Certain situations can lead to heightened experiences and can evoke extreme aversive reactions from people with sensory sensitivities. It’s important to take sensory needs into consideration and act on requests for reasonable adjustments.
Sensory needs are to do with our senses; how we see, hear, touch, smell and taste things.
It is important to know that some may be:
- hyper-sensitivitive: extreme over-reactivity to sensory input;
- hypo-sensitivitie: extreme under-reactivity to sensory input;
- or sensory-seeking: unusual interest in aspects of the sensory environment.
See
- Consider eye contact as you may not give eye contact or need to face away from people
Noise
- You may need alarms swapped for 'silent' alarms
- Ensure there is quiet space or outdoor space that people can access at any time
- Soft furnishings or gently closing doors to minimise sounds or sound absorbing panels
- Be mindful of background noise or that it's too quiet and some sound is needed
Temperature
- Some may not be able to regulate body temperature and so it could be too hot or cold so may need to open/close a window or turn on/off a radiator
Smells
- Perfume, deodorant, food, drinks
Touch
- Impact of touch and textures of materials including bedding, furniture, clothes and towels
Lighting
- Type of light, can it be adjusted, do lights need to be on or off?
Number of people
- Consider the number of people present, can they be reduced or it be on a 1:1 basis?
- THink about how many people will be encountered on the route to room or within waiting areas; a quiet room may be needed instead
Proxemics
- Considerations for the positioning to a person who may struggle being too close/far away