Summary: Hyper-responsiveness and hypo-responsiveness are ways autistic children can react to their environment. In the first case, they are always on high alert; in the second, they seem completely disconnected.
The sensory profile test is a detailed tool that can help determine if a child is autistic by highlighting behaviors that parents might not have noticed. This test often serves as a starting point for families, motivating them to seek more information to understand their child’s unique perspective.
A certified occupational therapist specializing in sensory integration explains that the sensory profile is essentially a questionnaire filled out by the parents. The questions are rated from 1 (rarely) to 5 (often) to understand how the child processes sensory information in different environments. The results provide insights into the child’s attention, social interactions, and overall behavior.
There are eight sensory systems, but three are particularly important: proprioceptive, interoceptive, and vestibular. These are the most fundamental systems at the neural and nervous system levels. They perceive and register sensory inputs and must work well together for the other five systems—tactile, auditory, visual, olfactory, and gustatory—to develop properly.
The proprioceptive system helps the child understand their body in space, guiding how they move and interact with their environment. The interoceptive system, which has gained more attention recently, communicates internal needs like hunger, thirst, sleep, or the need to use the bathroom. It helps children recognize internal body signals, which is why autistic children often take longer to master toilet training. These two systems are closely related and are crucial for many developmental milestones like crawling, running, jumping, holding a pencil, learning to write, and coloring.
The vestibular system manages balance and the inner ear, helping the child understand their position in space and control movements like eye tracking and throwing objects. This system is often the most noticeable, which is why autistic children may move constantly, have trouble focusing, and run around for long periods.
It’s known that between 92% and 98% of autistic individuals have sensory processing disorders. Standardized evaluations help quantify these challenges.
As autistic individuals reach adulthood, these figures drop to between 62% and 68%. This decrease is often due to masking, where they learn to hide their sensory challenges. They might force themselves to make eye contact or tolerate loud noises, but this can lead to sensory overload, dysregulation, and even depression or anxiety attacks.
The key is to understand exactly what is happening with the autistic individual to provide the right support and specialized care.