Types of Sensory Sensitivities

Summary: This guide explains how sensory sensitivities affect how people experience the world. It covers eight different sensory areas, like sight, sound, touch, and internal body signals. By learning more about your sensory sensitivities, you can make small changes to decrease sensory stress. 

Who is this guide for?
This guide is for anyone who feels overwhelmed or not stimulated enough by the world around them. These are common experiences among people who are neurodivergent, like those who are autistic or have ADHD or sensory processing differences. This guide can also be useful for friends, family, or caregivers who want to understand how to better support their loved ones and help them create more comfortable environments.

What are sensory sensitivities? 
Sensory sensitivities happen when your brain and nervous system react strongly to things like bright lights, loud sounds, or certain textures. If you are neurodivergent, your brain might process these sensations differently. Some sensations might feel overwhelming, uncomfortable, or even painful. Many neurodivergent people have sensory sensitivities, and neurotypical people can have them too.

Understanding sensory sensitivities can help us cope with tough situations better and maintain our energy and well-being. Coping isn’t about getting rid of all discomfort; it’s about reducing hurt. For example, you wouldn’t tell someone with bad eyesight to “cope” by squinting. Instead, coping means making changes to your environment to make it easier to manage, not just ignoring or tolerating pain.

What are the degrees of sensory sensitivities? 
It can be helpful to think of your sensory system like a volume dial. For some people, that dial is always turned up high, which can be frustrating, overwhelming, and exhausting. It can drain your energy even when you don’t realize it’s happening. For others, the dial is too low, so they need to “turn things up.” Each sensation, like sound, light, or touch, has its own dial. This means you might feel very sensitive to some sensations but not sensitive enough to others.

• Over-responsive (hypersensitive) is when people feel sensory input more strongly than others. What might seem fine to some people can feel really overwhelming to hypersensitive people. For example, bright lights, loud sounds, or certain textures can become overwhelming. People who are hypersensitive often try to avoid these sensations because they can feel painful, uncomfortable, or even unbearable. 
• Under-responsive (hyposensitive) is when someone might not notice sensory inputs like temperature changes, pain, or certain smells until they are very intense. It’s like being in a room where the TV is on, but they can barely hear it. Naturally, they’ll want to turn up the volume. For some people, this under-sensitivity can lead to stimulation-seeking. This is where they might look for strong sensory experiences, like a tight hug or strong textures, to feel more. 

Sensory sensitivities can change based on things like sleep, hunger, illness, or other bodily conditions. In addition, sensitivity can vary throughout the day. For example, some might become more or less sensitive to lights, sounds, or other stimuli as the day goes on.

What are the types of sensory sensitivities? 
Each section below includes examples of both hypersensitivity and hyposensitivity. This is a good place to start to identify your personal sensory profile. 

Visual (Sight) Sensitivity:
Hypersensitivity

• Feeling blinded by bright lights. 
• Feeling dizzy or disoriented by certain patterns, colors, or flashing lights. 

Hyposensitivity

• Staring directly at bright lights, the sun, or spinning objects for stimulation. 
• Not noticing changes around you.
• Struggling to find what you need in cluttered spaces. 

Hearing (Auditory) Sensitivity:
Hypersensitivity

• Everyday sounds, like the hum of a refrigerator or buzz of fluorescent lights, feel loud, annoying, or painful.
• Voices or background noise make it hard to focus or feel overwhelming.

Hyposensitivity

• Not being bothered by loud noises, such as alarms. 
• Being told by others that you speak too loudly. 
• Seeking out noisy environments. 
• Needing louder sounds to feel engaged. 

Touch (Tactile) Sensitivity:
Hypersensitivity

• Certain fabrics or tags on clothes feel distracting, uncomfortable, or painful.
• Being touched by others makes you feel irritated or overstimulated. 
• Temperature changes, like cold floors or hot water, feel uncomfortable.
• Routine procedures, such as a dental cleaning, feel very painful due to a low pain threshold.

Hyposensitivity

• Seeking out physical contact through strong hugs, touch, or weighted blankets.
• Not noticing bruises, cuts, or major injuries due to a high pain threshold.

Taste Sensitivity:
Hypersensitivity

• Some foods taste too strong, like those with spicy or bitter flavors. 
• Disliking foods due to the food’s texture, such as being too slimy, mushy, gummy, crunchy, or chewy. 

Hyposensitivity

• Seeking out strong flavors because other foods taste “bland.” 
• More intensely craving certain tastes, like salty, sour, or sweet foods. 
• Chewing on non-food items like shirt collars, pencils, or toys. 

Smell Sensitivity:
Hypersensitivity

• Getting nauseous or lightheaded because certain smells, like perfumes, strong chemical cleaners, or food, are overwhelming. 

Hyposensitivity

• Not noticing smells that most people might, like body odor or burning food.

Movement (Vestibular) Sensitivity:
Hypersensitivity

• Getting dizzy, nauseous, or anxious with certain movements, like spinning, swinging, or riding in a car.
• Feeling uncomfortable when others are in your personal space. 
• Not being able to refocus attention when someone or something is too close to you.

Hyposensitivity

• Preferring intense movement, like running, jumping, or rocking.
• Not being aware of your personal space or when others are too close to you. 

Body Awareness (Proprioception) Sensitivity:
Hypersensitivity

• Being constantly aware of muscle tension, posture, or joint position. 

Hyposensitivity

• Bumping into or tripping over things because you have trouble recognizing where your body is in space. 
• Needing pressure or strong sensations, like jumping or squeezing, to feel more grounded or calm.

Interoception (Internal Body States) Sensitivity:
Interoception is feeling what’s happening inside your body, such as temperature, hunger, thirst, needing to use the bathroom, pain, heart rate, and other physical sensations. 

Hypersensitivity

• Trouble explaining what feels wrong, only knowing something feels “off.”
• Not being able to refocus attention when your body is sending a signal (e.g., hungry, thirsty, tired)

Hyposensitivity

• Difficulties recognizing internal signs such as forgetting to eat, not knowing when to go to the bathroom, or not noticing you’re sick, until the symptoms become very intense.

By figuring out what sensory levels feel best for you, you can adjust your environment to match those needs. This can help you save energy and take better care of yourself. If you’re still having trouble understanding your sensory needs, reach out to your Lyra Care provider.