Thanks for the extra info mountainmom - I am sorry, I have a tough time remembering the details on each of the different kids here, so I didn't remember the previous posts about your dd. I'm guessing that based on what you've added (and I went back and read a few of your previous posts) that what you are seeing *could* be sensory, or it could be something else. Our kids can be so complicated!
My one piece of advice is to not assume it's all gifted quirkiness, but I have a feeling your gut is telling you it's not. I see a whole bunch of "could be"s out there - one that hasn't been mentioned here is an undiagnosed LD - your older dd is dyslexic, isn't she? Sensory issues like you've described could also be related to vision or auditory issues. Or perhaps receptive language issues. Or social skills and understanding. It's possible that seeing a neuropsych or developmental ped might help sort through what's going on.
FWIW, my 2e ds had some similar challenges with social situations when he was the same age, and still does at times. In his case, it's related to dyspraxia combined with simply feeling out-of-sync with other kids due to his challenges. Many of the symptoms are similar to ASD symptoms. I'm not suggesting your dd is dyspraxic, just mentioning that it can be really really tough to sort out what's truly up when many challenges share common characteristics - and that's why it's good to have a professional who's looking at the whole child do an eval. I think if I described my ds on here, and asked "is it ___", I could get agreement that yes, it sounds like that - for a host of different challenges... when in fact it's been extremely helpful to have a professional help sort through and get to the real root of what's causing his specific challenges.
Hope that makes sense!
Best wishes,
polarbear
