Understanding Your Child's Sensory Profile
Hyper-sensitive, hypo-sensitive, or both — and what it means practically
Sensory processing differences affect 90%+ of autistic individuals. The same child can be hypersensitive in some senses and hyposensitive in others — which looks contradictory until you understand the neuroscience.
The 8 senses
Most people know 5. There are 3 more that matter enormously for autistic kids:
- Proprioception: sense of where your body is in space. Impacts need for jumping, crashing, tight hugs, heavy work.
- Vestibular: sense of movement and balance. Impacts need for spinning, swinging, rocking.
- Interoception: sense of internal body states (hunger, thirst, needing the bathroom, heart racing). Often dysregulated in autistic people — they may not feel hunger until it becomes extreme, or feel anxious without knowing why.
Hypersensitive (over-responsive): Brain amplifies input
- Covers ears in normal environments
- Gags at textures others don't notice
- Cannot wear certain clothing
- Overwhelmed in visually "busy" environments
- Light touch feels painful; avoids hugs
Hyposensitive (under-responsive): Brain doesn't register input adequately
- Seeks intense sensory input: crashing, spinning, chewing, very loud music
- Doesn't feel pain or temperature reliably
- May not notice when hungry or needs to use the bathroom
- Appears clumsy or unaware of personal space
A sensory diet is not a food diet
It's a scheduled set of sensory activities throughout the day designed to keep the nervous system regulated — like a maintenance schedule. A good OT or BCBA will build one based on your child's specific profile. Without it, the nervous system gets dysregulated by late afternoon regardless of what happens.