What is Sensory Processing Disorder? When it comes to sensory processing, what do we really know about it? If you find out that someone close to you is sensory, what does it really mean? How can you understand what somebody else experiences every day?
We are sensory creatures from the moment when we are born. We rely so heavily on our senses of sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell to interpret the world that it’s difficult to imagine our lives without them. Several years ago, my ears became plugged with water after swimming. I just could not clear that water out and I was essentially deaf for two days. All I heard was a hollow sound until my ears dried out several days later. It is seem like an uneventful situation for sure, but I knew it would eventually pass. For most of us simply having no sense of smell because of a cold can make us appreciate just how different life is when one of our sensory systems isn’t working right.
But I don’t understand: what is sensory processing disorder?
Let’s Take a Different Example: have you ever gotten sunburned? Chances are that your skin was sensitive from the burn and if someone brushed against it you probably flinched a little (or a lot). Because the nerves in your skin were at a heightened alertness due to the burn. This is your sensory processing system at work. Of course, avoiding the sunburn in the first place is the best defense, however using aloe or other products to soothe your burn after it’s occurred is a great option to calming your tender skin. Luckily for most people the burn is usually gone from memory within a day or two.
But what if that heightened alertness never went away? This is what some children experience this every day! Our sunburn example demonstrated how we deal with the sense of touch, but it can also happen with any of the body’s sensory systems. In literature about Sensory Processing the example most often given is that of a stereo where the volume button is broken. The only way to listen to it would be at the loudest setting.
The next time you try to answer a question “what is sensory processing disorder?” to to help families of children with Sensory processing issues imagine what life would be like if everything they heard seemed as if it were on that highest volume, every touch to their skin felt like a sunburn, every new food they put in their mouth seemed like biting into a hot chili pepper, smells were completely foul, and regular lighting left your eyes stinging. Thinking about these experiences can help us understand why sometimes our children may react quite negatively to the sensory experiences that seem uneventful to the rest of us. Patience and empathy are the first steps to help your child manage their sensory processing challenges.
Sensory Processing Disorder Seeker is not easy to understand and every child has a different story. Learn more about my sensory seeker son and sensory processing disorder.
Thanks for the informative article! My friends child has sensory disorder!
Thank you so much for stopping by
That’s a great explanation on sensory processing disorder. “Patience and empathy.” Well written.
Thank You
It’s a very difficult to describe SPD but you did it beautifully. I hope many ready it and get a peek into the life of so many kiddos and their families. (Sharing some comment love back from Love That Max)
I am so happy I found Love that Max just as a great way to connect
Thanks so much for writing about this very important topic! I have pinned it to my “education” board so more teachers can read about it!
I really appreciate that
Glad to see discussion of SPD!!!
Thank you for stopping by
I don’t have any experience with sensory processing disorder but gah, it sounds horrible for anyone who has to suffer with it.
I think I have heard of this before but it was interesting to read more about it.
Thank you or the post. I think my daughter has this.
Love seeing you getting this information out there. I did a speech in college on this when we first learned my son had it and it was surprising that NO ONE had ever heard of it!
It is still a problem explaining it at the kids institutions. They understand autism or possibly spectrum, but that’s about it
Thank you for this post, I also read the other that you linked to. We are currently working with the school to find out if something like this may be going on with my son. He does several of the things you mentioned in your previous post and it was hindering his abilities at school. We are working on it but we still have not pinpointed or named what he has.
That is why I called early intervention: I had a dinner with a friend and she kept mentioning all these things her son did that my son did as well. I am so grateful for that dinner. Come back soon – we are working on many more related topics
Thank you for explaining it so simply. I am sorry your child has to deal with this condition.
I actually learned a lot from reading this. You explained it so well. I am sorry your child has to deal with this condition. Helping other people understand the disorder will go a long way.
This must be such a challenge for you. I learned a lot from your post. Thank you.
I’ve enjoyed learning about this disorder through your blog. I think it’s fascinating all the little things people cope with that we never bother to realize the impact. We just brush them off as a child being hyperactive or difficult. It’s great to be able to understand a little better.
I really had no idea about this ‘disability’, even though we know parents who have children that probably suffer from it (undiagnosed). Thanks for keeping us informed!
This is such a great way to explain it! No one has ever been able to put into terms that are easily understandable so I could never really imagine what it must be like for someone with SPD. Thank you for helping me understand this better!
I love that you share so much about this in order to inform others of an issue you face day in and day out. Your posts are always uplifting and informative. – Katy
This is all great information to those of us who don’t know what this affliction is! Especially the easy to understand language you put it into. Because of my Lyme Disease I suffer from a slight to moderate degree of MCS (multiple chemical sensitivity) which, for me (most of the time anyway), deals with a heightened sense of smell along with headaches and other things. I have had it to where things are too bright and too loud as well.
Thankfully it all comes and goes so I don’t deal with it on a daily basis but it’s definitely not too fun when it happens!
Many of the students I teach have sensory disorder. It can be all-consuming for them; the distraction from something as simple as a stray thread can push them over the edge. Thanks for bringing awareness to the disorder.
Very informative and well written, thank you!
i’m so glad you shared this! Now I can actually explain it to my family! My daughter has it. And they aren’t understanding what is wrong with her.
Thank you for this explanation. I have a five, almost six year old, with SPD. He showed signs for a year but we chalked them up to it just being his personality. He was diagnosed in September 2012, at age four, with speech delay (something I suspected when he was two, but the doctor would not listen to me); two and a half months later, he received his SPD diagnosis. So much of the past year finally made sense, but even after a year later, it’s hard to explain what my child struggles with to others. They don’t always see him at his worse, see how the way he handles certain situations change from day to day, how he doesn’t handle change well, and so on. There are times I am still baffled at some of his behavior, like how he can put water on his head, but if I do it (bath time), he flails around and screams because water touched his face. I will say that ever since he was diagnosed, I have self-diagnosed myself. My behavior, my thoughts, my emotional outbursts from childhood to even now in my thirties suddenly make sense. Sad thing is, since I am an adult, I am told I cannot act like I do (I overreact to certain situations and stimuli, and depending on the situation, want to stay away from people, things have to be done a certain way — my way, and so on). :