 at 6:43 am
Hmm, interesting. Drew used to be extremely sensitive in this area. I recall one restroom in the St. Louis airport that had a particularly noxious chemical smell. As soon as I brought him in he started screaming. He was not happy until we were out. This happened on the way to our destination and our way home. Though I know public restrooms are also loud and bright, I believe it was the smell that set him off. He also used to cry when a particular therapist would come near him. I had to gently suggest it might be because of her overpowering perfume. She stopped wearing it, and he stopped crying when he was around her.
February 13th, 2008 at 6:44 am
Haha, all I have to say is thank god for my automatic cat box, especially with a 22 pound cat in the house
February 13th, 2008 at 6:58 am
*used to get sick at the smell of “apple” scented shampoo and had to quit buying it*
February 13th, 2008 at 7:17 am
My husband can smell things that others cannot … drives him crazy. I can only imagine how hard that would be.
February 13th, 2008 at 7:24 am
Patrick is a sensitive smeller but he enjoys the smells. Smells everything in fact. Now noise…that’s his thing. He definately has a heightened sense of hearing.
Great insight once again.
February 13th, 2008 at 8:49 am
it’s really true. i think back to when i was pregnant and my sense of smell was in overdrive. it made some things so wonderful and others just intolerable, but everything was powerful.
February 13th, 2008 at 9:36 am
Kim, when pregnant with Demetrius couldn’t stand the smell of garlic. Being Italian, I had more than half a year without garlic. I barely survived.
I totally get the smell thing..but in our house it is all about the look. If the chicken is smothered in something other than cheese sauce. No dice. Must not cover the broccoli with anything…no way this kid could ever eat French food.
Of course, I understand the issue with strawberries, but what about strawberry ice cream? Poor kid.
February 13th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Ugh. Don’t get me started on the smells. I cannot stand the smell of cooked meat in my house, hence my previous life as a vegetarian. If it is in a soup or stew it is okay, but barely. Bugaboo loves smelling just about everything these days (and licking it, too). Bug Boy says smelly stuff hurts his eyes.
February 13th, 2008 at 11:31 am
I learned so much from this post. It’s marvelous! Thanks so much for commenting at my blog!
February 13th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Oh my. That’s a tough one to manage on a daily basis. Poor kiddo.
February 13th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
I like the smell of gas and bike tires
Yes I am strange
Smells can really change the way you think of things
February 13th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
funny but interesting lol!
February 13th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Wow, he must find that really hard. Is there anything that can be done to help him with it?
February 13th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
We have many bad smells, particularly first thing in the morning. It has to do with the, um, bowels.
My fridge smells too!
But it’s not LOUD. That’s the problem over by us.
February 13th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
The nose always knows! I’m right there with him and so is my big boy…our sense of smell is canine like… good for routing out smoke, bad for everyone around us.
February 13th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Fascinating. I daresay he couldn’t be in the same room with me… I need to shower more.
February 15th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Thanks for sharing the link, as well. I hadn’t seen it before and found it fascinating.