masturbating as an autistic individual

[char]

hi fellow scarleteen volunteers! here's my first post not as a volunteer that helps others in sex ed, but as a person in their 20s. and it may be a bit tmi to some, but i guess this is what this site is for and i trust y'all with this side of my life

i've been masturbating for almost 10 years now and it's genuinely been one of my favorite pastimes. not only is it good, but it's also how i got more in touch with my body, my entire self, and basically become a better person. but at the same time, i do notice that my circumstances as an autistic person have sometimes influenced my masturbating experience. for the record, i've read this amazing article on this site and while it's been helpful, i'd like to ask y'all's opinions on things that are more specific to my experiences.

first is concentration/focus. i understand that staying present is vital to having a great sexual experience (solo/partnered alike), but sometimes my brain would choose to just. think of other things even when i'm already getting ready to get it on with myself. i recognize that there are loads of things that affect my executive (dys)function, and that i'm not deliberately chasing for orgasm most of the time, but i'd say i'm not always the best at mitigating it when it happens my environment is generally peaceful and i usually only masturbate before going to bed with the lights off, so i'm not sure what other sensory aspects i should pay attention here.

second is likely tied to planning and arousal non-concordance(?). every now and then, i would roughly plan in my head the things i'd like to do and imagine in my masturbation session, but that doesn't always work well. what sometimes would happen is that if i find a session, be it roughly planned or not, was particularly great, i'll unconsciously or consciously try to recreate it the next time i masturbate--nevermind my inherent knowledge that it's not going to be exactly the same. i know it's senseless trying to replicate a masturbation session, but i don't know if it's necessarily a bad(?) thing and whether i should try not doing that. it's not like these attempts always end badly, but i get rather self-conscious about it.

so my questions would be... how do i best navigate/manage this? what are some things that i need to keep in mind (or maybe let go)? thanks for the great help you folks provide, always! (>~<)

[Sofi]

Hi char! As an autistic person myself, I find that there's indeed a lot of sensory considerations that go into sex, both solo and partnered. For me, it's necessary to have the least amount of visual distractions possible, but having auditory sensory input helps me focus and stay in the moment. This can be something like classical or jazz music, it can be music with lyrics, or just something like white noise or ocean sounds etc. Having a playlist that's your "go-to" when you're setting the mood can help a lot as it also alerts your brain that you're entering that space.

Of course this is different for everyone, so some people might prefer complete silence but some colorful lights, or silence and darkness but a particular scent like a mild perfume or candle. The trick is to play around with different sensory experiences and find what works best. While replicating an exact session play by play might not be always possible, it's okay to need the same "vibe" to be set in order to fully enjoy it. Part of being autistic is finding these sensory needs we have and accommodating to them - that includes our sex life. <3

[char]

hi sofi! thank you so much for the response. i think a large part of my trouble "getting into it" is i do get quite sensitive to sound more than i'd like to admit. i've used noise-canceling features every once in a while when masturbating, but i sometimes take them off in the middle of the session simply because the feeling of having my ears plugged can be unbearable :") i'll definitely keep in mind how i can improve my auditory experience when masturbating. thank you again! ^^