What Does It Mean to Be Sensory Sensitive?

Have you ever walked into a brightly lit store filled with loud music and felt overwhelmed? Or maybe certain textures on clothing make you itch uncontrollably? If so, you might have experienced a moment of sensory sensitivity.

Being sensory sensitive means that a person has a heightened or intense reaction to sensory stimuli, which can include sights, sounds, smells, tastes, textures, and other physical sensations. This heightened sensitivity can lead to discomfort, stress, or overwhelm in environments that others might find normal or even pleasant.

While everyone has unique sensory preferences, those who are sensory sensitive experience sensory information through one or more senses differently. This can manifest as hypersensitivity, where there’s an overload of sensory input. This can lead to discomfort, anxiety, or even physical reactions in overwhelming environments.

As providers of pediatric therapy services in California, we have enumerated some examples of how sensory sensitivity might manifest:

• Visual Sensitivity: Bright lights, fluorescent lighting, or busy visual environments may cause discomfort or distress.
• Sound Sensitivity: Loud noises, certain frequencies, or even background sounds like buzzing or humming may be overwhelming.
• Tactile Sensitivity: Certain fabrics, tags in clothing, or specific textures might feel irritating or painful.
• Smell Sensitivity: Strong smells, whether pleasant or unpleasant, can be overwhelming or nauseating.
• Taste Sensitivity: Certain flavors or food textures might be intolerable.
• Movement Sensitivity: Sensitivity to body position, balance, and movement can lead to discomfort with certain physical activities or sensations.
• Balance: Motion sickness, a fear of heights, or difficulty walking on uneven surfaces can be signs of vestibular sensitivity.

Individuals with sensory sensitivities often develop coping strategies to manage their reactions, such as avoiding certain environments, using noise-canceling headphones, wearing sunglasses, or choosing specific types of clothing. Understanding and accommodating sensory sensitivities can greatly improve the quality of life for those affected.

Sensory overload happens when your senses become overwhelmed by their environment. The tricky part? Triggers can be everyday experiences for others, but for you, they disrupt your daily life.

As experts in pediatric therapy in California, we have enlisted some signs of sensory overload to watch for:

• Social Withdrawal: Does your child shy away from new places or avoid being touched? This could be a response to overstimulation.
• Sensory Discomforts: Is your child easily irritated by clothing textures, dislikes having face or hair washed, bothered by sounds that seem normal to others, or has a limited repertoire of foods that he will eat? These sensitivities might indicate sensory overload.
• Social Challenges: Does your child dislike background music, avoid crowds, or appear fatigued after social interactions? Sensory overload can contribute to these experiences.
• Focus and Fatigue: Difficulty concentrating, completing tasks, or feeling irritable, especially in noisy, bright environments, could be signs of sensory overload.
• Physical Symptoms: Does your child experience headaches, muscle tension, or exhaustion after being in stimulating places? These physical reactions can be triggered by sensory overload.
• Seeking Refuge: Do you find your child needing more alone time, seeking quiet spaces, or using noise-canceling headphones even in silence? These behaviors might be a way to manage sensory overload.

Unsure if these resonate with you? A pediatric occupational therapist can help diagnose sensory processing issues in children.

At Developmental Pathways for Kids, we provide pediatric Occupational Therapy (OT) to address sensory overload by helping children develop skills and strategies to manage their sensory sensitivities effectively. We are a sensory integration-based pediatric clinic in Redwood City, California.

Here are some key ways in which pediatric therapy can help with sensory overload:

1. Sensory Integration Therapy: This form of therapy aims to help children process and respond to sensory information more effectively. Therapists use play-based activities that are designed to challenge and stimulate the child’s sensory system in a structured and supportive way.
2. Sensory Diet: An occupational therapy professional may develop a “sensory diet” for a child, which is a personalized plan of sensory activities that can help regulate their sensory input throughout the day. These activities can include things like swinging, jumping, noise-cancellation headphones, or using weighted blankets to provide calming input.
3. Environmental Modifications: An OT can recommend changes to the child’s environment to reduce sensory overload. This might involve adjusting lighting, reducing noise, or creating a sensory-friendly space, a “calm down corner,” where the child can retreat when feeling overwhelmed.