4. Getting Upset at Sensory Overload
Sensory overload occurs when one or more of the body’s senses are overstimulated to the point of being unable to cope. It is a phrase that is frequently connected with autism, although it can also refer to anxiety illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). People on the autism spectrum have exceptionally sensitive sensory systems, which means that their senses—sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste—can be readily overloaded. Persons with autism, unlike neurotypical people (those who do not have autism), are frequently unable to selectively filter out ambient stimuli such as car alarms or crowd commotion. This can result in habits like “stimming,” which help people with autism cope with stress and sensory overload. A sensory processing disorder (SPD) is a type of sensory overload. SPDs are conditions in which a person does not ordinarily respond to environmental stimuli, either because they are over-responsive (sensory hypersensitivity) or under-responsive (sensory hyposensitivity) (sensory hyposensitivity). Sensory overload is particularly common in autistic children and children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Adults with autism, particularly those with high-functioning autism, can be affected as well. In certain circumstances, hypersensitivity is so severe that a person will react to sensations that others may not even notice (such as a smell or the fluttering sound of a fan). Stimming can lead to self-harming behaviors such as head banging, ear clapping, self-scratching, or self-hitting in severe situations. People who see an autistic meltdown frequently mistake it for a “tantrum” or believe it happened out of nowhere. This is due to the fact that answers are not always consistent and can vary from one situation to the next. A youngster with autism, for example, may react differently to flickering lights at school than to flickering lights at home. Or they may be hypersensitive to high-pitched stimuli but entirely oblivious to low-frequency sounds. The origin of SPDs is unknown and varies depending on whether a person has autism, ADHD, PTSD, or another developmental or psychiatric disease. What is known is that children with autism frequently lack social attention, which means they are unaware of social cues and the anticipated norms of social engagement. On the other hand, they are frequently hypersensitive to objects or environmental stimuli that others filter out or fail to perceive. According to a 2020 study published in the Frontiers of Integrative Neuroscience, the difficulty to shift focus between the wider surroundings and minute details may account for 95.8 percent of children with autism experiencing SPDs.
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