It’s October, which means it’s Sensory Processing Disorder Awareness Month! It is estimated that between 5% and 16.5% of the general population experience Sensory Processing Disorder. But what is it?
Put simply, it’s a difference in how the brain processes sensory input, which impacts how a person responds to that input.
Let’s start with the senses – did you know we have 8?
- Auditory – the things that we hear
- Gustatory – the things that we taste
- Olfactory – the things that we smell
- Tactile – the things that we touch
- Visual – the things that we see
- Interoception – our internal awareness, e.g. hunger, thirst, temperature
- Proprioception – our awareness of where our body is and how it is moving
- Vestibular – our awareness of balance and movement
We all have different receptors in our bodies related to each sense. The receptors receive the sensory input and send a message to the brain, which then processes this message and determines how to react to it.
For example, if you pick up a prickly thorn, the receptors in your hands receive the sensory input (the prickly thorn) and send a message to the brain. The brain processes this message and determines that the sensory input (the thorn) could be harmful and cause us pain, so the brain responds by sending a message back to your hands telling you to drop the thorn.
For somebody who has Sensory Processing Disorder, their brain will process these sensory messages differently. It could almost be described as a ‘traffic jam’ in the brain. This means that a person could be over-sensitive to sensory input, under-sensitive to sensory input, or may crave certain types of sensory input.
The type of sensitivity and which senses are affected will vary from person to person, so everybody who has Sensory Processing Disorder will experience it in a way which is unique to them. However, it can make the world a challenging place to be sometimes.
One of the most helpful things for somebody who has Sensory Processing Disorder is to adapt the environment so that it isn’t too overwhelming for them. Could you dim bright lights, or turn the radio off? Some people may need to move around a lot so having plenty of movement breaks could also be beneficial. But the best thing you could do is find out what works for them and what they need.
Since it’s Sensory Processing Disorder Awareness Month, what could you do to raise awareness of this little-known condition?
