Sensory processing
Sensory processing covers how nervous systems register, discriminate, combine, and respond to information within and across sensory modalities, shaped by both person and environment.
concept · seed
Scope
Includes
- hyperreactivity, hyporeactivity, seeking, discrimination, and multisensory integration
- interoceptive, proprioceptive, vestibular, and familiar external senses
- person-environment fit and practical access
Excludes
- a single universally accepted disorder category
- an assumption that observed behaviour reveals a unique sensory cause
- a universal intervention recommendation
Claims
Evidence about a group-level sensory difference does not by itself establish which accommodation or intervention will benefit an individual.
moderate confidenceEvidence: sensory-processing-source-autism
Uncertainty: sensory-processing-uncertainty-intervention
Uncertainties
Which sensory constructs and measures are comparable across disciplines, neurotypes, ages, and contexts?
Why it matters: Shared labels may hide different mechanisms or experiences.
What would reduce it:
- cross-disciplinary construct mapping
- measurement-invariance studies
- co-designed measures incorporating non-speaking participants
Status: open
Which environmental changes and sensory supports help which people, for which outcomes, with what burdens or harms?
Why it matters: Generic recommendations can waste resources or increase distress.
What would reduce it:
- person-defined outcome trials
- adverse-effect and burden reporting
- N-of-1 and context-sensitive designs alongside group studies
Status: open
Perspectives
occupational-therapy conceptual models
Observable responses arise from interaction between neurological thresholds and response strategies in daily environments.
Sources: sensory-processing-source-dunn
Related concepts
- autism — Sensory differences can be part of autistic experience but are not exclusive to autism.
- executive-function — Sensory load may change the demands under which executive performance is observed.
Sources
Dunn, W. The impact of sensory processing abilities on the daily lives of young children and their families: A conceptual model (1997).
Kawakami, S. et al. Neurobiology of sensory processing in autism spectrum disorder (2020).
Provenance
Structured synthesis of cited public sources; no community review yet