Sensory Processing Systems and Patterns
An Introduction
Everything we do and experience has a sensory component and everybody has their own unique way of processing sensory information.
Sensory processing refers to how we take in information through all our senses (external and internal information), organise and interpret the information and make a functional response (Champagne, 2020).
We can modulate our sensory responses, and in turn our level of arousal, by changing the type, frequency and intensity of sensory inputs. Sensory modulation is about more than just soothing or calming, it’s also about grounding, alerting, reducing or intensifying sensation, creating safety, self-management, and coping with cravings or urges. Everyone can benefit from sensory modulation and many of us use strategies daily without thinking about it e.g. going for a walk to calm down, savouring the taste of a favourite food to soothe ourselves. Sensory modulation strategies can help manage stress and regulate emotions.
Your sensory systems may be over- or under-reactive to different types of sensory information. This sensitivity can change depending on many factors like your mood, the task or environment and the number of sensory inputs. Your sensory processing can also be impacted by things like early life experiences, trauma, and nervous system reactivity – but remember the nervous system can shift and change thanks to neuroplasticity.
Sensory Processing Patterns
Winnie Dunn developed a model that outlines 4 types of sensory processing patterns based on hyper or hypo sensitivity and active or passive self-regulation strategies. Check out a summary figure here. The 4 patterns are summarised in the graphic below and in brief are:
Sensory sensitivity - sensitive to sensory inputs
Low registration - need more input to register sensations and be alert
Sensory seeking - high thresholds and actively seeks out sensory inputs
Sensory avoiding - actively avoids certain sensations
Image description: a multicoloured table outlining the 4 sensory processing patterns based on Winnie Dunn’s model. For each pattern the different boxes describe what’s happening in the body, what it can look like and examples of strategies/supports.
Sensory sensitivity – what’s happening in the body: The nervous system is hypersensitive to inputs in one or more sensory systems, will notice and be bothered by small amounts of sensory information but does not actively avoid. What it can look like: Sensitive to smells, avoids certain foods or fabrics, gets overwhelmed by clutter or crowded places, anxiety, desire to control the environment, startles easily. Examples of strategies/supports: Choice, identify patterns, compassion and awareness, self-advocacy, headphones, sunglasses
Low registration – what’s happening in the body: The nervous system can’t get enough input to get going, needs higher intensity of sensory input to register information, feel alert or pay attention. What it can look like: Taking a long time to get going in the morning, easily bored, misses instructions, trouble focusing, daydreaming, not noticing dirty face or hands. Examples of strategies/supports: Make visual cues more obvious, add texture to objects, weighted items, alarms, calendars, different seating options.
Sensory seeking – what’s happening in the body: Need more sensory input for information to register and get organised. Actively seeks out additional sensory input as needed. What it can look like: Fidgeting, touching things, exploring, always active, seeks touch, easily distracted, loud, likes noisy and crowded places. Examples of strategies/supports: Movement breaks, fidgets, weighted items, background noise, variety of seating, dance, sports, music.
Sensory avoiding – what’s happening in the body: Will notice and be bothered by small amounts of sensory information and actively avoids certain sensory input. What it can look like: Not liking to get hands dirty, avoiding certain places or activities, focused on routine and environmental control, anxiety, likes familiarity. Examples of strategies/supports: Headphones, sunglasses, quiet spaces, self-advocacy
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When we understand more about the unique way that we process sensory information we can develop tools for regulating ourselves in times of stress and find what works to support ourselves. Sometimes our sensory sensitivities can be useful - certain jobs need the ability to discriminate sounds and so for a sound engineer an auditory sensory sensitivity may come in handy. Other times our sensory processing styles can get in the way of participating in things we enjoy or functioning in our life roles, e.g. having a sound sensitivity may make it hard to spend time in large groups of friends or work in an open plan office – this is when we may need to seek additional support and accommodations to participate in the things we want and need to do.
The 8 Sensory Systems
You will be familiar with the usual 5 senses, but we actually have 8 sensory systems: auditory, visual, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, vestibular, proprioceptive and interoceptive.
You can have under-responsivity in some sensory systems and over-responsivity in others. Each sensory system has a big or a little bucket. Big buckets take longer to fill up and need lots of water added, little buckets only need a small amount of water before they overflow. Some of your sensory systems may only need a small amount of input before it becomes overwhelming e.g. sensitivity to light; others may need lots of sensory input for you to register information e.g. needing clear borders and different colours to make instructions stand out.
Image description: two buckets on a blue background. Heading: sensory buckets. Each sensory system has a different sized bucket which gets filled up with water (sensory input) at different rates. On the left next to the bigger bucket text says: Big buckets take longer to fill up and need lots of water added. These systems need lots of input to register and organise sensory information. On the right next to the full smaller bucket text reads: Little buckets only need a small amount of water before they overflow. These systems only need a small amount of sensory input before it becomes overwhelming.
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Sensory strategies can be targeted at any number of sensory systems, based on what you need at the time and your sensory processing pattern or preference.
The next 3 graphics outline what each system is, what the response might look like and activity ideas for each system.
Image description: a graphic outlining the 8 sensory systems. Each system has a different coloured box and a symbol representing the sense. Auditory (picture of an ear) - What you hear, space-time relationships, influences regulation, spatial awareness, muscle tone and balance. Visual (sight, picture of an eye) - What you can see, visual cortex at back of skull; connected to vestibular and proprioceptive systems. Olfactory (smell, picture of a nose) - What you can smell, olfactory bulb directly connected to the limbic system. Gustatory (taste, picture of a mouth with a tongue sticking out) - Taste and motor processes for eating, breathing etc. Sensations: chewy, crunchy, salty, sour, sweet, spicy, hot and cold. Tactile (touch, picture of a hand pointing) - Touch receptors send feedback about pain, vibration and temperature, deep pressure and light touch have different receptors. Vestibular (picture of a person standing on one leg with their arms out) - Any time you move you are getting vestibular input, the vestibular system in the inner ear detects gravity, motion, movement and space-time relationship, important for balance. Proprioception (picture of a person dancing with arms up) - Sense of your body in space, body boundaries and what is self; works with vestibular and tactile to create a foundation for efficient movement, body map and orientation. Interoception (picture of an outline of a body standing) - An awareness of your internal states (hunger, thirst, emotion, temperature etc.) and systems (heart, kidneys, bladder, skin, hormones, lungs, stomach, intestines).
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Image description: a graphic outlining potential sensory responses and how strategies can help for the 8 sensory systems. Each system has a different coloured box and a symbol representing the sense. Auditory (picture of an ear) - Responses: sensitive to, seeks, or doesn't register input. Extra input can help with: reducing stress, supporting transitions, increasing arousal. Visual (sight, picture of an eye) - Difficulties with visual tracking, sensitivity to inputs. Dampen or block out visual input for calming; intensify for alerting. Olfactory (smell, picture of a nose) - Calming or alerting, depending on smell; can be a trauma cue; may avoid certain people or situations. Use strategies for calming or alerting. Gustatory (taste, picture of a mouth with a tongue sticking out) - May seek food or chewing motion for comfort, strong food preferences, difficulty with teeth brushing, difficulties with swallowing. Use strategies for calming or alerting. Tactile (touch, picture of a hand pointing) - Hypersensitivity - doesn’t like to be touched or be too close to people, doesn’t like messy foods or activities. Hyposensitivity - seeks touch, may not notice touch unless seen, poor body awareness, chews on things, may use too much force without knowing. Strategies can help with a sense of containment, safety and body boundaries, conversations about consent and boundaries, tactile cues can help focus attention. Vestibular (picture of a person standing on one leg with their arms out) - Hypersensitivity - intolerant or avoidant of movement, uncomfortable on stairs or escalators, gets motion sick, afraid of heights. Hyposensitivity - seeks spinning, jumping, doesn’t get dizzy, bumps into things, leans against things, fidgets when seated. Proprioception (picture of a person dancing with arms up) - Avoids movement or always moving to seek input, clumsy, likes chewy or crunchy foods, likes to lean/push/jump/wrestle. Use strategies for: feeling grounded, decreased arousal, better sense of body boundaries and where body is in space. Interoception (picture of an outline of a body standing) - Difficulty knowing when hot, cold, tired, hungry, needing to go toilet, identifying emotions. Strategies can help improve awareness of bodily sensations or provide external supports as reminders
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Image description: a graphic outlining activity ideas for the 8 sensory systems. Each system has a different coloured box and a symbol representing the sense. Auditory (picture of an ear) - Music, sing a longs, whistles, ear plugs, sound machine, shakers, white noise, noise canceling headphones. Visual (sight, picture of an eye) - Make changes to the environment: skyscapes, projection, dimmers, paint, posters, decals; eye mask, sunglasses, light box, coloured glasses, colour and shape, visual search, lava lamp, eye spy. Olfactory (smell, picture of a nose) - Different scents, essential oils, change products if sensitive, soap, candles, lotion, baking. Gustatory (taste, picture of a mouth with a tongue sticking out) - Different tastes and textures of food, try different toothbrushes and toothpastes, bubbles, whistles, straws; may need extra input if issues with swallowing. Tactile (touch, picture of a hand pointing) - Hypersensitivity - wear gloves, wash hands, adjust activity. Hyposensitivity - deep pressure, verbal prompts, hugs, chewellery. Light touch often alerting, deep pressure often calming; swing, soaps, lotions, weighted items, beanbag chairs, brushes, various fidgets, soft items, art supplies, games and puzzles, pencil grips, body sock, massager. Vestibular (picture of a person standing on one leg with their arms out) - Glider or rocker, walks, swinging, exercise ball, wobble board, full body movement, yoga, stretching, dance, obstacle course, drumming - careful of overstimulation. Strategies help with: movement responses, awareness of body in space, balance, muscle tone and motor control, posture, balanced visual field. Proprioception (picture of a person dancing with arms up) - Any movement, stretching, movement against resistance (swimming, exercise band, lifting, carrying), trampoline, bike riding, chewing, weighted movement, sanding, polishing, vacuuming, stress ball, nature walk, obstacle course. Interoception (picture of an outline of a body standing) - Label how body parts feel, model language (hot, cold, heavy, light etc.), set times to check in with self and notice sensations, direct attention to body sensations when doing an activity e.g. running, eating hot or cold food
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Understanding your sensory preferences to create a sensory kit
We can use our knowledge of our sensory preferences in the different systems to utilise sensory inputs to regulate ourselves and get to our optimal level of arousal (or stay in our window of tolerance). This could involve adding in inputs if we are in low arousal or removing inputs if we are in sensory overload. We want to develop a range of strategies and resources that can be used in various situations and provide additional support in your daily routine. These strategies can also be used to prevent sensory overload or provide additional support when you are in sensory overload. It may take some trial and error and practice to figure out how to move between states and what supports you to be more calm or more alert and stay more within your window of tolerance (which will look different for everyone).
Image description: a simplified sensory ladder with 3 sections: Sensory Overload/Over-Alert: A state of overwhelm, frontal lobes are offline, may go into fight/flight/freeze responses, meltdown/shutdown, may need support, reduce sensory inputs and demands, allow time for recovery; Optimal Level of Arousal / Window of Tolerance: This is where we can think, plan, reason, make decisions, participate in activities, interact with others etc.; Low arousal/Under-Alert: May be sleepy, bored, unwell, not engaged, distracted, or need more sensory input in order to engage. Each section has a different colour (blue, green, red). An arrow points up from low arousal with a note saying ‘add sensory inputs’. An arrow points down from sensory overload saying ‘ reduce sensory inputs.’
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We can use this knowledge and exploration of how we process sensory information to create a sensory kit made up of items and strategies that support you to stay regulated. These could be things you use at home, and you could have a mini kit in your car or bag. There are so many opportunities for exploring and finding strategies that work for you.
The idea behind these strategies are that they are things that work for you, that you choose to use, not something that is forced or aims at changing how you process sensory information. This is about supporting your own regulation with the tools that work best for you.
And if you’re needing some additional help figuring it out, problem solving and creating something, then that is the time to seek the help of a health professional like an occupational therapist!
Image description: a dark haired, dark-skinned person is sitting down with a book open in front of them, a lightbulb and a star next to them. Above their head is a box and to the right of the box, across the rest of the image are a variety of sensory tools and activities e.g. tea bag, ball, rocks, pencils, headphones, books, hot water bottle, crystal, shell, skipping rope, hand cream, snack, cards, lego, popper, soft toy, notebook.
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Resources referred to in creation of this blog and images:
Champagne, T. (2020). Sensory Modulation, Trauma & Attachment Informed Care: Course 1. Recorded training with workbook. Accessed through: https://www.ot-innovations.com/event/sensory-modulation-trauma-attachment-informed-care-course-1/
Demopoulos, C., Arroyo, M., Dunn, W., & Marco, E. (2014). Individuals With Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum Show Sensory Processing Differences as Measured by the Sensory Profile - Scientific Figure on ResearchGate. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Quadrants-of-the-Sensory-Profile_fig1_269876183
Dunn, W. (2007). Supporting children to participate successfully in everyday life by using sensory processing knowledge. Infant and Young Children, 20, 84-101.
Mahler, K. (2023). What is interoception? Retrieved from: https://www.kelly-mahler.com/printable-resources/
O’Sullivan, J. & Fitzgibbon, C. (2018). Sensory Modulation Resource Manual. Sensory Modulation Brisbane, Australia
Sensory Ladders (n.d.). Sensory Ladders for Self-Regulation. Retrieved from: https://sensoryladders.org/about/
Wise, S. J. (2022). The Neurodivergent Friendly Workbook of DBT Skills: A Workbook of Dialectial Behaviour Therapy Skills Reframed to be Neurodivergent Friendly with the Added Bonus of Accessible Mindfulness Practices, Sensory Strategies and Managing Meltdowns. Lived Experience Educator, Australia.
[Note: nothing in this blog is intended to be therapy advice. If you need support to develop individual strategies around sensory processing please reach out to an occupational therapist or other health professional.]
