A Forum-wide survey

[Morningsmith]

Thanks for the thought, although now I'm concerned that these questions are too personal - especially the "class" question. If it helps I'm happy to answer them: I'm Caucasian (bit of a mix but mostly the UK and Ireland), the eldest of 3, from a basically middle-class but somewhat over-educated family.

[SomeoneRandom]

1) Have you or anyone in your immediate family ever been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, including Asperger's Syndrome?

not officially, but someone may have asperger's.

2) Have you ever thought/had the impression that one or both or your parents were overly interested in a sneezing situation, especially in that they seemed to react how you might have? (If so, please describe it).

no.

3) Were you babysat or placed in a daycare before the age of 4? (If so, at what age?)

yes. idk, early.

4) Do your parents have allergies? (If so, which ones?)

my mom used to have a pollen allergy, but thankfully she seems to have gotten over that in recent years.

5) Do you have one or more fetishes that do not involve sneeze-related things/actions?

nope.

6) Were you breastfed?

yes.

7) Were you raised in the country, city, or suburbs until age 4?

city-->suburbs-->country-->suburbs all before age 4!

8) Have you liked/been fascinated by sneezing for as long as you can remember? (If not, then around what age did it start?)

yeah, my first memory of it is age 4.

9) What is your ethnicity, as you define it?

eastern european jewish.

10) What is your social class, as you see it? (Upper, Middle, Lower)

middle.

11) What is your birth order relative to your other siblings? (Ex: Oldest of three, second youngest of 5, only child, etc...)

youngest of 2.

[ooo]

1) Have you or anyone in your immediate family ever been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, including Asperger's Syndrome?

Not that I know of. However, I don't know if you're looking at genetic or environmental heritability; if genetic, for various reasons there's a large portion of my biological family I don't know, and so it's possible there might be.

2) Have you ever thought/had the impression that one or both or your parents were overly interested in a sneezing situation, especially in that they seemed to react how you might have? (If so, please describe it).

Hmm...my parents are both very loud, enthusiastic sneezers, always exclaiming "that felt good!" or similar, very loudly after sneezing. Also not sure how relevant this is, but mum used to, if I made her smell a flower or perfume, pretend to sneeze as a joke - interestingly, I'm pretty sure this was before it began to excite me in any particular way...like I just thought it was funny at the time. When I was older and she did it again, it made me feel icky.

3) Were you babysat or placed in a daycare before the age of 4? (If so, at what age?)

Not really - maybe very occasionally but I don't remember it.

4) Do your parents have allergies? (If so, which ones?)

Mother has hayfever.

5) Do you have one or more fetishes that do not involve sneeze-related things/actions?

Not that I know of, yet!

6) Were you breastfed?

Yes.

7) Were you raised in the country, city, or suburbs until age 4?

Inner suburbs.

8) Have you liked/been fascinated by sneezing for as long as you can remember? (If not, then around what age did it start?)

Umm...pretty long time. Probably since about 5/6...

9) What is your ethnicity, as you define it?

Ermm...european background, I guess?

10) What is your social class, as you see it? (Upper, Middle, Lower)

Middle? Don't know really, hard question.

11) What is your birth order relative to your other siblings? (Ex: Oldest of three, second youngest of 5, only child, etc...)

Only child.

[Nevyn]

Questions:

1) Have you or anyone in your immediate family ever been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, including Asperger's Syndrome?

No, although at least one person exhibits some related symptoms

2) Have you ever thought/had the impression that one or both or your parents were overly interested in a sneezing situation, especially in that they seemed to react how you might have? (If so, please describe it).

Possibly, but I'd prefer not to elaborate here

3) Were you babysat or placed in a daycare before the age of 4? (If so, at what age?)

Not as far as I know

4) Do your parents have allergies? (If so, which ones?)

No, although they both seem to sneeze fairly frequently

5) Do you have one or more fetishes that do not involve sneeze-related things/actions?

Nothing anywhere near as strong as sneezing

6) Were you breastfed?

Yes

7) Were you raised in the country, city, or suburbs until age 4?

Country

8) Have you liked/been fascinated by sneezing for as long as you can remember? (If not, then around what age did it start?)

As long as I can remember, although my memory of my first few years is very sketchy indeed

9) What is your ethnicity, as you define it?

Caucasian (White, British)

10) What is your social class, as you see it? (Upper, Middle, Lower)

Lodged uncomfortably somewhere between Middle and Lower

11) What is your birth order relative to your other siblings? (Ex: Oldest of three, second youngest of 5, only child, etc...)

Oldest of two.

[Jessie]

1) Have you or anyone in your immediate family ever been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, including Asperger's Syndrome?

No.

2) Have you ever thought/had the impression that one or both or your parents were overly interested in a sneezing situation, especially in that they seemed to react how you might have? (If so, please describe it).

No. Ew ew ew no.

3) Were you babysat or placed in a daycare before the age of 4? (If so, at what age?)

Yes--very early. 1-2 years.

4) Do your parents have allergies? (If so, which ones?)

Not really.

5) Do you have one or more fetishes that do not involve sneeze-related things/actions?

No.

6) Were you breastfed?

Yes, but so is the majority of the non-Western world (and it's a shame it's not MORE common for us). I don't think a natural process like this has anything to do with fetishes.

7) Were you raised in the country, city, or suburbs until age 4?

Suburbs.

8) Have you liked/been fascinated by sneezing for as long as you can remember? (If not, then around what age did it start?)

Yes. I still vividly remember sneeze scenes from sesame street.

9) What is your ethnicity, as you define it?

White/european

10) What is your social class, as you see it? (Upper, Middle, Lower)

Upper-middle.

11) What is your birth order relative to your other siblings? (Ex: Oldest of three, second youngest of 5, only child, etc...)

Oldest of three.

[tFM!]

1) Have you or anyone in your immediate family ever been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, including Asperger's Syndrome?

No.

2) Have you ever thought/had the impression that one or both or your parents were overly interested in a sneezing situation, especially in that they seemed to react how you might have? (If so, please describe it).

Not that I've noticed...(thank God.)

3) Were you babysat or placed in a daycare before the age of 4? (If so, at what age?)

Yes, around age 1 or 2 I believe.

4) Do your parents have allergies? (If so, which ones?)

My dad, mostly seasonal stuff (pollen, etc.)

5) Do you have one or more fetishes that do not involve sneeze-related things/actions?

Not so much fetishes, but I am interested in and sometimes turned on by crying, eyes and hair.

6) Were you breastfed?

No.

7) Were you raised in the country, city, or suburbs until age 4?

The country.

8) Have you liked/been fascinated by sneezing for as long as you can remember? (If not, then around what age did it start?)

Yes.

9) What is your ethnicity, as you define it?

White.

10) What is your social class, as you see it? (Upper, Middle, Lower)

Middle.

11) What is your birth order relative to your other siblings? (Ex: Oldest of three, second youngest of 5, only child, etc...)

Oldest of 3.

[Dusty15]

1) Have you or anyone in your immediate family ever been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, including Asperger's Syndrome?

No.

2) Have you ever thought/had the impression that one or both or your parents were overly interested in a sneezing situation, especially in that they seemed to react how you might have? (If so, please describe it).

No

3) Were you babysat or placed in a daycare before the age of 4? (If so, at what age?)

No.

4) Do your parents have allergies? (If so, which ones?)

My mother has a cat allergy, but not severe and not normally very sneezy.

5) Do you have one or more fetishes that do not involve sneeze-related things/actions?

Yes- I am interested in not only sneezing but coughing, congestion, fevers, noseblowing.

6) Were you breastfed?

Yes

7) Were you raised in the country, city, or suburbs until age 4?

Large suburb/city

8) Have you liked/been fascinated by sneezing for as long as you can remember? (If not, then around what age did it start?)

Yes.

9) What is your ethnicity, as you define it?

White.

10) What is your social class, as you see it? (Upper, Middle, Lower)

Middle.

11) What is your birth order relative to your other siblings? (Ex: Oldest of three, second youngest of 5, only child, etc...)

Oldest of 3.

[BKFilmMaker]

1) Have you or anyone in your immediate family ever been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, including Asperger's Syndrome?

nope

2) Have you ever thought/had the impression that one or both or your parents were overly interested in a sneezing situation, especially in that they seemed to react how you might have? (If so, please describe it).

not that I remember

3) Were you babysat or placed in a daycare before the age of 4? (If so, at what age?)

I was babysat by age 3 at least

4) Do your parents have allergies? (If so, which ones?)

Only to shellfish... but that doesn't cause sneezing.

5) Do you have one or more fetishes that do not involve sneeze-related things/actions?

Yes.

6) Were you breastfed?

Yes.

7) Were you raised in the country, city, or suburbs until age 4?

suburbs/country

8) Have you liked/been fascinated by sneezing for as long as you can remember? (If not, then around what age did it start?)

Yup, I'm pretty sure

9) What is your ethnicity, as you define it?

Caucasian - German decent

10) What is your social class, as you see it? (Upper, Middle, Lower)

Middle

11) What is your birth order relative to your other siblings? (Ex: Oldest of three, second youngest of 5, only child, etc...)

Oldest of two

[Kiwifruit]

Ooh, this is fascinating

1) Have you or anyone in your immediate family ever been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, including Asperger's Syndrome?

No.

2) Have you ever thought/had the impression that one or both or your parents were overly interested in a sneezing situation, especially in that they seemed to react how you might have? (If so, please describe it).

No...thank heavens

3) Were you babysat or placed in a daycare before the age of 4? (If so, at what age?)

No daycare. I was occasionally looked after by a grandparent, but not much.

4) Do your parents have allergies? (If so, which ones?)

My Mum was allergic to last year's Christmas tree Apart from that, no.

5) Do you have one or more fetishes that do not involve sneeze-related things/actions?

Not that I can think of right now.

6) Were you breastfed?

Yes.

7) Were you raised in the country, city, or suburbs until age 4?

(What's the difference between suburbs and city...? ) I'd say city.

8) Have you liked/been fascinated by sneezing for as long as you can remember? (If not, then around what age did it start?)

Yes...I have some memories of being uncomfortable when my parents sneezed, but interested when a friend did, when I was about 2.

9) What is your ethnicity, as you define it?

Half Dutch, one-eighth English, the rest random European.

10) What is your social class, as you see it? (Upper, Middle, Lower)

Middle.

11) What is your birth order relative to your other siblings? (Ex: Oldest of three, second youngest of 5, only child, etc...)

Oldest of five.

[smiles15]

1) Have you or anyone in your immediate family ever been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, including Asperger's Syndrome?

Nope, no one.

2) Have you ever thought/had the impression that one or both or your parents were overly interested in a sneezing situation, especially in that they seemed to react how you might have? (If so, please describe it).

Nope, not at all

3) Were you babysat or placed in a daycare before the age of 4? (If so, at what age?)

Nope.

4) Do your parents have allergies? (If so, which ones?)

My mom has some type of allergy to a certain ingredient in certain medicines. I forget what it's called.

5) Do you have one or more fetishes that do not involve sneeze-related things/actions?

No.

6) Were you breastfed?

Yes.

7) Were you raised in the country, city, or suburbs until age 4?

I have been raised in the suburbs my whole life, in the same area.

8) Have you liked/been fascinated by sneezing for as long as you can remember? (If not, then around what age did it start?)

Hmmm, I have always been afraid of sneezing in front of people for as long as I remember, and then found out it was a fetish when i was in sometime when i was 11 or 12.

9) What is your ethnicity, as you define it?

im not good at describing my ethnicity but i'll try. my mom is spanish, cherokee indian, and caucasian. my dad is german and cherokee indian. i would say im caucasian.

10) What is your social class, as you see it? (Upper, Middle, Lower)

i would say we are in the higher part of the lower class, or the lower part of the middle class because we don't make A LOT of money, but we arent poor either.

11) What is your birth order relative to your other siblings? (Ex: Oldest of three, second youngest of 5, only child, etc...)

I am the youngest of 4. but im basically an only child because my mom had my older siblings when she was between the ages of 19 and 30. she had me when she was 49. so by the time i was born, they were all living on their own. i wasnt raised with them.

[krazykat]

Not to be a party pooper or anything, but the researcher in me is interested in what your rationale/hypotheses are for the inclusion of the questions selected within your survey? Most of the variables you have selected will be skewed in the direction of the minority of the population experiencing them, so you would expect to see a similar distribution within a randomly selected sample of people (e.g. this forum). Also, without a substantial sample size, you won't be able to run anything other than basic, descriptive statistics... so there is a danger of ascribing associations due to response bias and type 2 statistical errors, which, if you had a large enough sample, would most likely be non-significant.

Stats tutorial and party pooperage over... so in payback...

1) Have you or anyone in your immediate family ever been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, including Asperger's Syndrome?

No they have not.

2) Have you ever thought/had the impression that one or both or your parents were overly interested in a sneezing situation, especially in that they seemed to react how you might have? (If so, please describe it).

No

3) Were you babysat or placed in a daycare before the age of 4? (If so, at what age?)

Nursery from age 3, two days per week, but not daycare. Babysitting is a possibility but what adult remembers being babysat before age 4?

4) Do your parents have allergies? (If so, which ones?)

Mum - allergic to everything

Dad - cats and horses

5) Do you have one or more fetishes that do not involve sneeze-related things/actions?

No

6) Were you breastfed?

No

7) Were you raised in the country, city, or suburbs until age 4?

Hard to quantify - technically would be classed as a suburb as it's a commuting town, but has a very small population, is by the sea and is smack in the middle of the country so lots of fresh air and trees - put it this way I could hear cows from my window growing up and spent lots of time running around woodland!

8) Have you liked/been fascinated by sneezing for as long as you can remember? (If not, then around what age did it start?)

Yup

9) What is your ethnicity, as you define it?

White, British/European

10) What is your social class, as you see it? (Upper, Middle, Lower)

Very subjective question, open to lots of response bias (e.g. my boss still sees herself as working class where by definition she is upper class) - a better way of asking the question would be ask what our professions are and then code those according to household occupation scales.

Anyhoo... I would currently be classed as middle class (with a working class mentality).

11) What is your birth order relative to your other siblings? (Ex: Oldest of three, second youngest of 5, only child, etc...)

Oldest of two.

[Trillium]

1) Have you or anyone in your immediate family ever been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, including Asperger's Syndrome?

No.

2) Have you ever thought/had the impression that one or both or your parents were overly interested in a sneezing situation, especially in that they seemed to react how you might have? (If so, please describe it).

No.

3) Were you babysat or placed in a daycare before the age of 4? (If so, at what age?)

No daycare. I may have been babysat for an evening or so, but if so I don't recall.

4) Do your parents have allergies? (If so, which ones?)

Possibly, although never diagnosed. Probably my mom is allergic to grass pollen based on symptoms.

5) Do you have one or more fetishes that do not involve sneeze-related things/actions?

Nope.

6) Were you breastfed?

Don't know and at this point my mom probably wouldn't remember.

7) Were you raised in the country, city, or suburbs until age 4?

Country -- a lake across the street, cows and horses down the road.

8) Have you liked/been fascinated by sneezing for as long as you can remember? (If not, then around what age did it start?)

Yes. It became a sexual interest around age 13.

9) What is your ethnicity, as you define it?

German/Bohemian.

10) What is your social class, as you see it? (Upper, Middle, Lower)

Upper at present. Was raised in middle class.

11) What is your birth order relative to your other siblings? (Ex: Oldest of three, second youngest of 5, only child, etc...)

Eldest of three.

[The Mute Poet]

6) Were you breastfed?

Yes, but so is the majority of the non-Western world (and it's a shame it's not MORE common for us). I don't think a natural process like this has anything to do with fetishes.

You may well be right, I was basically just trying to think of potential variables that might help the account for any differences at such an early age, but after thinking about it I'm inclined to agree with you here - this one may just reflect the population proportions more than anything.

7) Were you raised in the country, city, or suburbs until age 4?

(What's the difference between suburbs and city...? ) I'd say city.

Typically suburbs are smaller cities/communities within commuting distance of large, recognised cities. Often you get the whole development thing too, with all the houses looking kind of similar. Personally, I've always said if you have a lawn to speak of, but are still so close to your neighbors' house that you can hear their phone ring - you probably live in the suburbs .

Not to be a party pooper or anything, but the researcher in me is interested in what your rationale/hypotheses are for the inclusion of the questions selected within your survey? Most of the variables you have selected will be skewed in the direction of the minority of the population experiencing them, so you would expect to see a similar distribution within a randomly selected sample of people (e.g. this forum). Also, without a substantial sample size, you won't be able to run anything other than basic, descriptive statistics... so there is a danger of ascribing associations due to response bias and type 2 statistical errors, which, if you had a large enough sample, would most likely be non-significant.

Well, you've certainly got me here, Kat. I've taken all of 4 1/2 (fairly basic) stats courses thus far, so you've hands down gotten me beat for know-how in this area. Basically, I had no real defined selection process to my variables apart from either personal hunches, the fact that they had been discussed here in the past as possible contributing factors, or just seemingly plausible variables that might differentiate children at such a young age (with the knowledge that none of these would lead to anything traditionally "statistically significant"). I'm pretty much hoping for us to get lucky and for a definite, obvious trend to jump out somewhere that might possibly lead us in a new direction - but I never really intended to run any sort of in-depth anaysis here aside from descriptives. The idea was more inspired by stats class than operating within the usual bounderies of professional statistical research (though if it was you can be sure I'd be coming to you for a look-over before trying anything ). Anyway, it may not be scientifically admissable, but hopefully we still might get some valuable insight out of having asked - even if the only real benefit is stimulating discussion on the topic.

[Kiwifruit]

7) Were you raised in the country, city, or suburbs until age 4?

(What's the difference between suburbs and city...? ) I'd say city.

Typically suburbs are smaller cities/communities within commuting distance of large, recognised cities. Often you get the whole development thing too, with all the houses looking kind of similar. Personally, I've always said if you have a lawn to speak of, but are still so close to your neighbors' house that you can hear their phone ring - you probably live in the suburbs .

Yeah, I have a fairly large lawn as lawns go, but no, I can't hear the neighbors' phone ring unless I'm outside right by their fence and their door is open So I guess suburbs then, yeah. Thanks

[chui]

*time to skew the question 8 data!* i just adore being the outlier!!!

1) Have you or anyone in your immediate family ever been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, including Asperger's Syndrome?

I'm adopted, so I can only speak for myself, but no. I have not been diagnosed with any.

2) Have you ever thought/had the impression that one or both or your parents were overly interested in a sneezing situation, especially in that they seemed to react how you might have? (If so, please describe it).

No. It only comes up in the usual "let's make fun of the odd/weird/embarrassing situation" moments.

3) Were you babysat or placed in a daycare before the age of 4? (If so, at what age?)

Yes. I had babysitters from just a week or two old.

4) Do your parents have allergies? (If so, which ones?)

Not that I know of, and I'm sure as heck NOT gonna ask.

5) Do you have one or more fetishes that do not involve sneeze-related things/actions?

Yes. I was born with a fetish for muscular and somewhat vein-y forearms.

6) Were you breastfed?

Nope. My mother abandoned me, so I went the formula way.

7) Were you raised in the country, city, or suburbs until age 4?

Mostly suburbs, but a fair bit of time in the country as well.

8) Have you liked/been fascinated by sneezing for as long as you can remember? (If not, then around what age did it start?)

Nope. I "caught" this fetish at age *looks at how long I've been a member* 25.

9) What is your ethnicity, as you define it?

Caucasian, of Irish descent.

10) What is your social class, as you see it? (Upper, Middle, Lower)

Somewhere between Upper Lower and Lower Middle. We've always been poor, but proud and cultured.

11) What is your birth order relative to your other siblings? (Ex: Oldest of three, second youngest of 5, only child, etc...)

Good question. I'm not very sure. I think I would be the third of 6 of my half siblings, from my birth mother, and I am the fourth of 5 of my step siblings, but I was raised as an only child. None of the siblings ever lived with me for more than a few months, and then, only when I was in my teens.

[sfyrist]

1) Have you or anyone in your immediate family ever been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, including Asperger's Syndrome?

No.

2) Have you ever thought/had the impression that one or both or your parents were overly interested in a sneezing situation, especially in that they seemed to react how you might have? (If so, please describe it).

Not beyond socialized good manners. The disapproving look if you fell down on the "Excuse me" "Bless you" "Thank you" ritual.

3) Were you babysat or placed in a daycare before the age of 4? (If so, at what age?)

No. Possibly babysat by grandparents/aunt on rare occasion, but nothing regular.

4) Do your parents have allergies? (If so, which ones?)

Mother had asthmatic-response allergies to fur of several animals.

5) Do you have one or more fetishes that do not involve sneeze-related things/actions?

A few Special Attractions, and one other thing I would consider a fetish, beyond the sneeze-related stuff.

6) Were you breastfed?

Yes.

7) Were you raised in the country, city, or suburbs until age 4?

The suburbs.

8) Have you liked/been fascinated by sneezing for as long as you can remember? (If not, then around what age did it start?)

Yes.

9) What is your ethnicity, as you define it?

Biracial white/cherokee.

10) What is your social class, as you see it? (Upper, Middle, Lower)

Middle.

11) What is your birth order relative to your other siblings? (Ex: Oldest of three, second youngest of 5, only child, etc...)

Youngest of two for my mother, youngest of three for my father.

[le mouchoir]

Questions:

1) Have you or anyone in your immediate family ever been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, including Asperger's Syndrome?

No.

2) Have you ever thought/had the impression that one or both or your parents were overly interested in a sneezing situation, especially in that they seemed to react how you might have? (If so, please describe it).

Not at all...too embarrassing to even think about!

3) Were you babysat or placed in a daycare before the age of 4? (If so, at what age?)

No.

4) Do your parents have allergies? (If so, which ones?)

Mom: pollen

Dad: pollen, cats, shellfish, the outdoors in general (lots, to my chagrin.)

5) Do you have one or more fetishes that do not involve sneeze-related things/actions?

Not that I know of...XD

6) Were you breastfed?

Yep.

7) Were you raised in the country, city, or suburbs until age 4?

The suburbs

8) Have you liked/been fascinated by sneezing for as long as you can remember? (If not, then around what age did it start?)

Ohh yes. Definitely for as long as I can remember. It became sexual when I was 15.

9) What is your ethnicity, as you define it?

Caucasian, Italian / Jewish / Polish descent

10) What is your social class, as you see it? (Upper, Middle, Lower)

Middle

11) What is your birth order relative to your other siblings? (Ex: Oldest of three, second youngest of 5, only child, etc...)

Only child. :<

[nosferatu]

1) Have you or anyone in your immediate family ever been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, including Asperger's Syndrome?

Nope.

2) Have you ever thought/had the impression that one or both or your parents were overly interested in a sneezing situation, especially in that they seemed to react how you might have? (If so, please describe it).

Nope.

3) Were you babysat or placed in a daycare before the age of 4? (If so, at what age?)

Only by both of my grandmothers, and probably some aunts, but I started school at 4.

4) Do your parents have allergies? (If so, which ones?)

Not respiratory.

5) Do you have one or more fetishes that do not involve sneeze-related things/actions?

Yes.

6) Were you breastfed?

Yes.

7) Were you raised in the country, city, or suburbs until age 4?

City.

8) Have you liked/been fascinated by sneezing for as long as you can remember? (If not, then around what age did it start?)

Oh yeah.

9) What is your ethnicity, as you define it?

We Uruguayans are a mix of everybody and their aunts. In my particular case, Spanish, Italian, Turk, Brazilian natives, and Portuguese (as far as I know).

10) What is your social class, as you see it? (Upper, Middle, Lower)

Middle.

11) What is your birth order relative to your other siblings? (Ex: Oldest of three, second youngest of 5, only child, etc...)

Oldest of three.

12Thanks to anyone who participates!

You're welcome.

I've got a suggestion, which relates to an old hunch of mine. It seems to me we are all fairly cultured people, so maybe it would be interesting to know about education levels or even interests. Of course, this could be because this is an Internet forum, and that already skews any perspective, but still. Thing is, I've never found nor heard of foot fetish or tongue fetish or whatever fetish sites with our "conversation level", if you will.

[DublinShadow]

Questions:

1) Have you or anyone in your immediate family ever been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, including Asperger's Syndrome?

No; one of my siblings does, however, have significant learning disabilities.

2) Have you ever thought/had the impression that one or both or your parents were overly interested in a sneezing situation, especially in that they seemed to react how you might have? (If so, please describe it).

No. I do have one very vague memory of my grandmother trying to teach me to blow my nose. I must have been 2 or 3 years old.

3) Were you babysat or placed in a daycare before the age of 4? (If so, at what age?)

Oh yes. I had babysitters and/or resident extended relatives looking after me from a very young age. One of my mother's favourite stories is of my aunt leaving me in a swing for 6 hours when I was under a year old.

4) Do your parents have allergies? (If so, which ones?)

No. My grandmother does, but she's the only relative I know of who has allergies of any kind.

5) Do you have one or more fetishes that do not involve sneeze-related things/actions?

No; aside from this, I am functionally asexual.

6) Were you breastfed?

I... believe so? For a little while?

7) Were you raised in the country, city, or suburbs until age 4?

City. Big city, too.

8) Have you liked/been fascinated by sneezing for as long as you can remember? (If not, then around what age did it start?)

Yes, as long as I can remember.

9) What is your ethnicity, as you define it?

Mediterranian/Southeastern European/Russian

10) What is your social class, as you see it? (Upper, Middle, Lower)

As a child, it was solidly lower/lower-middle. It's gradually evolved to solidly upper-middle.

11) What is your birth order relative to your other siblings? (Ex: Oldest of three, second youngest of 5, only child, etc...)

Eldest of 3 by blood. If it's relevant, for the past 8 years, I have also spent solidly half my time with 4 younger "surrogate" siblings at a home that is not my parents'. They are all under the age of 20 right now. They are the children of the house's owners and I have known them and spent so much time with them, they all refer to me as a sibling.

[The Mute Poet]

I've got a suggestion, which relates to an old hunch of mine. It seems to me we are all fairly cultured people, so maybe it would be interesting to know about education levels or even interests. Of course, this could be because this is an Internet forum, and that already skews any perspective, but still. Thing is, I've never found nor heard of foot fetish or tongue fetish or whatever fetish sites with our "conversation level", if you will.

Ah, I love old hunches (I knew there had to be some more out there!). I also agree that this result may be skewed, as much because it's limited to those with computer access as it is to the culture that the forum staff have tried their utmost to foster here for the past 8 years (just think what the conversation level would be like today if we'd let in every troll who came knocking on the door over that span... ). Still, it would certainly be an interesting question and the more directions we have to explore the better, so I'll go ahead and append it to my original. As always those who have previously answered can feel free to respond to the newer questions if they'd like to .

[Guest Sneeze_lover_09]

Questions:

1) Have you or anyone in your immediate family ever been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, including Asperger's Syndrome?

Yep, two of my kids have Aspergers/Autism

2) Have you ever thought/had the impression that one or both or your parents were overly interested in a sneezing situation, especially in that they seemed to react how you might have? (If so, please describe it).

Not really, although I did used to sneeze a lot when I was a kid (due to dust/feather allergies) and it always used to bug my mom, she was always looking for ways to stop me sneezing.

3) Were you babysat or placed in a daycare before the age of 4? (If so, at what age?)

No.

4) Do your parents have allergies? (If so, which ones?)

Mom had hayfever, although it only really affected her if the pollen count was very high. Dad had a dust allergy. I inherited both, lol.

5) Do you have one or more fetishes that do not involve sneeze-related things/actions?

No, not really.

6) Were you breastfed?

No, apart from maybe the first day or so after I was born

7) Were you raised in the country, city, or suburbs until age 4?

Suburbs

8) Have you liked/been fascinated by sneezing for as long as you can remember? (If not, then around what age did it start?)

Yes, for as long as I can remember.

9) What is your ethnicity, as you define it?

White with British origins.

10) What is your social class, as you see it? (Upper, Middle, Lower)

Lower/Middle class as a child, more Middle class now I think.

11) What is your birth order relative to your other siblings? (Ex: Oldest of three, second youngest of 5, only child, etc...)

Oldest of two kids.

[Vendetta]

1) Have you or anyone in your immediate family ever been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, including Asperger's Syndrome? no

2) Have you ever thought/had the impression that one or both or your parents were overly interested in a sneezing situation, especially in that they seemed to react how you might have? (If so, please describe it). no and thank god for that...id kill myself..lol

3) Were you babysat or placed in a daycare before the age of 4? (If so, at what age?) yeah..and how the hell should i know lol...3 i guess

4) Do your parents have allergies? (If so, which ones?) yes both

5) Do you have one or more fetishes that do not involve sneeze-related things/actions? yes, blood and vampires, men with long hair

6) Were you breastfed? no

7) Were you raised in the country, city, or suburbs until age 4? yes in the country side in the middle of nowhere till 4 or so lol

8) Have you liked/been fascinated by sneezing for as long as you can remember? (If not, then around what age did it start?) yep...whole damn life, thats for sure

9) What is your ethnicity, as you define it?white, german

10) What is your social class, as you see it? (Upper, Middle, Lower) upper class i guess

11) What is your birth order relative to your other siblings? (Ex: Oldest of three, second youngest of 5, only child, etc...) dont got any siblings

[nosferatu]

I've got a suggestion, which relates to an old hunch of mine. It seems to me we are all fairly cultured people, so maybe it would be interesting to know about education levels or even interests. Of course, this could be because this is an Internet forum, and that already skews any perspective, but still. Thing is, I've never found nor heard of foot fetish or tongue fetish or whatever fetish sites with our "conversation level", if you will.

Ah, I love old hunches (I knew there had to be some more out there!). I also agree that this result may be skewed, as much because it's limited to those with computer access as it is to the culture that the forum staff have tried their utmost to foster here for the past 8 years (just think what the conversation level would be like today if we'd let in every troll who came knocking on the door over that span... ). Still, it would certainly be an interesting question and the more directions we have to explore the better, so I'll go ahead and append it to my original. As always those who have previously answered can feel free to respond to the newer questions if they'd like to .

Uh... sorry if this was a little threadjackey... thing is, back when we connected to the internet through smoke signals, in the days of the ToS forum and the Prof's now re-launched site and the newsletter, I seem to remember things were not that different when it comes to... I don't now... what I'm pitifully failing to communicate is: even when some a-hole is trolling around these fora, old and new, he trolls in... proper english (or at least proper intent on the use of the language. With so many different nationalities you're bound to get some shaky english, just like mine). There has been exceptions, of course, but not as often as in other mostly sexually oriented fora. It might be related, in one hand, with the fact that the most upstanding members of this community have always been well-spoken people, and in the other, something I cannot quite place, but it has to have something to do with that sense of community there is here, so uncommon anywhere else. Please don't assume I'm trying to diminish in any way the efforts or accomplishments of the staff here or elsewhere, but I really believe there is something more there. I'm not sure if I can get this across (it's pretty sketchy in my own head), but what the hell, I had to try. Okay, I'll shut up now.

[Demosthenes]

Hmm... I don't know why, but the most interesting to me is birth order. It seems a good majority of us are the oldest or only child.

I'm also the oldest of three.

I know that one of my younger brothers has a definite urination fetish (which I do not share), if that's of any interest.

[Trillium]

Hmm... I don't know why, but the most interesting to me is birth order. It seems a good majority of us are the oldest or only child.

I'm also the oldest of three.

A friend of mine here had also noticed this, and he speculated that firstborns can be perfectionists and a bit controlling, such that sneezing, with its accompanying vulnerability and loss of control, was attractive. Perhaps he'll chime in if he sees this thread, particularly since I may have misstated what he told me.