Do you remember back in elementary school when everyone had cooties? Girls and boys didn’t touch lest a flesh-eating infection devour us all. Mind you, this was a particularly heteronormative affliction, but that’s beside the point. At least it gave us an excuse not to touch each other. And I hate touching.

My mom calls it being “tactilely defensive.” She’s an occupational therapist.

Symptom 1: I avoid touch stimulation. Growing up, I refused to wear sweatpants because of the material on my skin.