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In this presentation we will examine sensory challenges.
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Many people with autism have difficulties with processing everyday sensory information such as sounds, sights smells and other sensory stimuli.
This is often called sensory interaction difficulty or sensory sensitivity.
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Sensory processing usually occurs automatically. We learn things through our senses and how our body fits in and functions in the world.
Some people with autism have trouble organising and responding to information from the senses.
Sensory issues range from quirks that we all can experience to severe disruption.
Some children with autism can be both hyposensitive and hypersensitive.
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Every minute of every day our five senses are bombarded with sensory stimuli.
Sight
Sound
Smell
Taste
Touch
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Most people can naturally filter these external stimuli, but we will all have experienced a sensory overload from time to time with load noises, strong smells and overly bright lights.
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Hypersensitivity and hyposensitivity can relate to all senses;
Vision
Hearing
Touch
Taste
Smell
Proprioception
Vestibular System
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Hypersensitivity refers to having an extreme sensitivity to stimulation of the senses.
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Hyposensitivity occurs when a child is underwhelmed by their environment and needs to seek out additional sensory information to feel satisfied.
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Maybe there is a smell that you particularly like, Lavender for example.
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This is what that single lavender flower can smell like to someone with sensory sensitivity.
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So when our senses get overpowered we react, for example when we hear a loud noise that we find difficult to cope with, our first instinct is to cover our ears.
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With a strong smell our reaction is to hold our nose, right?
This occurs naturally because we cannot naturally filter those sensory stimuli, as they have overwhelmed our ability to cope with them.
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At that point we could say that we are hypersensitive to that particular noise or smell.
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The feeling of being overwhelmed is what the everyday sensory environment can feel like for a person.
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So what is Hypersensitivity?
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These are some of the ways that people can experience hypersensitivity
Hyper-hearing: Overly sensitive to certain sounds or all sounds.
Hyper-smell: Difficulty tolerating odours and smells
Hyper-taste: Difficulty tolerating flavours and textures of foods.
Hyper-touch: Over-sensitive to touch, any contact with skin.
Hyper-vision: Difficulty tolerating bright lights and colours.
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This means that a person is overly reactive to sensory stimuli.
This can cover one or all of the five senses.
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Many people with autism describe how hypersensitivity can be overwhelming and they can experience huge discomfort, nausea and physical pain as a result of the condition.
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Many people with autism have difficulty self-managing these sensory inputs.
This can lead to problems with concentration and focus on a given task.
Sensory overload can also lead to anxiety, outburst and challenging behaviours as the person is simply overwhelmed by their surroundings.
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We are going to look at one of the areas of hypersensitivity in more detail;
Let’s take hearing as an example.
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There are some solutions to reducing the impact of hypersensitivity,
The wearing of ear plugs, ear phones and hats that cover the ears can help. Also, regular sensory breaks in a quiet space with little or no sensory stimuli present can reduce hypersensitivity.
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The wearing of gloves and socks and the removal of tags from clothing can also help.
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The availability of a quiet space can also help when the child can desensitize until they feel ready to go back to the task they are involved in.
This creation of a quiet space can compromise of a pop-up tent and a (Sensory) beanbag. Access to a fidget toy or another item that the child uses to calm can also help.
Reduce lighting if possible and reduce/exclude external noise.
Never leave the child unsupervised.
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Let’s take a look at hyposensitivity
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Hyposensitivity is the opposite to hypersensitivity.
People who are hypersensitive are under sensitive to certain types of sensory stimuli and information.
People with hyposensitivity are sometimes called sensory seekers.
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With hyposensitivity the response to sensory stimuli or information is lessened or delayed.
The areas where people experience hyposensitivity are the exact same,
Hypo-hearing: Difficulty distinguishing and isolating sounds. They may often create noise to stimulate their hearing.
Hypo-smell: Oblivious to many odours and smells.
Hypo-taste: Tendency to self-stimulate the sensation of taste.
Hypo-touch: Seeks out tactile sensations.
Hypo-vision: Difficulty distinguishing light and colours. May also actively stare and closely inspect objects.
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For example, a child of person with autism who is hyposensitive to touch may have a very high pain threshold and may bite themselves or bang their head seeking sensory stimulation.
The child may also seek oral sensory stimulation by chewing or biting objects.
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The reason for this is so that they can experience the sensory sensation and they can use these extreme actions to achieve this.
The big problem here is that children can injure themselves as they seek sensory experiences.
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Hypersensitivity and hyposensitivity can drive stress and anxiety as the person with autism is fearful of being overwhelmed by sensory information or the need to seek out sensory inputs.
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This is why many people with autism may seek out a quiet place or cover their ears and close their eyes when they are in a place where they cannot cope with the level of sensory inputs they are facing.
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So, we know that people and children with autism can be:
Hypersensitive – Overly reactive to sensory stimuli
Hyposensitive – Seek out sensory stimuli
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Let’s look at some of the ways that sensory difficulty can affect the lives of people with autism.
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People with autism can be compromised in experiencing daily life because of their sensory issues.
They may have difficulties in transitioning from one place to another due to sensory concerns.
Exposure to a difficult sensory environment can lead to increased levels of anxiety and stress.
An unsuitable sensory environment can directly affect concentration levels.
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Sensory processing problems can drive outbursts and challenging behaviour.
Over exposure to sensory information can lead to meltdowns.
Sensory seeking can lead to self-injurious behaviours.
