Highly Sensitive Persons and Sensory Processing Disorder

by Jadzia Jagiellowicz, PhD (Psych) and Veronica Ghazarian, OT Reg. (Ont.)

Both highly sensitive children and children with a sensory processing disorder (SPD) are more affected physiologically by sensory events, such as loud sounds, rough textures, bright lights, etc. Gifted children, (who are often highly sensitive) may also show sensory sensitivities (Gere et al, 2009). How can a parent or teacher tell whether their child is highly sensitive or whether they have sensory processing disorder (SPD)?

Occupational therapists work with children who have difficulty combining the information they receive from their senses in an organized way. The field of occupational therapy calls this condition Sensory-Processing Disorder. SPD used to be considered part of autism spectrum disorder, but is now considered a disorder of its own. http://www.kumc.edu/school-of-health-professions/occupational-therapy-education/our-faculty/dunn.html

According to The Star Institute for Sensory Processing Disorder, “One person with SPD may over-respond to touch sensation and find clothing, physical contact, other tactile sensory input to be unbearable and/or they may respond to visual or auditory or another sensory input.  Another person might under-respond and show little or no reaction to stimulation, even pain or extreme hot and cold or just may be slow to respond to sensation. In children whose sensory processing of messages from the muscles and joints is impaired, posture and motor skills can be affected. These children have postural disorder and are the "floppy” children who prop themselves up on walls when standing, lean over on their hand when writing and love to hang out, but not to move.  … In yet another subtype (developmental coordination disorder (DCD)) children are awkward and clumsy and get called "klutz" and "spaz" on the playground, always the last to be picked for a team in PE. Still other children exhibit an appetite for sensation that is in perpetual overdrive, we call these children sensory cravers. They seem almost addicted to intense stimulation but when they get they become dysregulated.  These kids often are misdiagnosed - and inappropriately medicated, for ADHD.”

HSPs are similar to individuals with SPD in their overresponsivity (compared to typical individuals) to sensory signals. However, brain research (Jagiellowicz et al., 2010) indicates what is called overresponsivity in highly sensitive persons is based on a difference in the way highly sensitive persons process information. The research showed that the more highly sensitive a person was, the more their brain paid attention to details in their environment. Thus, to non-sensitive people, it may seem that a highly sensitive person is over-responding, but the highly sensitive person is just responding to more subtleties in their environment.

At this point, I think it is important to define what is a “normal’. It means, “like the norm” or like everybody else. People’s characteristics fall along a continuum . For example, some people are better at organizing their thoughts than others. Some people can give a very clear speech without any notes. Most of the rest of us need notes to keep our thoughts organized. And some people, those with schizophrenia, have such trouble organizing their thoughts that their conversation doesn’t make sense to the rest of us.

HSPs may may appear similar to individuals with SPD in terms of over-responsivity A key difference between the two, however, would be that a person with HSP does not typically experience problems doing everyday activities or can learn how to adapt their responses to do them, which is not always the case for children with sensory processing disorder. Also, unlike some individuals with SPD, HSPs are not under-responsive to sensory signals. Indeed, brain research indicates that individuals high in sensory-processing sensitivity are better able to integrate sensory information than less-sensitive individuals, which is not the case for children with SPD.

It is also important to remember that there are characteristics other than the intense response to sensory signals that go along with being an HSP. So, in order to fall into the category of HSPs, individuals would also need to be more empathic towards others, notice the beauty around them more, be more conscientious workers, and be more moved by the arts and music. In order to score as highly sensitive, these people would most likely (although not always) score high on all these characteristics.

What to do if you are trying to decide whether your child has SPD or is highly sensitive? You will need to do some reading and speak with a number of professionals, including scientist/practitioners who specialize in highly sensitive people, as well as occupational therapists. It may take some time to figure out, so even though it seems difficult, be patient. It might be best to start with a specialist in high sensitivity, since the characteristics of high sensitivity are generally less severe than that of SPD. Indeed, high sensitivity is a normal personality trait of 1 out of every 5 people, whereas SPD is considered a disorder.

Occupational therapists use a number of different measures to diagnose Sensory Processing Disorder. You may want to research some of the following:

The Sensory Profile (Winnie Dunn et al)

The Analysis of Sensory Behavior Inventory (Morton and Wolford)

The Sensory Processing Measure (SPM) (L. Diane Parham, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, Cheryl Ecker, MA, OTR/L, Heather Miller Kuhaneck, MS, OTR/L, Diana A. Henry, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA, and Tara J. Glennon, EdD, OTR/L, FAOTA)

Also feel free to contact me https://www.highlysensitivesociety.com/contact for any questions you might have about sensory sensitivity in highly sensitive people.