Sensory Processing Disorder
In a world that seems simple to us… there are children who experience it as complicated, noisy, and overwhelming—because their senses do not work in the usual way. Not because they lack senses, but because their brains receive the world differently, turning ordinary things into either too much or not enough.
This is what specialists call Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD).
But in truth… it is less a “disorder” and more another way of experiencing life.
Here, the brain struggles to filter incoming sensory messages. Sounds can feel painful, light may be piercing, touch uncomfortable… or, on the opposite side, everything may feel muted, too quiet, leaving the child craving more, more movement, more jumping, more pressure on the body to feel truly present.
And senses are not just the five we were taught in school. There are others that silently shape our daily lives:
Proprioception: the deep sense inside the body—the awareness of joints, muscles, and weight. It tells you that you are holding a pen without looking at it, or that you are standing upright without thinking about it. Like an internal GPS that maps your body with precision.
Vestibular Sense: the balance system in the inner ear. It tells you where “up” and “down” are. It keeps you from falling when you run, jump, or spin.
Interoception: the awareness of what happens inside the body. Are you hungry? Thirsty? Is your heart racing because you are anxious? Do you feel cold, sad, or joyful? This is your inner mirror.
Then, of course, come the familiar senses: hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch.
When the brain struggles to regulate these senses… the child becomes caught between an outside world that feels confusing and an inner body that fails to send the right signals. You may see a child who cannot tolerate clothing, refuses touch, flees from sounds—or, on the other hand, seeks endless movement, pressure, jumping, and spinning.
Why does this happen?
Science does not yet know for sure.
Perhaps certain genes behave differently… perhaps environmental factors affect the developing brain in the womb… or perhaps both.
What we do know is that this condition often appears in children with other developmental challenges, such as autism spectrum disorder, communication disorders, or neurodevelopmental differences.
And because medicine does not always have an answer for everything… this condition is still not formally classified in diagnostic manuals. But it is never absent from the eyes of an occupational therapist, who sees it every day: the child who jumps endlessly… who resists touch… or who puts everything in their mouth, searching for a missing sensation.
A diagnosis does not always require official paperwork, but rather an expert eye that recognizes the child is not “stubborn,” nor “misbehaving” … but has a brain in need of support to organize sensory chaos.
I use tools like sensory integration assessments or sensory processing measures to understand more:
Which senses are overactive?
Which are under-responsive?
And what does the child need to find balance?
And that is where the journey begins…
A journey that does not carry the slogan of “fixing the child,” nor stop at “behavior modification.”
It begins with a deeper understanding: that the child is not the problem… the problem lies in a world that does not understand how his brain works.
As Dr. Jean Ayres once said: “Sensory integration is the neurological nourishment the brain needs to organize itself… to feel… to move… to interact with the world.”
The child who jumps endlessly… is not trying to disturb anyone but searching for an inner balance.
The child who resists touch… is not running from love, but from a sensory flood attacking without warning.
My journey as an occupational therapist is to see what others cannot…
To break down the scene between outward behavior and disrupted neural messages struggling for organization.
To understand that jumping, pressing, spinning, or fleeing are not random acts, but a sensory language the brain writes when it has no other way to understand or express.
I do not “change” the child… I create a safe, supportive environment that provides the sensory nourishment he needs:
Deep pressure when he seeks it… structured movement when he lacks it… or calming stillness when noise overwhelms him.
I design purposeful activities to encourage the brain to build bridges between senses—so the child can put on clothes without pain, sit in his chair without anxiety, and engage with peers without being drained by the sensory world.
Because the goal is not for the child to become a copy of what society wants… but to become the most comfortable, balanced, and capable version of himself.