Many of the people I support experience ‘atypical sensory processing,’ in the sense of having a heightened awareness of both external and internal stimuli such as sounds, sights, or internal bodily signals like changes in heart rate. This heightened awareness often stimulates complex cognitive processes, where their brains may process more information at once, leading to creative and complex thinking. They can consider multiple perspectives and handle several streams of thought simultaneously, allowing them to make unique connections or generate innovative ideas. (Atypical sensory processing can also involve lowered awareness of sensory input, sometimes due to overwhelm or overstimulation resulting in shutdowns or sensory fatigue).
“Atypical sensory processing” can also affect how they interpret social situations, making them more alert to and capable of detecting unacknowledged emotions or subtle dynamics, such as power overs, beneath the surface of interactions. However, this increased sensitivity to social dissonance can sometimes lead them to misinterpret subtle cues as signs that something is wrong with them, resulting in self-judgment or anxiety.
With the right support, though, this heightened awareness can transform into a valuable strength, enabling them to perceive and navigate unspoken social dynamics with precision. And the ability to process multiple layers of information, combined with creative and big-picture thinking, offers a wider, more comprehensive perspective when resolving complex issues that require innovative solutions.
What often happens, however, is that because these individuals feel pressured to conform to conventional ways of navigating life (such as the structure of school or work), they may try to suppress their deep emotions and thoughts, or start to believe something is wrong with them. As a result, this ‘atypical sensory processing’ can become disabling. By suppressing their natural cognitive and sensory tendencies, it’s as if overlays and distorted interpretations are applied to the sensory input they receive, leading to confusion and disconnection. In these moments, they lose access to their full self and complete intelligence.
When they take action without access to their full self and complete intelligence, their choices and behaviors may gravitate toward patterns that feel safer or more socially acceptable in the short term, but ultimately erode their relationship with themselves and others.
It’s important to note that individuals with ‘atypical sensory processing’ often face stifling struggles due to societal barriers and power dynamics embedded in schools, economic infrastructures, and workplaces, rather than from any inherent deficiency or deviation from the norm. These societal structures frequently fail to accommodate their strengths, further exacerbating the challenges they encounter in living in alignment with their full self and complete intelligence.
For everyone, it is important to protect their access to their whole, grounded full self (which includes any part of you feeling anger, hopelessness, panic) but if you have heightened or refined awareness of sensory input, it becomes especially crucial. You will need to learn to navigate life in your own way to maintain this connection. It’s a gradual process that helps you make more and more decisions with access to your full intelligence, and slowly but steadily, you then create a life that is truly yours—one that supports you in the way you need to be supported. This shift is characterized by a transition from feeling that something is inherently wrong with you to the establishment of a deep and abiding self-trust.
This requires questioning the invisible rules of society and shifting from perceived control to true power—and having the courage to act from that place. This courage is found in the connection to the all-encompassing perspective that can be gained from heightened or refined awareness of sensory input. Through this connection, you can tap into a deeper, more authentic way of engaging with the world, allowing you to move through life with confidence and alignment to your true self (which again includes any part of you that is frightened, angry or feeling hopeless).