Being neurodivergent means having a brain that works differently from the “neurotypical” person. Neurodivergent neurotypes include ‘Dyslexia (approximately 10% of the global adult population), Dyspraxia (approx. 5%), ADHD (approx. 4%), Autism (approx. 1-2%) and Asperger’s (approx. 0.5% ) and Tourette Syndrome (1 to 10 in 1000 children)’ (Chilton, 2022). Neurodivergent brains can sometimes experiences differences with sensory processing, and this can look different for each person.
The term 'Sensory Processing' refers to our body and brain’s ability to take in information through our senses and organise or interpret the sensory information to make a meaningful response. The 5 external senses we learn as children are Sight, Sound, Touch, Taste and Smell. However, we have 3 additional internal senses, which are less commonly known about:
1. Proprioception is the sense of spatial awareness. It helps us know where our limbs are in space.
2. Vestibular, which is our balance and is very closely related to Proprioception.
3. Interoception which is knowing what is going on inside our body.
Differences in processing these 8 senses can be because our brain is oversensitive (also known as hypersensitive) or under-sensitive (known as hypo-sensitive). People who are hypersensitive are often sensory avoiders due to being sensitive and overwhelmed by sensory input. People who are hypo-sensitive are known as sensory seekers as they are under-sensitive to sensory input and therefore seek extra sensory input.
However – and this is when it becomes beautifully complex and individual to each person and each moment – humans can be a mixture of hyper or hypo-sensitive, which can additionally change moment to moment depending on the environment, sleep, illness, stress and anxiety.
People with developmental or neurological differences may have sensory processing differences where the brain has trouble receiving and responding to information that comes through the senses.
1 in 20 people experiences sensory processing differences - which can cause difficulties - and for 1 in 6 of those, it will affect their daily life.
(Miller et al, 2014). Sensory processing differences are often seen alongside the following neurotypes: ADHD, Dyspraxia, Autism, Dyslexia Tourette’s, Anxiety, and PTSD.
However, differences in sensory processing are often framed through a neuro-normative/typical lens as disorders or deficits. Framing differences as disorders or deficits are problematic as people who are neurodivergent and learn that it means they’re different — not sick or defective — are more likely to be happier and aim higher in their careers.
Therefore, it is important to acknowledge how sensory processing differences can be disabling in a society, workforce and world which is designed upon neuro-normative ideas. Including sensory processing norms.
An example of some of the differences for each neurotype can include (please note this is not an exhaustive list, it only gives a handful of examples and cannot capture the multitude of differences in sensory processing):
Dyslexic people can struggle with verbal processing and on the other side of the neurological coin people with dyslexia usually have brains that are better at processing or mentally picturing 3D objects (Eide & Eide, 2023).
Dyspraxic people can experience differences in their Proprioception and Vestibular, which can make coordination and navigating space difficult.
ADHDer can experience differences in their interoception, which can enable a state of ‘flow’.
Autistic people can experience differences in sound processing – either seeking silence or seeking loud noises.
Understanding sensory processing in social work is important because all day every day our senses are engaged by something somewhere - whether we are out visiting homes, in the office, in hospitals, in other settings or in the community. Where social work systems, structures, processes and norms are based on neuro-normative ways of being and processing, neurodivergent social workers with processing differences can experience challenges in our day-to-day work life,
Challenges can include navigating bright, loud, smelly and busy offices – with no explicit refuge for those of us who find it overwhelming. Busy schedules which can exasperate sensory differences such as sound processing when we are trying to concentrate. Coordination difficulties in busy offices, where we might bump into things, especially is we are stressed. Struggling to engage in conversation or have a different perception of how much room people need for personal space. Difficulties regulating temperature moving from place to place (from the office, to the car, to the house, to the park, to the office again!).
When we do seek refuge to meet our own sensory needs, we run the risk of being called ‘selfish’, ‘not a team player’, ‘awkward’, ‘needy’, and ‘odd’ by individuals who do not take a neuro-inclusive lens to understand people. This can be detrimental to our well-being and can lead us to mask or camouflage our differences in order to fit in.
For me as a Dylseixc and Dyspraxic social worker, I experienced a number of barriers in education and employment in relation to executive functioning created by people who designed or re-enforced the system. One example which stuck with me and still makes me wince is when I was studying at university. One lecturer had a rule that if you were more than 5 minutes late for a lecture the door would be locked, and you wouldn’t be able to enter.
This was extremely problematic for me. I struggled to calculate how long it would take me to get to a lecture I would be distracted or hindered by environmental stimuli and my sense of direction was appalling – so this created challenges in effortlessly getting to a lecture on time. The thought of having a door locked in my face made me feel humiliated and shamed. I, therefore, avoided that lecture or turned up 30 minutes early.
I wish I had an instruction sheet on how you could create a sensory-pleasing workplace for every social worker. However, that would be impossible because, as I noted earlier, we are beautifully complex individuals, who respond to each unique sensory input moment based on how we are feeling that day. So it wearing sunglasses worked in the office for me one day, it might not the next.
So again, I can only encourage you to adapt your big-picture thinking and change the lens through which you interpret your world to be more considerate of differences in neurological functioning and sensory processing.
References:
Chilton, V. (2022) What is neurodiversity?, What Is Neurodiversity? I Oxford Open Learning. Available at: https://www.ool.co.uk/blog/what-is-neurodiversity/ (Accessed: 04 June 2023).
Eide, B. and Eide, F. (2023) The dyslexic advantage: Unlocking the hidden potential of the Dyslexic Brain. London: Hay House.
Miller, L.J., Fuller, D.A. and Roetenberg, J. (2014) Sensational kids: Hope and help for children with sensory processing disorder (SPD). New York, NY: Perigee Book.
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