Disturbances in the perception of time

Dear readers, greetings to you all. If you’ve read our blog posts for a certain time, then you may know I have focused on so-called sensory processing disorders in many articles.  I’ve wanted to close this series by the last post I shared, however, thanks to you, concretely thanks to the discussion with some of you on Facebook, I realized we have one more, very interesting sense, which can be also affected by this disorder and which would be a pity not to mention. We’re speaking about the perception of time, co-called chronoception.

Our ability to register what time has passed or understanding concepts such as the future, the presence or the past could, according to many experts, be included among human senses. If we think about it for a while, we come to the conclusion this is quite a logical thing. Time must be perceived or “felt” somehow too, just like the odors are recorded through smell and the light is registered with the help of sight.

What happens if your brain judge time intervals atypically? More or less two options open in front of us. Let’s explore them together and find out how they actually manifest themselves.

So, what is the first variation of the disorder? We can be hypersensitive, in other words too much sensitive, toward the perception of time. In that case we orientate in time intervals so well that our abilities seem almost magically incredible. For example, we are able to wonderfully estimate, what time it is without our eyes falling on the clock. If we have for instance half an hour to complete the task, we are able to plan our work perfectly, because we have that inner sense which makes us feel how many minutes have left. In rare cases, people living with this condition are able to determine time with an absolute accuracy. They may tell us it’s e.g. 15.35 without any need to look at a clock and they are correct. Their abilities seem almost supernatural to us then.

On the other end, there is something called hyposensitivity, or simply small or reduced sensitivity, towards chronoception. If we are endowed with it then we just and simply lack a certain sense for time. Let’s make the whole concept clearer with the help of a simple example. Our bodies are made up of small particles called atoms. We are composed of them, one and all. We know it, we can even observe them under the microscope but we never feel them. It goes the same with time. If we suffer from hyposensitivity towards chronoception, we are rationally aware of the fact that time exists and constantly runs, we measure it by clocks, yet we cannot really feel it despite everything.

So how does the lack of sensitivity manifest itself in everyday life? We are usually sure only about what is now. All future events tend to fall into one category for us. What’s the reason? Terms like sooner or later don’t tell us much by the rule. The celebration taking place in 2 days and the holiday we’re going to after the half year, they both just disappear somewhere in the future moments. It’s basically the same when we look at past. The performance we participated in when we attended kindergarten and the shopping in the shopping center we undertook yesterday, both we perceive basically just as the instants of the past. Even past and future mix up together for some of us. We do not sense the difference between yesterday and tomorrow, last week and a week ahead. Every event is just an event; we don’t perceive it’s time sequence. In our memories there are things that had happened before jumbled with moments which came after them. So, in our head, a sort of non-chronological network of memories on events is being generated. We’re unable to judge if we washed dishes first or if we vacuumed the carpet earlier. We often deal with a certain trouble to meet deadlines. The reason is quite clear; we simply can’t estimate how much days or minutes remain. Sometimes in the contrary, we finish ahead of time because again we aren’t able to plan out minutes or hours properly.

Have you found yourself in the mentioned examples? If you have, maybe you’ve just received an explanation for your life difficulties. In that case you’re unsure whether this all applies to you, I would recommend you to take a small quick test. Turn on the stopwatch, close your eyes and try to guess how long it takes for a minute to pass. If you hit the target with a tolerance of about 15 or 20 seconds, your chronoception probably meets the norm, of course in that case you aren’t guessing completely. If you deviate more significantly, something might be wrong. It can also happen that you estimate these 60 second with an absolute precision. Then you chronoception may be above average.

In that case you deal with troubles linked to the perception of time on a daily basis, they can cause you substantial unpleasantness. Let’s try to ease our life by a few helpful strategies which we can use whenever we need. Always wear a watch so we have something to lean on if we start to be confused by time. Let’s do everything rather in advance to reduce the risk of missing an important deadline. Write all the events on a calendar or our mobile phone. Then we will see what happened on any given day and what is waiting for us in the future. This graphic representation will help us to realize how all these events go in a row, which of them happened earlier, where is future, where is past. Don’t be afraid to invent your own coping mechanisms too. We could find a ton of them. Hopefully, some will actually help us!

Do you feel like I’ve just described the problem you deal with the whole life? Does your loved one experience something similar? Would you like to share your thoughts and opinions? Write us in the comment section below. We’re here for you!

Internal regulation disorder: Life without hunger, constant thirst...

Dear readers, welcome to the brand-new post, the last part of the series concerning a variety of sensory procession disorders. Today we will look together what happens if our brain exhibits certain difficulties with interpreting and subsequent regulating signals coming through nerve pathways from internal organs.

The question may enter your mind at this point: „Where is the link between body organs and sensory sensations? The answer is simple. Besides well-known external senses such as sight or hearing that we all are familiar with, each person is also endowed with a varied set of inner senses. Information from them is provided by so-called interoceptors, in the similar ways as taste calls provide taste perception. In contrast, however, they are distributed within the organs and constantly inform us of their current state. For instance, they let us know how full or empty our bladder is.

Interoceptors located inside of our bodies are specific for every organ. If internal regulation disorder affects us, it usually doesn’t impact all body systems. However, no matter which parts of our body are influenced by the condition, its principle stays still the same. Our brain just and simply misinterprets information sent by inner receptors of any given organ.

In that case we looked for it, numerous manifestations of the disorder described here could be found, if only because of the number of body systems one has. Together we will try to explore at least the most frequent, the most important and, last but not least, the most interesting ones of them.

Let’s start with the already mentioned bladder and sensory disturbances connected to it. If it comes about the wrong evaluation of signals received from interoceptors, 2 options open up in practice. Either we exhibit a very poor judgment when we already need to pee, many times we don’t notice at all because we simply don’t feel the necessary sensation signalizing our bladder is full, or we always feel like going to the toilet. But, our perception doesn’t correspond to reality at all. It’s quite possible we spent 10 times more time in the bathroom than we actually have to. Kids suffering from the first of two mentioned forms of the disorder usually wet themselves frequently regardless the age. Problems of similar nature, however, sometimes persist even in adulthood.

Not too different problems can occur with stool excretion. Either we don’t feel the time to defecate has come or the urge to the toilet haunts us constantly. Just as in the previous case, here too, kids, who experience difficulties recognizing when they have to go to the bathroom, don’t make without diapers for long.

In some of us, the disorder can cause the absence of thirst and hunger. We simply don’t recognize the characteristic sensations which the majority of people is forced to take a glass of water or prepare a good meal by. So it happens that we hold without eating for days and don’t notice at all. We are able to stay without water for a significant amount of time as well. The lack of liquids is often brought to our attention by completely dry cracked lips and dehydrated heavy tongue. In contrast, other people have to deal with persistent hunger, constant thirst or both of them. If this is our case, we probably experience significant distress every day. We also tend to overeat and overdrink which is usually accompanied by health problems linked to obesity and excessive water intake. In certain people a sudden, uncontrollable alternation of states of thirst with the complete absence of that feeling occurs, no matter how much we drank. For hunger, it goes mostly the same. There are also folks living among us whose sensory disturbance doesn’t allow them to feel full. This leads to an endless cycle of eating and eating in an effort to get rid of the insistent feeling of emptiness in their stomach.

Some people don’t have any or just a small appetite due to the discussed disorder. In others, it causes enduring strong, sometimes almost insatiable, appetite.

Let’s also look at a regulation of body temperature, more specifically, how it can be influenced by out sensory condition. The brain of those, who live with this variation of the disorder, overreacts or under-reacts to outside environment. Then our inner, body temperature rises more than it ought to in hot weather and falls more than it ought to in cold weather. The second option is obvious. Our temperature almost doesn’t change due to the influence of the surroundings.

The perception of our heart rate can be affected as well. Either we are still super aware of our pulse or we don’t sense it even when our heart expressly beats.

The heart muscle of some of us, indeed, beats too fast already during the minimal load. On the other hand, it lasts longer than it should to our body until it returns to the normal pulse frequency.

The same goes for breath. Even with little physical or mental stress, it accelerates rapidly and it takes a long time to calm down again.

So there are some of the dozens of symptoms of internal regulation disorder. If you found yourself in a significant number of them and you don’t have any better explanation for your difficulties; e. g. if your lack of appetite isn’t caused by other, mental or physical, illness, then you may suffer from this condition.

I myself am almost sure some of its signs perfectly fit me. For instance, I never feel hungry and thirst kicks in for me after about 2 days without receiving fluids in that case I’m not too physically active. This all serves as the reason why I can imagine very well how this disorder affects people’s lives.

If we are recognizing the symptoms of the condition in ourselves, let's try to create a list of coping strategies which will help us in our everyday life in the future. If we, for example, don’t feel thirst, let’s set notifications on our mobile phone that will look after our drinking regime to a large extent instead of us. In that case we are constantly hungry, let’s eat rather the whole day in small portions than trying to endure without food and later overeat compulsively. If we know we react atypically to temperature, let’s modify our clothes. There are many options… Don’t hesitate to show how much creative you are and come with your brand-new methods how to ease your life. It definitely pays off!

Does any form of internal regulation disorder seem like an exact description of your issues? Has your loved one similar problems? Would you like to share your experiences with us? Write us in the comment section below. Don’t forget, we’re here for you!

Proprioceptive hyposensitivity

Dear readers, in that case you’ve been following our blog for some time, you might remember a certain series of articles concerning manifold forms of sensory processing disorder. What does it mean? I simply write about divergences in an evaluation of signals coming to our brain from various senses. I would like to pick up the threads of this series by today’s article. This time, we will together look beneath the surface of little-known, yet no very rare, disorder, proprioceptive hyposensitivity.

The word proprioception stands for a less known sense which ensures the perception of our body and its components in space. That’s the reason why we can for example touch our nose tip with closed eyes; we “sense” where it’s located without the need of seeing it directly. However, the brain of certain people isn’t able to process proprioceptive stimuli in the right way. If it’s our case, then we may suffer from proprioceptive hypersensitivity, which we described in the previous article, or proprioceptive hyposensitivity that we’re going to focus on now.

First of all, let’s outline the main symptoms of this condition to better understand it.

Living as a person hyposensitive towards proprioceptive stimulation practically means we partly or completely lack the natural ability to sense where our body is placed. We are often very awkward and we poorly estimate the distance for this reason. Dressing up can be a huge problem for us, concretely in childhood, because we don’t feel exactly where our limbs are. Then it’s logically more than difficult to hit the hand into the sleeve. Similar troubles can obviously persist in adulthood, even though they usually tend to subside. Since we go through difficulties perceiving where we actually are in the space, we basically constantly experience sensory deprivation to certain degree. In other words, our brain incessantly lacks the information about the position of the compounds of our body towards each other as well as towards its surroundings. This just described deficit of inputs causes us a load of unpleasant feelings which we try to escape from by adding extra proprioceptive experiences. For instance, the tendency to bite our fingernails, to rub our fingers or to compress different parts of the body, all in order to realize properly where e.g. our already mentioned fingers may be, can overtake us. We often enjoy tooth-brushing a lot for it provides us the needed proprioceptive stimulation.  In your childhood years we frequently jump, bump into things on purpose, intentionally fall or chew the end of a pencil, alternatively the edges of sleeves. If our kid suffers from this disorder, they may be able to spend hours and hours jumping on a trampoline; they possibly often engage in a messy play, destroy their toys or they may be unable to assess how much force to use while manipulating with objects. The difficulty in determining how big power we should apply for specific activities, we have as adult too, after all. We frequently break a glass or a dish by an accident. The reason is simple; we just grab it in a wrong way, too tightly or too gently. We also usually struggle to estimate how much pressure to invest into writing or drawing. Then, we write too hard, sometimes to such a degree we even rip the paper or too light that the text is hardly legible. Last but not least, we love bear hugs and tight closing; both significantly help us too feel our body.

Here are some basic sign of our disorder. In that case you’ve find yourself in the majority of them, the real chance you’re living with this condition your whole life exists. They symptoms of proprioceptive hyposensitivity can be annoying, sometimes extremely unpleasant. If we’re struggling with it, it’s substantially beneficial to create our own set of coping strategies that make life easier to us at least a little. Close-fitting clothes have the power to help in our everyday existence. It enables us to feel where our legs, hands and basically all parts of our body are. Remember, tight stockings or undershirts can always be worn under the classic clothing. If we need to boost proprioceptive stimulation inside our mouth, let's buy a bunch of chewing gums and then take them out as soon as we feel the need. Another possible coping strategy can be the purchase of a so-called weighted blanket. It’s actually a common blanket; the only difference consists in its weight. It’s, as the name suggests, much heavier than any regular cover. In addition to the necessary sensory inputs, it alleviate anxiety and reduce sleeping issues very well for certain people.

What to say in conclusion? Be creative in finding your own ways how to ease sensory deprivation. Don’t hesitate at all. Jump on the trampoline and don’t care about your age, if it helps you with your disorder. Everybody has a right to a pleasant life where their needs are fulfilled as much as possible!

Have you found yourself in the signs of proprioceptive hyposensitivity? Do you know somebody showing these symptoms? Have you learnt something new by reading the article? Provide us with your feedback in the comment section bellow. Don’t forget, we’re here for you!

Proprioceptive hypersensitivity

Dear readers, let me introduce a new informative article, this time concerning proprioceptive hypersensitivity. This condition is a form of sensory processing disorder. The affected sense in then called proprioception.

What does that unfamiliarly sounding word actually mean? As we explained in the previous article called Senses, we aren’t limited just by sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. In fact, we perceive reality also by additional senses and one of them is our above mentioned proprioception. This sense is responsible for perceiving where our body and its parts are in the space without using our vision. Let’s make it clearer with the help of an easy test. Try to touch your big toe without looking at your leg. Most likely, you haven’t had any problem doing it. It basically demonstrates that we somehow “feel” where our body is also in those cases where our vision isn’t involved at all. Propriception is represented by exactly that feeling.

Sometimes it can happen that our brain doesn’t process proprioceptive stimuli correctly. Then, we may suffer from so called propriceptive hypersensitivity, the condition we're going to discuss now.

Let’s write down the main symptoms to make the whole concept clearer.

The disorder basically lies in the fact we are over responsive towards proprioceptive inputs. In other words, we’re extremely aware where our body is, so aware that it causes many troubles. We constantly feel the position of our arms or legs, we feel how much hunched our back is or to which side our body is deviated. Most of the body positions are uncomfortable for us because we just and simply feel our body too much. We’re also almost unable to get used to our position if it’s not pleasant. Therefore we frequently change the way how we sit, lie or stay. We often sit restlessly, constantly moving our legs and re-sitting again and again. We also toss and turn in the bad to find the right sleeping position for a long time. Sometimes, we may hold odd positions because they seem to us more comfortable than the conventional ones. We might also engage in odd movements like twisting our hands or hand flapping to get rid of unpleasant feelings. In addition, we're super aware of every movement we make. Together with extreme awareness of where our body is in space, it can lead to feeling of instability while walking or running and to insecurity in movement. In some cases, we can feel like trapped in our body and too limited by its boundaries. It may literally feel like our body is too small for us.

These are the most important signs of our condition. If you can see yourself in many of them, you might be hypersensitive toward proprioceptin. Living with such a condition can be challenging. That’s why it’s important to come up with some copping strategies which can make our lives more comfortable. Firstly, don’t hesitate to make our own set of movements which makes us feel better. Don’t be worry to engage in strange positions as well. Also try some relaxation techniques or  for example yoga exercise which can loosen our body so the tension caused by the feeling our body is too small may get milder.

I myself don’t suffer from this condition but I can clearly imagine how frustrating it can get. Never push yourself behind your boundaries and always try make yourself comfortable!

Do you believe this disorder may fit on you or anyone you know? Do you have any questions or notes? Would you like to share your opinion? Write us in the comment section bellow. Don’t forget, we’re here for you!

Vestibular hyposensitivity

Dear readers, after a long time, there’s finally a new article concerning sensory processing disorder, a condition which we explained in one of our old articles. Today we’re going to speak about a specific type of SPD which we haven’t discussed yet, vestibular hyposensitivity. First of all we must be sure what the term vestibular actually means. Simply put, we have more than just 5 senses and one of these additional senses is vestibular system. It’s located in our inner ear and it’s responsible of perceiving movement of our body, a position or our head, equilibrium and our posture in the gravity field. Check up our previous article called Senses for more information. If everything works just right we don’t have any problems with procession vestibular stimuli. However, in some of us the brain doesn’t evaluate the information from our vestibular sense properly. In that case, we may develop vestibular hypersensitivity, which we spoke about in the last article, or so called vestibular hyposensitivity which we’re going to discuss now.

Let’s introduce basic signs of this disorder to understand it better.

If we are hyposensitive to vestibular inputs, than we simply aren’t sensitive enough towards movement, equilibrium and position in the gravity field. In other words, we constantly suffer from feeling that we don’t have enough movement and that we just have to move more. Therefore we incessantly walk, jump or run. We’re basically unable to sit still or stay motionless. We experience a strong urge to spin, rock, flap our hands or shake our legs just to feel movement in sundry parts of our body. Movement almost can’t make us sick. We can spin for hours and never become dizzy. We also love fast drive on uneven surfaces, water slides or plenty of fairground amusements such us merry-go-rounds, swings and roller-coasters, especially in our children years. We usually love sudden unexpected movements. We also don’t have the sense for equilibrium, that’s why we are often very clumsy and we fall frequently. It can take us long to learn how to walk. On the other hand, it doesn’t cause us any problems to be in upside down position.

These are some of the main characteristics of vestibular hyposensitivity. If you recognize yourself in many of them, you may experience this condition. Let’s introduce some tips on what you can do to decrease your troubles in that case you’re living with this disorder. First of all, don’t hesitate to move us much as you need. Rocking, hand flapping or legs shaking, everything is OK. Even though some people perceive these movements us something socially unacceptable, I don’t see anything wrong with them. Your comfort is always much more important that social norms and conventions. Dynamic exercising can help you us well. It allows you to feel pleasant movements in many different parts of your body and it supports your health in addition.

I myself don’t have any personal experiences with this condition. Anyway, always use your own set of coping strategies to make yourself feel better in this world.

Do you suspect you might be affected by vestibular hyposensitivity? Do you know somebody who exhibit signs of this disorder? Would you like to ask a question or share your story? Write us in the comment section bellow. Don’t forget, we’re here for you!

Vestibular hypersensitivity

Dear readers, welcome to the new article about one of sensory processing disorders. We explained in one of the previous articles called Senses, that we actually have 7 basic senses instead of just 5 and that one of them is vestibular system. It’s located in an inner ear and we perceive the position of our head, equilibrium and movement because of it. It also allows us changing our position in the gravity field appropriately. If our brain doesn’t process information from the vestibular sense properly, we may develop vestibular hypersensitivity, the disorder we are going to speak about today.

Let's look at basic symptoms to understand it better.

The condition is characterized by over sensitivity to above mentioned movement, equilibrium and position in the gravity field. Then it manifests itself in the following symptoms. Movements can easily overwhelm us. Therefore we prefer sedentary tasks, we move slowly with caution and we avoid risk taking. We are often afraid of falling as well, especially on uneven surfaces. We usually don’t like elevators and escalators because their motion can easily make us sick or fearful. We can be afraid from going up or down stairs so we usually hold the handrail while walking. Heights can make us fearful as well. We also resist rotating or rapid movements. We are usually sick while boating, riding a car and during similar activities. We may appear unsure in the movement or clumsy for other people too. We are very unsatisfied when somebody bump into us or move a chair we are sitting at. We have usually certain difficulties learning how to ride a bike as well as troubles keeping balance while staying on one food or while jumping. These activities can be also frightening for us. Like children, we usually dislike swings or merry-go-rounds because of motion sickness. We also don’t prefer activities which require good balance. Finally, we can’t stand being tipped upside down or in other direction as well.

We have just introduced the main signs of vestibular hypersensitivity. Have you recognized them in yourself? If so, then you most likely suffer from this disorder. Now it’s time to come up with some coping strategies to provide advice how to deal with this condition. Let’s try to get used to motion slowly. We can for example spin on the chair as fast as we need or walk, optionally run, frequently. Learn as well how to keep balance by trying and trying. Don’t hesitate to avoid activities which make us really sick. If we are dizzy from a ride in a car or other means of transport, take a pill to reduce the sickness.

I’m not exactly sure if I suffer from this disorder or not. Even though I exhibit some symptoms, I think I don’t have this condition and there’s another reason, like dyspraxia, for it. However, if you are affected by this disorder, never hesitate to use your own coping strategies to make yourself feel better!

Do you think you may have vestibular hypersensitivity? Do you know somebody with this condition? Would you like to ask some questions? Write us in the comment section bellow. We are here for you!

Gustatory hyposensitivity

Gustatory hyposensitivity is a form of sensory processing disorder characterized by being less sensitive towards tastes. In the case we have this condition, our brain processes, sorts and prioritizes information from our taste cells differently, in an inappropriate way. Then we have a number of problems associated with it.

Let’s look at the main symptoms of this disorder to make the all concept clearer.

First of all, we are simple under sensitive to taste, or in other words to gustatory inputs. Therefore we constantly feel like we don’t have enough taste in out mouth. Then we usually prefer strong flavors of the food with marker sour, salty, sweet or spicy taste. We still have an urge to add more and more seasoning on our food as well. We are basically able to eat anything. There usually aren’t foods which we would strongly dislike or which would make us sick. We just feel the need for strong gustatory inputs so we are most satisfied with above mentioned marked flavors. We may like toothpaste or mouthwash very much as well, depending on its concrete taste. As kids, we lick, taste or chew many different objects for a long time. We can put our hair or fingers into our mouth even when we all older. That’s all because we are trying to gain taste stimulation which we constantly miss.

So, these are signs indication we may have gustatory hypersensitivity. If many of them seems to be true for you, then you probably suffer from this disorder. Let’s introduce a few coping strategies we can use to minimalize our problems. Always choose that food which provides us with needed sensory stimulation. However, make sure we are eating healthy. Try to reduce strongly unhealthy foods even though they have strong taste. You can also chew a chewing gum frequently or suck a candy, the healthy on if it’s possible. Try to avoid sucking your fingers or hair and use here mentioned candy instead.

I myself don’t suffer from this disorder so I can’t provide any personal experiences. However it’s clear this condition can be very distressing sometimes. Always use your own set of coping strategies to make yourself feeling better on a daily basis!

Do you suspect you might have this disorder? Do you want to share your story or ask some questions? Write us in the comment section bellow. Don’t forget, we’re here for you!

Gustatory hypersensitivity

Welcome to the next article about a certain type of sensory processing disorder, today about gustatory hypersensitivity. It’s in other words over responsiveness to taste. In the case we suffer from this disorder, our brain process sensory inputs from our taste cells differently so we evaluate normal gustatory (or taste) inputs like the strong ones.

Let’s introduce few symptoms to make the all thing clearer.

First of all, we are simply over sensitive to tastes, as it was said above. It may results in many of following symptoms. We can be very picky eaters, because we are not able to stand strong spicy, sweet, sour or salty foods. We often prefer foods with neutral or almost neutral taste. The same goes for drinks. We may refuse to lick stamps or envelops because we don’t like the taste which is provided when we really lick it. The taste of toothpaste or mouthwash can be very unpleasant to us as well. We may be fearful or unwilling to try new foods because we are afraid of gustatory input it will provide. Strong tastes can make us very sick or even cause us vomiting time to time.

These are the signs of gustatory hypersensitivity. If you have found yourself in them then there’s a big likelihood you have above described disorder. Which coping strategies could help us with managing this problem? Choose types of food which you like or which don’t cause you any distress and eat primarily them. Also try to get slowly used to other foods which are not extremely disgusting for you, but which you don’t like the most. If you can’t eat most of the foods because of this condition, than feel free to buy vitamins, dietary supplements or nutridrinks to give your body needed substances.

I don’t have almost any personal experiences with this disorder and that’s why I can’t share almost anything. I have only experienced gustatory hypersensitivity when I was put on antidepressant Zoloft. All tastes were suddenly too much for me. Therefore I understand how distressing condition it can be for many us of. Don’t hesitate to use your own set of coping strategies to handle this world better!

Have you find yourself in above described signs? Do you know somebody who suffers from this disorder? Do you want to share your experiences or ask some question? Write us in the comment section bellow. We are always here for you!

Olfactory hyposensitivity

Olfactory hyposensitivity is a form of sensory processing disorder characterized by being under sensitive to smells. It’s caused by the fact that our brain process information from the smell cells in a wrong way.

Let’s introduce few symptoms to understand it better.

If we are hyposensitive to smells, we simply don’t sense them us much as we should. We may not notice odors which are very unpleasant to others at all. In general, we have a hard time discrimination which smells are unpleasant and which are just fine. It can be sometimes even dangerous because we are able to eat spoiled food. That’s simply because we are unable to notice it’s spoiled according to its odor. However it’s important to realize that we constantly feel we don’t receive enough olfactory stimuli. Therefore we excessively smell everything around us, especially like kids. If we are introduced to new people we can find out first how they smell and decide if we like them or not according to it. We may prefer strong perfumes to feel at least something.

These are main symptoms of olfactory hyposensitivity. If you find yourself in them than there‘s a big chance you suffer from this disorder. It’s important to find out coping strategies which will help us to deal with this world better. We can buy above mentioned strong perfumes or aroma lamps with strong odor to fulfill our house with olfactory inputs. Also feel free to smell things around as much as we need. Surround ourselves with pleasant smells which will help us feeling something. Also learn how to recognize unpleasant odors, particularly that ones that are connected with spoiled food.

I don’t have olfactory hyposensitivity myself so I can’t provide personal experiences. However, the most important thing for you is to use your coping strategies whenever you need. It will help you to feel better in this world. Don't hesitate to do it whenever you want!

Do you have this condition? Do you know somebody who suffers from it? Would you like to ask some questions? If so, write as in the comment section bellow. Don’t forget, we’re here for you!

Olfactory hypersensitivity

Today we are going to talk about another sensory processing disorder called olfactory hypersensitivity. This condition affects our smell. We are simply over sensitive to sundry smells because our brain doesn’t process olfactory inputs (in other words inputs coming from our smell cells) correctly.

Let’s look at symptoms of this disorder to make it clearer.

It has to be mentioned again that we are simply too much sensitive to smells. The world around seems to us full of strange and unpleasant odors which literally overwhelm us. Smells can cause us significant distress and make us to avoid certain places. For example, we can’t use a public transport or visit restaurants because of unpleasant odors at all. We often notice such smells that others aren’t even aware of. Certain olfactory inputs can make us even physically sick, for example strong perfumes or certain foods. Then we may refuse to eat food with for us unpleasant smell. We can be bothered by cooking or household smells as well as by bathroom odors. Sometimes, especially like kids, we decide who we will spend time with according to how they smell. We also choose our favorite places on the basis of olfactory stimuli which we perceive there.  We usually frequently wash ourselves because we can’t stand a perspiration odor. Than we require the same thing from everybody else around.

If you found out yourself in many of above written signs then you’re probably hypersensitive to smell. There are few strategies how to deal with this condition. Find out which smells are pleasant for us and use them to block out unpleasant olfactory inputs. You can also made or buy smelly necklace. Just create small shape with clay, add a hole for string and wait until it’s dry. Then add few drops of an essential oil which you like the most. You can wear this little tool and smell it whenever you’re starting to be sick from unpleasant odors around. Also avoid certain places which are really uncomfortable for us in the case it’s possible.

I have never experienced olfactory hypersensitivity. Even though I completely understand that it can be very challenging sometime. Use our coping strategies to reduce your problem every time!

Do you suspect you can have this condition? What are your symptoms? Do you want to ask some questions? Write us in the comment section bellow. Don’t forget, we are here for you!

Tactile hyposensitivity

Tactile hyposensitivity is one of sensory processing disorders which makes us being under sensitive to touch, pain, pressure, heat, cold and/or tickling. There is nothing wrong with our skin. The entire problem consists in the brain, concretely in the way how it processes tactile stimuli.

Let’s look at most important symptoms of this disorder to understand it better.

First of all, we aren’t sensitive enough to touch in general. It can cause following problems. We have to constantly deal with a feeling that we don’t have enough tactile stimulation. Therefore we incessantly touch everything, especially things which a texture which provide strong tactile feedback. We love hugs and kisses. Like kids, we can constantly hug somebody. Because we are under sensitive to touch we may not even register when some touches us. We often aren’t aware that our hands of other parts of our body are dirty so we often forget to clean ourselves. We seek for vibrations and we like to wear tight clothing to feel something on our skin all the time. Like little kids, we may love to put objects in our mouth. We also like to eat food with strong texture to provide our mouth which tactile stimuli.

The above mentioned symptoms are valid if we are under sensitive to touch. If our hyposensitivity influences how we perceive pain, then we may not feel pain at all or almost don’t feel it. We might not notice that we bump into something or that we have injuries on the skin like for example cuts. We can hurt ourselves on purpose to feel at least something, for example pitch ourselves. Like kids, we may even bump which our head into the wall. When we are little, we can unintentionally hurt other children while playing because we don’t have any idea what hurts and what doesn’t.

We can be also less sensitive to tickling so we aren’t ticklish at all or just a little. If we are hyposensitive to heat we may not feel anytime that there is hot, even in the sultriest days. Then we tent to always wear long sleeves. It’s also possible to be hyposensitive towards cold. It causes that we don’t perceive that there is cold even in the winter. We may always wear short sleeves then.

Have you find yourself in above described signs? If so, you have probably tactile hyposensitivity. This can be very distressing and uncomfortable condition, sometimes even dangerous if we don’t feel pain at all. That’s why it’s important to learn how to cope with it. Always buy tight clothing to provide our skin tactile stimulation. We can also buy a special sensory toy which gives us comfortable sensory inputs or a heavy blanket to feel the pressure on your body. In the case we’re under sensitive to pain, learn, which inputs can hurt us and which are safe to don’t hurt ourselves seriously by accident. If we suffer from hyposensitivity to cold or heat, adapt our clothes to our sensory needs. Don’t hesitate to use any coping strategy which comes to our mind!

I don’t have almost any personal experiences which this condition. I’m, in contrary, hypersensitive to touch. However, I almost stopped feeling pain after taking antidepressant called Zoloft. Then i had a huge taste to hurt myself. So I can understand very well how distressing and dangerous it can be. Always use whatever you need to make yourself feel comfortable in this world.

Do you think you might have this disorder? What do you exactly suffer from? Do you have any questions? Write us in the comment section bellow. We are here just for you!

Tactile hypersensitivity

Dear readers, today we are going to speak about tactile hypersensitivity, sensory processing disorder which affects how our brain process touch, press, pain, heat, cold and tickling.

Let’s introduce main symptoms of this disorder to make the all concept clearer.

The first and most important symptom is simply that that we are over sensitive to touch. As we showed in one of the previous articles called Senses, touch is in fact complex term for press, pain, touch, heat, cold and tickling. We can be over sensitive to one of these or to all of them. It’s also possible to be hypersensitive to i.e. touch and under sensitive to pain. Any combination can be found in humans.

There are concrete signs we may exhibit if we are oversensitive to some of the components of the touch. We often don’t like when other people touch us. We can become fearful, aggressive or anxious while touched, especially like kids. The most unpleasant for us are usually unexpected touches. We may avoid crowds and staying in the line because of an uncomfortable feeling which we have when we are surrounded by other people and because of the fear of above mentioned unexpected touch. We refuse to wear certain clothes, especially stiff, tight or scratchy pieces because they cause us unpleasant feelings or even pain. We also don’t touch certain textures and materials from the same reason. Wind blowing, water in the shower or raining can cause us significant distress and even pain. We may want to wear long sleeves and long pants all year to avoid our skin being exposed to environmental influences or, on the other hand, we can prefer short sleeves all the time because clothes make us feeling uncomfortable. We may refuse to walk barefoot or put naked legs without socks into shoes. Sometimes it happens we tiptoe to avoid unpleasant stimuli from the ground. We may hate water or cream on our skin, especially on our face. We usually don’t like hair cutting or brushing, nail cutting and tooth brushing. It can cause us distress, especially when we are kids. We can be also very picky eaters because we are unable to stand certain textures of the food in our mouth.

It’s also possible we over react to pain, for example when we fall or bump into something but also when something in our body hurts because of an illness. We may experience the pain from headache or toothache much stronger than most people do. We can be also extremely ticklish. It's also possible we are too sensitive to heat so we always wear short sleeves or to cold. Then we in contrary wear long leaves and sweaters all the time.

So, these are symptoms of tactile hypersensitivity. Because touch is so complex term, there are very much signs and we can’t even mention all of them. However, if you have found yourself in many symptoms, it’s quite possible that you suffer from this condition. Living with our disorder can be very distressing. There are some types how to reduce our problems. Always wear comfortable soft clothes and shoes. Have as much clothes on you us you need and don’t think about the season at all. Use painkiller when you can’t already stand painful stimuli too. Buy soft toothbrush and make such hairstyle that you don’t have to cut your hairs very often. Simply use everything which makes you comfortable whenever you need.

I myself live with tactile hypersensitivity. I’m over sensitive to pain, pressure and touch. I often tiptoe and wear long sleeves to block out the environment. I also always wear socks and I can’t stand certain food. That’s basically the main reason why I’m vegetarian. I don’t like at all when other people touch me or when I have to stay in a crowd. It sometimes cause me very uncomfortable feelings, however, I take just like a part of me.

Do you suspect you might have this condition? What are your symptoms? Do you want to share your story or ask some question? Write us in the comment section bellow. Don’t forget, we are here for you!

Central auditory processing disorder

Central auditory processing disorder or CAPD is a sensory processing disorder influencing our hearing, concretely the communication between our ears and the brain. Our brain is unable to process, sort and prioritize the auditory inputs from the environment correctly. Then we may experience certain troubles varying in intensity from day to day and as well from person to person.

Let’s look at basic symptoms we may experience.

To put it simple, we have troubles differentiating certain sounds for each other or pick up sounds from the other sounds around. Usually, the process of processing the spoken language is impaired the most. We can experience difficulties picking up voices or other sounds if noisy background sounds are present. In other words, we may have troubles processing and understanding spoken language if there is for example music, noises of a town, workplace or classroom, other people speaking or just light or household appliances' humming in the background. Consequently, we always ask for repetition of what was just said. We may be also unable to pick up lyrics from a song or understand what is said in a film when there is soundtrack present. We can also have trouble distinguishing between the the letters like b and p, because of their similar sound. Then there is the feeling of people around speaking with delay or their speech being blurred or distorted. Sometimes we don’t even recognize somebody is speaking or we are completely unable to understand the words. All these signs lead to difficulties with processing spoken language and with having a proper conversation. We may respond to questions or spoken words with delay or not respond at all. Also, we may not answer when our name is called or answer after a significant amount of time. We can struggle with focusing on a certain activity when there are other sounds present. We can’t for example read a book when there is a TV turned on. It’s common thing that we miss spoken instructions in work or at school. We can also experience troubles with reading, spelling, writing or learning a new language. We have especially hard time taking notes at school if they are only in spoken form.

These are some of the symptoms of CAPD. It’s impossible to put everything here because this is a very complex neurological disorder. However, if you have recognised some of the signs above you may have this condition. What to do to reduce our problem? Don’t hesitate to ask for repetition in conversation. If the conversation is starting to be too much for you, just say that you can’t understand anymore or try to reduce background noises like tuning down the TV or the radio. You can always seek the best quiet environment possible, if you can’t process what the other person is saying. Never hesitate to ask other people to speak slower or louder. Always ask for written instructions if you need to.

These were just a few examples of what you can do to minimalize your problems. I myself suffer from a mild form of CAPD. I have troubles understanding what other people say when there is some noise present or I don't realize they are speaking to me sometimes. I also can’t concentrate on a task when I’m surrounded by sounds from the environment or have difficulties concentrating on what one person is saying when there are more people speaking at the same time. I have a problem as well to pick up lyrics from a song or some words from a film when there is soundtrack. However, my problems are not so serious. Even though, it can be difficult sometimes to understand the world around me.

Have you found yourself in the symptoms above? Do you know somebody with CAPD? How do you deal with that condition? Write us in the comment section bellow. Also, don't forget, we are here for you!

Auditory hyposensitivity

Dear readers, welcome to another article about one of sensory processing disorders. We’re going to speak about auditory hyposensitivity today. That’s disorder causing we are under sensitive to sound. There’s everything completely OK with our ears if we suffer from this condition. The problem is in our brain, just like it is with all sensory procession disorder issues.

Let’s check the signs of this condition to reach better understanding of the topic.

If we are auditory hyposensitive, we are less sensitive to the sound. It manifests itself in many ways. The world around can seems to us like too silent and dull. We simply need more auditory stimuli. Therefore we love listening to loud music or TV. We often do things very noisily and speak loudly, especially like kids. We can make certain pleasurable noises as well to satisfy our senses. Because this world is too silent to us, we often don’t catch what was said or we don’t respond to certain sounds. Then we often say “What?”, how we are trying to understand what are other people saying. We may not react to our name too. We also experience hard time remembering and processing what was said and have difficulties telling where the sound comes from. It’s typical that we don’t bubble as infants but it’s not a requirement for diagnosis of our disorder.

All these symptoms prompt we may have auditory hyposensitivity. It can be very uncomfortable for us to live in this world which is simply too silent. What can we do to reduce our problems? Always seek sounds that you like to make yourself feel comfortable. You can also listen to music in your headphones very loudly so it doesn’t bother the people around and you can still enjoy it. You have also the opportunity to watch TV with headphones in the volume which is comfortable for you.

I have never experienced auditory hyposensitivity. I’m, in contrary, hypersensitive to sounds so I don’t really have any personal experiences with that. However, I understand very well how it can be distressing to live in the world which doesn’t fulfill our sensory needs. Don’t hesitate to listen to loud music or use other coping strategies anytime.

Do you think you may suffer from this condition? What are your symptoms? Do you want to share your story or ask some questions? Don’t hesitate to write us in our comment section bellow. We are here for you!

Auditory hypersenzitivity

We are going to talk about auditory hypersensitivity today. That’s another disorder from our group of sensory processing disorders. It affects how our brain process sound and has nothing to do with the quality of hearing as such. Simply put, it causes that we overreact to auditory stimuli.

Let's look at the symptoms we may exhibit when we suffer from this condition.

The main symptom is the fact we are oversensitive to sound. It causes us significant distress because every minor sound can hurt our ears. We avoid loud places, concerts, cinemas or parties because we are simply unable to stand all that noise. We can be easily distracted by sounds which others don’t even notice, like humming of lights, household appliance or clocks ticking. They are often the cause of our difficulties with concentration. Sudden loud sounds can scare, hurt or distracts us. Certain sounds, like dog barking, a flushing toilet or a vacuum cleaner can make us even more fearful, especially when we are still at our young age. We can have troubles watching TV together with others because it’s simply too loud for us. We often cover our ears because of all that noise around. Like children, we can even cry or scream when a sudden, unexpected loud noise appears.

All these signs imply that we may have auditory hypersensitivity. If we experience most of the symptoms mentioned above then it’s quite likely we are suffering from this condition. There are however some strategies how to cope with the loud world around us. We can use earplugs whenever we want. We can also wear headphones and listen to music to block out noise from the environment.

I myself have auditory hypersensitivity. I can’t stand certain noises like dog barking or when somebody walks on his heels without shoes. I also constantly perceive clocks ticking, the sound of household appliances or other sounds from the outside. It can be quite distressing a lot of times to hear such an amount of things at once, especially when I'm in the classroom. However, I’m living with this condition my whole life, so it became a part of me. I wear earplugs when I need to reduce the noise or I cover my ears whenever I hear a noise which I can’t stand. I somehow learnt how to cope with that over the 17 years of having to live with that. Never hesitate to wear earplugs or headphones anywhere if you are auditory hypersensitive. You have always the right to do so.

Check the video below which simulates what it feels like to be hypersensitive to sound. It’s quite accurate. Moreover, it can make you better understand the world of people who have this disorder.

Have you recognized some of the symptoms in yourself? Do you know somebody affected by this condition? Do you want to ask some questions? Write us in the comment section below. We are here for you again!

This video speaks about autistic children with auditory hypersensitivity. However, even though it is most common in autistic people, anyone can struggle with this condition.

Central visual processing disorder

We have discussed visual hypersensitivity and visual hyposensitivity in previous articles which both belong under the umbrella of sensory processing disorder. Now, let’s talk about the last form of SPD, which is connected to sight, central visual processing disorder, shortly CVPD.

There’s a speech about complex sensory disorder, which can often affect learning. If you don’t struggle with any specific learning disability but you still have or had troubles at school, you might have CVPD.

In the case of this disorder, the brain doesn’t process properly the visual inputs in a complex way so we may have problems recognizing shapes, distances or for example an order. It’s important to note our vision as such isn’t impaired. Our brain is just wired differently. 

There are 8 types of central visual processing disorder. Let‘s describe each of them and state basic symptoms to make you being able to orientate in this area. You can see all 8 types written down below.

• Visual discrimination issues

People affected by this type experience difficulties seeing the difference between similar shapes, objects or letters. They can be for example unable to tell the difference between square and triangle, or see the difference between b and d. Than, this person can exchange letters very frequently.

• Visual figure ground discrimination issues

People with this type of CVPD have a hard time pulling out shapes from their background. They can be for example unable to find out specific information on the page or find differences on the 2 similar pictures.

• Visual sequencing issues

People struggling with this type of the disorder have troubles telling the order of words, symbols, objects or images. They often reverse number or letters in the word, or reverse the order of all words. They may have troubles formulating meaningful sentence while writing or they may skip lines while reading.

• Letter and symbol reversal issues

People with this type often confuse letters, symbols and numbers while writing or reading. They can add, skip or reverse them frequently. They can write for example hpapy instead of happy.

• Visual-motor processing issues

People with these have troubles coordinating movement because of the difficulty using feedback from the eyes. They can be unable to catch the ball, write in the line or they can bump into things frequently.

• Visual-spatial issues

People experiencing these issues have difficulties telling where objects are I in the space, how far they are or what the distance between them is. These people may be very clumsy. The can had troubles catching ball or identifying if the car is far enough to cross a zebra crossing. They also often exhibit troubles reading maps and orientating in time.

• Visual closure issues

People experiencing this type of CVPD have difficulties identifying object when just part’s of them are visible. They may don’t recognize a car if they can’t see wheels. These people have often pure drawing skill as well as problems with reading when there are mistakes in the texts because they can’t recognize the world when for example one letter is missing.

• Long or short term visual memory issues

People with these have troubles recalling what they have seen, in a long term or short term memory of both. They may have problem with reading and spelling because of that.

So, these are the types of central visual processing disorder. It can be really challenging to identify this condition, because it can looks like dyslexia, dygraphia or other specific learning disorders. The important thing to realize is that these problem primarily pattern on troubles procession visual information.

It can be quite challenging to live with CVPD in some cases. I’m not sure if I suffer from this condition or not. I just think I could have visual spatial issues because I have a great problem telling distance, orientating in a map and in time. I can have visual discrimination issues as well, because I often reverse letters like b and d and have a hard time differentiating between similar object like a triangle and a square. I may live with visual-motor processing issues too but I’m really not sure about that.

Have you find yourself in some of the symptoms above? If so, what types of central visual processing disorder do you have? Write as in the comment section bellow. As always, we are here for you!

Visual hyposensitivity

This article is the next one speaking about certain sensory processing disorder. This time, we are going to write about visual hyposensitivity, the disorder when we are undersensitive towards visual stimuli. It doesn’t mean our sight is worse or something like that. That disorder is all in our brain which doesn’t process sensory inputs properly, just as it was true for visual hypersensitivity.

Let’s look at the symptoms we may experience while living with this condition.

First of all, we aren’t sensitive enough towards light and/or colors. We can see objects darker than they really are or colors can look less vivid in our eyes than they are in reality. We can have a feeling we are living in a darkish world all the time. We can have troubles determining where one object ends and where other one starts. Our central vision may be blurred and peripheral vision clear, or vice versa. We often look at bright lights- trying to supply our body with visual stimuli. As children, we may enjoy looking to the sun or shine with a flashlight into our eyes. We can also move out hands in front of our eyes excessively or gaze at moving objects. When we draw, we use vivid colors. We can for example buy clothes of bright colors as well for ourselves. We simply surround ourselves with these intense colors on purpose. We may struggle with deep perception and hand-eyes' coordination. That can cause us troubles while writing or while trying to catch the ball.

These symptoms indicate that we have visual hyposensitivity. What to do to minimalize our problem? Look at bright lights as much as it’s possible, of course in the safe way to not hurt your eyes. Use vivid colors as much as you want. You can also buy special fast-moving bright objects or make a sensory bottle to satisfy your visual needs. Check the video below to see how your own sensory bottle can be made.

I don’t have any personal experience with visual hyposensitivity. I have just tried to be in a completely dark shelter for a week and I felt how much I need the light. I have experienced sensory deprivation so I know how painful it can be. Don’t hesitate to use sensory toys which you need everywhere.

Have you found yourself in the symptoms above? If so, what are your experiences? Do you have any questions? Write us in the comment section below. And don’t forget, we are always here for you!

This is the video where it's shown how to make your own sensory bottle. Be sure to check it out!