What is autistic sensory overload and how do they relate to the '5' senses?
Discussing the relationship between sensory overload and the '5' senses for autistic people.
Sensory overload is a major hallmark of the autistic spectrum and all autistic people suffer with sensory overload that is inflamed by at least one or more of the ‘5’ senses in the human body. When there’s an over or under sensitivity to any of these ‘5’ senses to an autistic person, this leads to an overwhelming state of anxiety and distress that makes it hard for the autistic person to manage their current situation or environment to cope and desperately seek sanctuary or comfort in their special interests.
Autistic sensory overload happens one or more of the ‘5’ senses become overwhelmed by too much input for the autistic person. It happens when the mind struggles to filter or process sensory information in a safe and manageable way, which can lead to stress, discomfort, mental distortion or even physical pain. When the overwhelming feelings and thoughts gets too much, the autistic person are in a vulnerable state where they want to escape the situation or environment they’re overwhelmed about and into a situation or environment that might not be safe, especially if they aren’t aware of their surroundings.
For autistic people, the mind processes sensory information differently, often more intensely or with less ability to filter out; whereas neurotypical people are more able to safely ignore and get on with the rest of their day. Sensory overload can also lead to anxious meltdowns, which manifests itself into intense and uncontrollable responses and a loss of emotional and behavioural regulation.
The variety of symptoms that constitutes as a sensory overload or anxious meltdown are, which can vary from one autistic person to other and the list below it’s not exhaustive:
Increased movement, such as jumping, spinning or crashing into things.
Increased stimming, such as hand flapping, making repetitive noises or rocking back and forth.
Talking faster and louder, or not talking at all.
Covering or protecting ears or eyes.
Difficulty recognizing internal sensations like hunger, pain or the need to use the bathroom.
Refusing or insisting on certain foods or clothing items.
Frequent chewing on non-food items.
Frequent touching of others or playing rough.
Difficulty communicating or responding as the brain shifts resources to deal with sensory input.
Escalating, overwhelming emotions or need to escape a situation.
(Source: Sensory issues | Autism Speaks)
Behaviours that autistic people give when experiencing sensory overload and meltdown can be misunderstood for child tantrums or bad behaviour, when it’s nothing of the sort. When sensory overload meltdowns happen, they’re involuntary and cause loss of control, as well as showing signs of distress for the autistic person and they need time to recover from a meltdown. They don’t have the desire to manipulate a situation or cause harm to anyone else, as they’re more likely to cause harm to themselves rather than toward others. This is where the differentiation is at between autistic people and neurotypical people in increasing the awareness of sensory overloads, how to recognise the signs and support the autistic person when they’re in a situation or state of meltdown because of their overbearing pains and emotions they have as a result of their sensory systems being in overdrive.
In my experiences as an autistic person, I’ve had numerous occasions where my sensory overload has got too much and feel like I want to escape from those situations or environments that cause my sensory meltdown, regardless of having the awareness of my surroundings to keep myself safe. As a child, naturally it’s the parents’ responsibility to keep their children safe and notice the signs of when their autistic kid(s) is demonstrating distress or uncomforting behaviours that points to them having a sensory overload meltdown. However, adults have to regulate their sensory overload accordingly and be able to spot the signs of when situations or environments get too much and pull themselves away to calm their anxious states in a safe way.
My biggest sensory overload nightmare is loud and very busy public places, where there’s hordes of people in one place and can’t move around much or hear my own thoughts. This is one of the main sensory issues that a majority of autistic people I’ve come across over the years have and do feel physical pains from. This is something that is part of my autistic make-up and still lingers with me even to this day as an adult. Over time, I’ve managed to handle busy situations much better and be more aware of my surroundings to keep myself safe, even though there’s still a limit of how much I can manage before the distress signs show of when enough is enough and pull myself out the situation.
For sensory overload meltdowns to have an impact on autistic people, it has to be triggered by one or more of the ‘5’ human senses: Sight, Sound, Touch, Smell and Taste, as a reaction to the stresses of the environment that the autistic person is in and finding distressing.
Sight (Visual Overload)
Sight, or perceiving things through the eyes, is a complex process. First, light reflects off an object to the eye. The transparent outer layer of the eye known as the cornea bends the light, some of which then passes through a hole in the eye called the pupil, to the lens.
Sound (Auditory Overload)
The sense of hearing works via the complex labyrinth that is the human ear. Sound is funnelled from the outside, along a passageway in the outer ear called the external auditory canal or ear canal. Then, sound waves reach the tympanic membrane, or eardrum. This is a thin sheet of connective tissue that vibrates when sound waves strike it.
Touch (Tactile Overload)
Touch is thought to be the first sense that humans develop. Touch consists of several distinct sensations communicated to the brain through specialized neurons, or nerve cells, in the skin. Pressure, temperature, light touch, vibration, pain and other sensations are all part of the touch sense and are all attributed to different receptors in the skin.
Smell (Olfactory Overload)
The perception of smell begins in the olfactory cleft on the roof of the nasal cavity. Nerve endings within this cleft detect odours and transmit signals about them to the olfactory bulb in the brain where they are interpreted as smells.
Taste (Gustatory Overload)
The gustatory sense is usually broken down into the perception of five different tastes: salty, sweet, sour, bitter and umami or savoury. Contrary to popular belief, "spicy" is not a taste, rather it is a pain signal that relays information on temperature and touch to the brain.
(Source: https://www.livescience.com/60752-human-senses.html)
How does the ‘5’ senses affect autistic people? Autistic people are more prone to feeling uncomfortable with certain everyday environment influences, like: bright, flashing lights (sight), loud, overpowering noises (sound), certain clothing fabrics (touch), strong, unusual odours (smell), and unfamiliar foods and drinks (taste).
When connecting my experiences to the ‘5’ senses, flashing lights and loud noisy environments are an overwhelming nightmare for me, so going to places like nightclubs and concerts would be out of the question. Touch has never been an issue for me personally but I know that a proportion of autistic people have a sensitivity to touch and how they relate to others in terms of body language and connection. When it comes to smell and taste, certain smells do make me have a reaction but not to the point where I get distressed by it. Taste in terms of food, I like certain food cuisine and not so for others, which everyone on this planet has their likes and dislikes when it comes to food and drink. In extreme cases, having a sensory overload for taste can be linked anxiety behaviours of refusing to eat certain foods (being a picky eater) to those that might have an eating disorder, which brings its own dangers to health for those that suffer with Bulimia or similar conditions. When it comes to eating for me, there’s times where my eyes are bigger than my stomach but never had issues with an eating disorder.
There’re also two other unknown senses that can cause autistic sensory overload: proprioception and vestibular.
Proprioception (body awareness) – is your body’s ability to sense its own position and movements. It’s an automatic or subconscious process. It allows your brain to know the position of your body in space without having to rely on visual input alone. It’s also crucial to maintaining balance and many conditions and injuries can affect it.
Vestibular (balance/movement) – helps maintain your sense of balance. It includes structures inside your inner ear called otolith organs and semi-circular canals that detect head movements. Your brain uses this information to help you balance. Problems with your vestibular system cause symptoms like dizziness and vertigo.
These two senses are mainly more to do with the neurological processes of the human body and the skeletal system that combined helps keep the body and its functions going and in healthy order. Where autistic people will be impacted on in terms of sensory overload meltdown is when a multitude of different feelings and thoughts are going through an autistic person’s body and mind. Like where they aren’t aware of their surroundings and the anxiety mounted up from the meltdown is making them feel dizzy or showing in different forms of pain that it affects their balance, especially when an anxiety attack has happened.
The only time when I have had sensory overload meltdown in connection with these two extra senses was when I had a full-blown anxiety attack when I was at college years ago and it caused me to lose my balance and fall on the floor, where I needed help to sit on a chair and was sweltering and not fully with it for a few minutes in the aftermath. When it comes to anxiety and mental health, it’s important to always keep our bodies and minds in great check, as the ‘5’ or ‘7’ senses do contribute towards your overall well-being and what our bodies are telling us through various but hidden signs, as well as a way for our brains to process information.
At this point, we can determine straight away that autistic people do suffer massively in various ways and severities when it comes to sensory overload and meltdowns. The establishment of the ‘7’ senses play a big role in how autistic people process information, experiences, and dealing with certain situations and environments which can influence the various signals, mentally and physically, of sensory overload meltdowns are going to happen and hopefully mitigate them effectively. It also highlights the importance to have awareness of when an autistic person is getting distressed by things that are out of their control and have the ability to remove themselves to an environment that’s more calming in nature and that it’s safe for the autistic person, as their welfare is paramount.
The list below shows methods or piece of equipment that autistic people can use to manage and mitigate sensory overload better, which this list is not exhaustive:
Noise-cancelling headphones
Sunglasses or dim lighting
Sensory-friendly clothing
Stimming (like rocking or fidgeting) to self-soothe
Calm, quiet spaces
Respecting personal boundaries and allowing breaks
As I’ve demonstrated with my experiences with sensory overload, autistic people are capable for managing and reducing the severity of their sensory overload meltdowns, as long as they can build the skills and abilities to recognising the signs of an onset sensory overload meltdown and safely remove themselves from situations or environments that cause their distress. The most effective way of reducing the severity of one’s sensory overload is to treat it in the same way that you would with anxiety, as sensory overload meltdowns are based on anxiety-driven fears and emotions.
I know that all autistic people have their limits when it comes sensory-sensitive environments that cause distress, myself included, but if you make a conscious effort in reducing your sensory overload severity and state of well-being, it’ll do wonders for your life and you’ll be able to tackle situations more confidently and have a higher sense of determination where anything is achievable and the world is your oyster.
Sources:
Sensory issues | Autism Speaks
The five (and more) human senses | Live Science