I believe that all people with autism process sensory information differently.  That doesn’t mean that all people who process information differently have autism, or that there is anything wrong with them at all!  Most humans assume that everyone processes information the way s/he does, and that is the root of why sensory differences get in the way.  If it doesn’t bother me then it should not be a problem for you, so no adjustments will be made.  This is a common and intolerant response to finding people who are different than ourselves.  Haven’t we grown past this?  While we all love to pretend we are tolerant,  interpretation of differences is mostly that we should adjust the world to make “me” happier and that others should try harder to be like “me”.

If a person could just change a function of sensory processing, then we’d be fine.  I know that sensory processing styles are as deeply ingrained as the most fundamental aspects of temperament.  Some of us like bright lights and visual environments, others need to wear a ball cap under bright fluorescents or wear sunglasses in bright environments.  No body is wrong here, everyone is right.  If I cannot tolerate the bright light, however, it’ll start to affect me and push me into a stress response, if my sensory difference is disrespected or if accommodations are disallowed.  Adults can often leave challenging environments and implement strategies, while youth, with less mature processing and less developed self awareness, do not have the freedom to leave a bright classroom or put on a ball cap.  

Many people are what we call “under-responsive” to sensory input.  These people can often miss a lot of information in their environment, and their “Low Registration” can cause them to be labeled as lazy, disinterested people.  These people need more sensory input to be in a mid-range of arousal/alertness, and so they often jump into “Sensory Seeking” mode to increase their own sensory processing.

The Quadrants    

Quadrant-Low Registration.pdf  Read this document to learn more about what it is like to be hypo-responsive to sensory input and how to support people in this processing mode.

Quadrant-Sensory Seeking.pdf  Read this document to learn more about what it is like to be  hypo-responsive to sensory input and trying to use sensory input to increase processing/arousal/attention.

Other people are what we call “over-responsive” to sensory input.  These detail people notice everything in the environment, and are theorized to have a rapid speed of sensory processing.  It is easy for someone who is over-responsive to become overloaded by sensory input in many environments.

Quadrant-Sensory Sensitive.pdf Read this document to better understand what it is like to be sensory sensitive and how to support a person with this profile.

Quadrant-Sensory Avoidant.pdf   Read this document to see what happens when an over responsive person jumps into sensory avoiding mode, and how to support a person in this state.

Recognizing an overall tendency to drift into being under-responsive or over-responsive can give you a lot of common sense insight into how to manage your environment and your sensory diet to keep yourself feeling calm, focused, and in control.

Can recognize when someone is experiencing low registration, sensory seeking, sensory sensitive, or sensory avoiding?  Doing so could make it much easier for you to accept and understand  these states of being without being judgmental.  Understanding this also makes it very easy for you to support the person in a positive way!