Sensory needs and communication

Also called Sensory processing and AAC, Sensory overload, Sensory environment

Noise, light, touch and smell can shut communication down before a word is said. The environment is part of the system.

What it is

Sensory needs are the ways a person's senses work differently: sounds that are painfully loud, lights that flicker or glare, clothing that scratches, smells that turn a stomach, a light touch that feels like a blow, or the opposite, a need for deep pressure or movement to feel settled. When the senses are overloaded, communication goes. The person cannot find words, cannot look at a device, cannot hear a question.

The room is therefore part of the communication system, and a system that ignores it will fail in a busy classroom, a supermarket or a ward.

Who it can help

Autistic people first, since sensory processing differences are part of the diagnosis. Also people with learning disabilities, ADHD, brain injury, dementia, and anyone whose sensory tolerance drops when tired or ill. Families and staff who want to know why the device that works at home is never used at school.

It is not a set of rules that apply to everyone. Sensory profiles are individual; one person's calming lamp is another's unbearable hum.

How it works

Overload works like a bucket. Each sensory demand adds to it, and when it overflows, the person has a meltdown or shutdown or simply stops communicating. The level of the bucket at any moment sets how much communication is possible, so a person may manage a conversation in a quiet room and nothing at all in a canteen.

Devices have sensory properties too. A screen's brightness, the voice's volume and pitch, the click of a switch, a keyguard's feel, the position of a mount, all of these can be the reason a person avoids the aid. See device accessibility settings and voice speed and pitch. Some people communicate better with less eye contact and a device is easier than a face for exactly that reason.

An occupational therapist can assess a sensory profile and recommend adjustments; a speech and language therapist can tune the device. The two need to talk to each other.

Getting started

This week, list the places where the person communicates least and note what those places sound, look and smell like. That list is usually the answer.

Change one thing in one place: a quieter corner, a lower light, headphones, a seat with a back to the wall. Then try the device there.

Check the device itself: turn the screen brightness down, try a different voice, test the volume. Ask the person, if they can tell you, whether any part of the aid feels wrong. And put sensory words on the board: too loud, too bright, headphones, quiet, break, so that the person can say it before it is too late; see feelings vocabulary.

Where to get help

National Autistic Society has practical guidance on sensory differences. The GP or the school can refer to an occupational therapist for a sensory assessment. Sense covers people with complex sensory needs. Autistica publishes research on sensory processing. Ambitious about Autism covers school environments.