Postcards From My Mind: Perspectives of Asperger's Syndrome

Sensory Processing

The harmony of the human brain is quite remarkable. The eyes, noise, ears, mouth, and touch all work together forming the “first line of fire” when we interpret the world around us. Your sensory system is the first to interpret bits of information (i.e., red, round, bounces) that later become translated in the brain as a whole concept (a red ball). From this whole concept we can then test the hypothesis (if it bounces then I’m correct – it is a ball), employ the information and put it to use (I can entertain myself with the ball), then generalize the information so we have a “heads-up” next time we encounter a similar situation (a blue ball is still a ball).

But what if your sensory system short-circuited somewhere in the process – what would happen to this information? Imagine how a miniscule piece of information, such as the color red, if processed incorrectly (say as the color green) would have a domino effect on your entire world. For example, at school when the teacher gave instructions, “Every time you see a red frog circle it with a marker”. Now multiply this scenario by dozens of events each day and then again multiplied by each one of your sense: touch, taste, smell, sight, sound, movement, and position in space. What do you think happens to your world now?

Fortunately, for most people, their sensory system works in harmony. They may hold a red rose in their hand and have a mental orgasm about the shape, sweet smell, and powerful soft touch of the petals. Unfortunately, a remarkable number of children diagnosed on the autism spectrum have faulty first lines of fire. People with a dysfunctional sensory system do not experience the world as a harmonious place, but rather on that is extremely fragmented and single dimensioned; a rose is only a smell or a touch – but never simultaneously a smell and a touch.

In the book, Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the authors quote A. Jean Ayres, the pioneer of sensory integration, as defining sensory integration as:

“Sensory integration is the neurological process that organizes sensation from one’s own body and from the environment and makes it possible to use the body effectively within the environment. The spatial and temporal aspects of inputs from different sensory modalities are interpreted, associated, and unified. Sensory integration is information processing… [T]he brain must select, enhance, inhibit, compare, and associate the sensory information in a flexible, constantly changing patter; in other words, the brain must integrate it.” (p. 11)

EXERCISE:

Please stand up and then sit down.

With a faulty sensory system it is virtually inconceivable that the child can maneuver to within a “typical” world. I can remember an event that my mother took me on when I was 11 years old called “The New York Experience”. This was the first indication that I knew my sensory world was different. Basically, there are several enormous movie screens and the idea of surround sound (way before that term was even heard of) in every corner of the room. In a 15 minute period one is bombarded by lights flashing, loud taxi horns tooting, periodic drilling of construction, people screaming, and the exhibit smelled terrible (I’m not sure if that was on purpose or perhaps it was simply all of the bodies watching the exhibit). When my mother and I left the exhibit she commented on how chaotic it was, how she couldn’t think, etc. I remember thinking to myself this is what my life feels like everyday. What was she talking about? I still wonder what it would be like to have a “typical” sensory system.

Sensory processing occurs in two different categories:

Internal: meaning what’s going on inside your body (such as temperature, respiration, arousal, circadian “sleep” rhythms, and pain.)

External: meaning information from outside your body (such as smells, tastes, feeling things, sounds, and looking at objects)

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