Sensory Hypersensitivity - Part 1:
- The sensory aspects of Autism can be obvious and severe or hidden and/or mild in nature.
- An individual can have a sensitivity to light, sound, touch, taste, smell, movement, and/or body awareness.
- Stimuli may cause great agitation and emotional distress or milder avoidance, refusal, and attention difficulties.
- A person may be hypersensitive to human touch and not want to be hugged. Strong smelling perfumes may also be a problem.
- A person may be unable to tolerate certain types of fabric in there clothing, furniture or rugs. Tags and tight fitting items around the neck or arms may also be unbearable. Shoes may also be very uncomfortable.
- The texture/taste/smell/appearance of a particular food may be totally unacceptable.
- A person may be hypersensitive to brushing hair and teeth and find these hygiene tasks very unpleasant.
- These sensitivities can be very restrictive causing the individual to avoid many situations and items in their environment.
- Often the individual cannot anticipate or describe the sensitivity.
(Printable)

Sensory Hypersensitivity - Part 2:
- The sensory aspects of Autism can be obvious and severe or hidden and/or mild in nature.
- An individual can have a sensitivity to light, sound, touch, taste, smell, movement, and/or body awareness.
- Stimuli may cause great agitation and emotional distress or milder avoidance, refusal, and attention difficulties.
- A person may be hypersensitive to lighting. Fluorescent tubes may be a problem with buzzing and flicker.
- A person may be unable to tolerate the noise of a flushing toilet or hand dryer. Public bathrooms may be especially problematic with multiple stalls and dryers.
- A person may be hypersensitive to vocalizations of others in the room that may be random, high volume and distressing.
- A person may be hypersensitive to small items that appear out of place. A visual hypersensitivity for a small piece of thread on the floor may be observed.
- These sensitivities can be very restrictive causing the individual to avoid many situations and items in their environment.
- Often the individual cannot anticipate or describe the sensitivity.
(Printable)

Sensory Hypersensitivity - Part 4:
- The sensory aspects of Autism can be obvious and severe or hidden and/or mild in nature.
- An individual can have a sensitivity to light, sound, touch, taste, smell, movement, and/or body awareness.
- Stimuli may cause great agitation and emotional distress or milder avoidance, refusal, and attention difficulties.
- A person may be hypersensitive to movement. Elevators may be a problem.
- A person may be uncomfortable with buttons and shoelaces. Buttoning and tying shoes may be unpleasant.
- A person may encounter a number of things that cause hypersensitivity. This person may experience sensory overload with a high degree of discomfort.
- With overload caused by hypersensitivities a person may shutdown and fail to respond to other persons, actions, and things.
- These sensitivities can be very restrictive causing the individual to avoid many situations and items in their environment.
- Often the individual cannot anticipate or describe the sensitivity.
(Printable)

Sensory Hyposensitivity:
- The sensory aspects of Autism can be obvious and severe or hidden and/or mild in nature.
- An individual can have a sensitivity to light, sound, touch, taste, smell, movement, and/or body awareness.
- Stimuli may cause great agitation and emotional distress or milder avoidance, refusal, and attention difficulties.
- A person may be hyposensitive and be unresponsive to hunger, pain, or temperature.
- A person may have poor sense of touch and be prone to dropping things due to a weak grasp of objects.
- A person may have a poor sense of space and frequently bump into things, stumble, or fall.
- Poor depth perception may cause difficulty with throwing and catching.
- These sensitivities can be very restrictive causing the individual to avoid many situations and items in their environment.
- Often the individual cannot anticipate or describe the sensitivity.
(Printable)

Sensory Seeking - Part 1:
- The sensory aspects of Autism can be severe and hidden.
- An individual can have low sensitivity to light, sound, touch, taste, smell, movement, and/or body awareness.
- Some of the actions that a person chooses and repeats may be an effort to seek sensory input that they are lacking.
- A person may be hyposensitive and seek sensory input by moving in circles and rocking.
- A person may be hyposensitive and swing and spin without experiencing any nausea.
- A person may be hyposensitive and seek sensory input by moving fingers or objects in front his or her eyes.
- A person may be hyposensitive and seek sensory input banging doors, flicking light switches, and tapping on things.
- These sensitivities can be very restrictive causing the individual to avoid many situations and items in their environment.
- Often the individual cannot anticipate or describe the sensitivity.
(Printable)

Sensory Seeking - Part 2:
- The sensory aspects of Autism can be severe and hidden.
- An individual can have low sensitivity to light, sound, touch, taste, smell, movement, and/or body awareness.
- Some of the actions that a person chooses and repeats may be an effort to seek sensory input that they are lacking.
- A person may be hyposensitive and be drawn to his/her reflection in a mirror or a shiny object like a watch.
- A person may be hyposensitive and seek sensory input from the vibration of an appliance or the pressure of a large heavy beanbag chair.
- A person may be hyposensitive and seek sensory input by mouthing and chewing on toys and other objects.
- A person may be hyposensitive and seek sensory input by hand biting or other self-injury and head banging.
- These sensitivities can be very restrictive causing the individual to avoid many situations and items in their environment.
- Often the individual cannot anticipate or describe the sensitivity.
(Printable)

Sensory Sensitivity - General:
- The sensory aspects of Autism can be obvious and severe or hidden and/or mild in nature.
- An individual can have a sensitivity to light, sound, touch, taste, smell, movement, and/or body awareness.
- Stimuli may cause great agitation and emotional distress or milder avoidance, refusal, and attention difficulties.
- A person may have sensory sensitivities and have difficulty hearing a single voice in a large group. He/she may not be able to follow a direction in a noisy classroom.
- A person may see faces or objects as fragments. Maintaining eye contact may be difficult.
- A person may experience a delay in processing sensory input and miss an opportunity to take a turn in conversation.
- A person may see things in a distorted manner and be unsure how to move forward. Stairs and escalators may be difficult.
- These sensitivities can be very restrictive causing the individual to avoid many situations and items in their environment.
- Often the individual cannot anticipate or describe the sensitivity.
(Printable)