Sensory Processing refers to the way our nervous system receives messages from the senses and responds to those messages. Neurodivergent people who have a difficult time processing this sensory information essentially have a neurological traffic jam that prevents certain parts of the brain from receiving the information they need to interpret sensory information correctly. These difficulties lie on a spectrum with some people have severe difficulties while others are more mild.
These sensory processing problems can impact any of the senses: vision, hearing, smelling, tasting, touch, pressure, vestibular (the sense that tells us when we feel dizzy). Some people have one or two sense impacted, others have difficulties with all of the senses. Sensory regulation is a term used to describe the optimal sensory state for a neurodivergent person.
Hierarchy of Needs Theory
The best way to understand how sensory regulation impacts humans is to use Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:
In this theory, a person must have all of the lower needs met before moving up to the next level. Maslow explained that if a person did not have their needs met they would become anxious.
So how does this relate to Sensory Regulation?
All sensory needs fall into the bottom category: physiological needs. So if a neurodivergent person has difficulty regulating their senses they will feel anxious and be unable to move up to the next level which means they cannot focus on important higher level tasks like learning, holding a job, social skills or connecting with other people.