Sensory differences

of their senses may be over- or under-sensitive, or both, at different times. These sensory

differences can affect how they feel and act, and can have a profound effect on a person’s
life. Here we help you to understand autism, the person and how to help.

You can also find out about synaesthesia, therapies and equipment. 

Sensory differences 
Here we look at some of the effects of hypersensitivity or hyposensitivity to sights, sounds,
smells, tastes, touch, balance and body awareness, and ways you could help. 

Sight 

UNDER-SENSITIVE 

 objects appear quite dark, or lose some of their features

 central vision is blurred but peripheral vision quite sharp
 a central object is magnified but things on the periphery are blurred
 poor depth perception, difficulties with throwing and catching, clumsiness. 

OVER-SENSITIVE 

 distorted vision - objects and bright lights can appear to jump around
 images may fragment
 easier and more pleasurable to focus on a detail rather than the whole object
 has difficulty getting to sleep as sensitive to the light. 

Sound 

UNDER-SENSITIVE 

 may only hear sounds in one ear, the other ear having only partial hearing or none at all
 may not acknowledge particular sounds
 might enjoy crowded, noisy places or bang doors and objects. 

You could help by using visual supports to back up verbal information, and ensuring that other
people are aware of the under-sensitivity so that they can communicate effectively. To meet the
person’s individual sensory need, include experiences they enjoy in their daily timetable. 

OVER-SENSITIVE 
  noise can be magnified and sounds become distorted and muddled
 may be able to hear conversations in the distance
 inability to cut out sounds – notably background noise - leading to difficulties
concentrating. 

Smell 

UNDER-SENSITIVE 

 some people have no sense of smell and fail to notice extreme odours (this can include
their own body odour). 
 some people may lick things to get a better sense of what they are. 

You could help by creating a routine around regular washing and using strong-smelling products
to distract people from inappropriate strong-smelling stimuli (like faeces). 

OVER-SENSITIVE 

 smells can be intense and overpowering. This can cause toileting problems

 dislikes people with distinctive perfumes, shampoos, etc. 

Taste 

UNDER-SENSITIVE 

 likes very spicy foods

 eats or mouths non-edible items such as stones, dirt, soil, grass, metal, faeces. This is
known as pica. 

OVER-SENSITIVE 

 finds some flavours and foods too strong and overpowering because of very sensitive
taste buds. Has a restricted diet
 certain textures cause discomfort - may only eat smooth foods like mashed potatoes
or ice-cream. 

Some autistic people may limit themselves to bland foods or crave very strong-tasting food. As
long as someone has some dietary variety, this isn't necessarily a problem. Find out more
about over-eating and restricted diets. 

Touch 

UNDER-SENSITIVE 

 holds others tightly - needs to do so before there is a sensation of having applied any
pressure
  has a high pain threshold
 may be unable to feel food in the mouth
 may self-harm
 enjoys heavy objects (eg weighted blankets) on top of them
 smears faeces as enjoys the texture
 chews on everything, including clothing and inedible objects. 

You could help by: 

 for smearing, offering alternatives to handle with similar textures, such as jelly, or
cornflour and water
 for chewing, offering latex-free tubes, straws or hard sweets (chill in the fridge). 

OVER-SENSITIVE 

 touch can be painful and uncomfortable - people may not like to be touched and this can
affect their relationships with others
 dislikes having anything on hands or feet
 difficulties brushing and washing hair because head is sensitive
 may find many food textures uncomfortable
 only tolerates certain types of clothing or textures. 

Balance (vestibular) 

UNDER-SENSITIVE 

 a need to rock, swing or spin to get some sensory input. 

You could encourage activities that help to develop the vestibular system. This could include
using rocking horses, swings, roundabouts, seesaws, catching a ball or practising walking
smoothly up steps or curbs. 

OVER-SENSITIVE 

 difficulties with activities like sport, where we need to control our movements
 difficulties stopping quickly or during an activity
 car sickness 
 difficulties with activities where the head is not upright or feet are off the ground. 

You could help by breaking down activities into small, more easily manageable steps and using
visual cues such as a finish line. 

Body awareness (proprioception) 

Our body awareness system tells us where our bodies are in space, and how different body parts
are moving. 
UNDER-SENSITIVE 

 stands too close to others, because they cannot measure their proximity to other people
and judge personal space
 finds it hard to navigate rooms and avoid obstructions
 may bump into people. 

OVER-SENSITIVE 

 difficulties with fine motor skills, eg manipulating small objects like buttons or shoe laces
 moves whole body to look at something. 

You could help by offering 'fine motor' activities like lacing boards. 

Synaesthesia 
Synaesthesia is a rare condition experienced by some autistic people. An experience goes in
through one sensory system and out through another. So a person might hear a sound but
experience it as a colour. In other words, they will 'hear' the colour blue. 

Therapies and equipment 
We can’t make recommendations as to the effectiveness of individual therapies and
interventions or equipment. 

 Music therapists use instruments and sounds to develop people's sensory systems,

usually their auditory (hearing) systems.
 Occupational therapists design programmes and often make changes to the environment
so that people with sensory differences can live as independently as possible.
 Speech and language therapists often use sensory stimuli to encourage and support the
development of language and interaction.

2q

What is Sensation
Sensation refers to the process of sensing our environment through touch, taste, sight, sound, and
smell. The five senses in us are:

What is Perception
Perception is the process where our brain performs the organization of information it obtains
from the neural impulses and then begins translation and interpretation of them. In other words,
after our five senses receive several stimuli that are sent to our brain as nerve impulses, our brain
interprets those impulses as a visual image, a sound, taste, odour, touch, or pain

The defference b/n

1. The sensation is the response of the person’s sensory organs to the events that take place
in the environment. There are five senses i.e. hearing, touch, smell, vision, and taste,
which constantly receive stimuli, which can be internal or external to the human body.
Conversely, perception is all about correlating, integrating, and comprehending various
sensations and information from sensory organs through which an individual recognizes
things and objects.
2. While sensation provides raw data, perception develops it into our experience.
3. The sensation is the initial impression accumulated by sense organs. And on interpreting
this impression, when some meaning is added to it, it turns out as perception.
4. Sensation ends with the beginning of perception, whereas the end result of perception is
the action or change in the person’s attitude.
5. Sensation deals with the elementary behavior of the person that is based on physiological
functioning or biological process. In contrast, a perception is a complex form of these
simple experiences and so the process is cognitive and psychological.
6. The sensation is something that makes an individual aware of the stimuli, whereas
perception gives meaning to the stimuli.
7. During the process of sensation, only the sensory organs of the individual are active. But,
during the process of perception, all the parts of the body become active.
8. The sensation is the initial conscious response of the brain to the stimuli or it can be
understood as the first step in the direction of perception, whereas perception is the
second or say direct response to the sensation and an indirect response to the physical
stimulus.

similarities

Sensation and perception are elements that balance and complement one another. They work together
for us to be able to identify and create meaning from stimuli-related information. Without sensation,
perception will not be possible, except for people who believe in extrasensory perception or ESP.
 Sensory Adaptation
Sensory Adaptation occurs when sensory receptors change their sensitivity to the stimulus. This
phenomenon occurs in all senses, with the possible exception of the sense of pain.

Dark Adaptation
Dark adaptation, or adaptation to reduced light intensity, involves three distinct changes in the visual
system:

 Enlargment of the pupil -- takes place immediately. The larger pupil allows more of the available
light to enter the eye and stimulate the retina.
 Increased sensitivity of the cones (color receptors) of the eye -- In low levels of illumination, the
light-sensitive chemical in the cones increases in concentration. This makes it more likely that
molecules of the chemical will be struck by particles of light (photons), initiating a chemical
cascade that signals the detection of light by the receptor. Cones become completely dark-
adapted within about five to ten minutes, but at best remain unresponsive to the levels of light
present at night or in a darkened theater, resulting in a loss of color vision under those
conditions.
 Increased sensitivity of the rods (night-vision receptors) of the eye -- As with the cones, the rods
contain a light-sensitive chemical whose concentration increases under low light-levels, leading
to increased sensitivity. Rods become fully dark-adapted after about 20-30 minutes.

The increased sensitivity produces a

reduced threshold for detecting light. The
figure to right shows the falling threshold
values as a function of time spent in
darkness. The left part of the curve is
produced by adaptation of the cones, the
right part by adaptation of the rods.

Light Adaptation
As with dark adaptation, light adaptation
involves (a) an immediate change in pupil
size (it becomes smaller, admitting less
light), (b) a change in the sensitivity of the
cones to light (it decreases), and (c) a
change in the sensitivity of rods to light (it
also decreases). Because the large
number of photons entering the eye
rapidly destroy any excess light-sensitive chemical, light adaptation takes only a couple of seconds,
rather than the many minutes required for dark adaptation.

other Examples of Sensory Adaptation

 Hearing -- loud sound causes a small muscle attached to one of the bones of the inner ear to
contract, reducing the transmission of sound vibrations to the inner ear, where the vibrations
 are detected. (This protective mechanism does not work well for sudden very loud noises such
as rifle shots, as the muscle does not have time to contract before the intense vibrations pass
through.)
 Touch -- We quickly adapt to hot and cold stimulation, if it is not too intense. The bath that was
almost too hot to enter soon feels too cool; similarly, the cold lake we jump into for a summer
swim feels freezing at first, but soon feels only refreshingly cool.
 Smell -- We can detect amazingly low concentrations of some chemicals in the air (e.g.,
perfumes) but although the perfume is still in the air about us, we quickly cease to detect it.

3rd qu

The classic principles of the gestalt theory of visual perception include similarity, continuation, closure,
proximity, figure/ground, and symmetry & order (also known as prägnanz).

Determinants of Attention:

 Nature of the stimulus: All types of stimuli are not able to bring the same degree of
attention. ...
 Intensity and size of the stimulus: ...
 Contrast, change and variety: ...
 Repetition of stimulus: ...
 Movement of the stimulus: ...
 Interest: ...
 Motives: ...
 Mind set:

4th qution

Selective perception is the tendency not to notice and more quickly forget stimuli that cause
emotional discomfort and contradict our prior beliefs. For example, a teacher may have a favorite
student because they are biased by in-group favoritism. The teacher ignores the student's poor
attainment.

Selective perception is the process by which individuals perceive what they want to in media
messages while ignoring opposing viewpoints. It is a broad term to identify the behavior all
people exhibit to tend to "see things" based on their particular frame of reference. It also
describes how we categorize and interpret sensory information in a way that favors one category
or interpretation over another. In other words, selective perception is a form of bias because we
interpret information in a way that is congruent with our existing values and beliefs.
Psychologists believe this process occurs automatically.[2]

Selective perception may refer to any number of cognitive biases in psychology related to the
way expectations affect perception. Human judgment and decision making is distorted by an
array of cognitive, perceptual and motivational biases, and people tend not to recognise their own
bias, though they tend to easily recognise (and even overestimate) the operation of bias in human
judgment by others.[3] One of the reasons this might occur might be because people are simply
bombarded with too much stimuli every day to pay equal attention to everything, therefore, they
pick and choose according to their own needs.[4]

5th qu

Absolute Threshold
An absolute threshold is the smallest amount of stimulation needed for a person to detect that
stimulus 50% of the time. This can be applied to all our senses:

 The minimum intensity of light we can see

 The lowest volume of a sound we can hear
 The smallest concentration of particles we can smell
 The smallest concentration of particles we can taste
 The lightest touch we can feel

But what is that “50% of the time” part of the definition for? Why not 100% of the time?

That is because our absolute threshold can vary according to external and internal factors like
background noise, expectation, motivation and physical condition. It is easier to hear a sound
when we are in perfect health, expecting to hear it in a quiet room than when we are tired,
unaware of it and in a noisy street.

The affirmation that there is no single absolute threshold is called signal detection theory.
Because our perception responses may vary, to find a person’s absolute threshold researchers
conduct multiple tests until they find the amount that is perceived 50% of the time.

There is also another factor that influences the absolute threshold: sensory adaptation. Sensory
adaptation happens when a stimulus remains the same for a long period of time, and our bodies
stop recognizing it.

Difference Threshold
A difference threshold is the minimum required difference between two stimuli for a person to
notice change 50% of the time (and you already know where that “50% of the time” came from).
The difference threshold is also called just noticeable difference, which translates the concept
more clearly. Here are a few examples of difference thresholds:

 The smallest difference in sound for us to perceive a change in the radio’s volume
 The minimum difference in weight for us to perceive a change between two piles of sand
 The minimum difference of light intensity for us to perceive a difference between two
light bulbs
 The smallest difference of quantity of salt in a soup for us to perceive a difference in taste
 The minimum difference of quantity of perfume for us to perceive a difference in
something’s smell
You may have already had the experience of turning up the TV or radio volume and not noticing
a difference until a certain point. That is the difference threshold concept in action. If you don’t
notice the difference, your difference threshold has not been reached yet.

To quantify the difference threshold, psycho-physicist Ernst Weber developed what is known as
the Weber’s Law. Weber’s Law states that rather than a constant, absolute amount of change,
there must be a constant percentage change for two stimuli to be perceived as different. In other
words, the higher the intensity of a stimulus, the more it will need to change so we can notice a
difference.

conculsion

While the difference threshold or the just noticeable difference between two stimuli means detecting
differences in stimulation levels, the absolute threshold refers to the smallest detectable level of
stimulation.

References 
Gillingham G. (1995) Autism: handle with care!: understanding and managing behavior of
children and adults with autism. Future Education Inc. 

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Encyclopedia of Human Behavior by Vilanayur S. ...

 Encyclopedia of Human Intelligence by Robert J. ...

 Encyclopedia of Learning and Memory by Larry R. ...
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