SID/SPD: Processing the World Differently

Understanding Sensory Integration Disorder/ Sensory Processing Disorder

How SID/SPD Looks and Feels

Living with Sensory Integration Disorder or Sensory Processing Disorder can feel like your body is tuned to a different frequency than the world around you. For someone who is hypersensitive, the buzz of fluorescent lights might sound like a roaring engine. The rubbing of a shirt tag might feel like sandpaper. The smell of cleaning products might cause nausea. With SID/SPD, ordinary environments — classrooms, grocery stores, family gatherings — can feel overwhelming and exhausting. Then, sensory overload.

On the other hand, being under-responsive might mean missing important cues. Not noticing that your hands are dirty. Craving input others find odd, like needing to touch everything, or seeking loud sounds. Enjoying deep pressure (hugs, weighted blankets) on or around your body. Most of these can lead to misunderstandings or judgments about behavior. Especially because someone struggling with SID/SPD might look perfectly fine in every other way. Like the rest of these, it’s an invisible disorder.

For parents, raising a child with SID/SPD can mean constantly adapting the environment. Things like cutting tags off clothing, carrying noise-canceling headphones, choosing foods carefully, or providing sensory breaks throughout the day become routine. For partners, it can mean avoiding really noisy restaurants, not cooking with a lot of spices, or not buying sheets made of certain materials. What might look like a meltdown over “something small” is really the brain’s way of saying, “I can’t handle any more input right now.” And as a mom, partner, or caretaker, you get used to that.

The Positives

The flip side is that people with sensory differences often notice details others miss — the feel of a soft fabric, the beauty in subtle sounds, or the joy of movement. With understanding, occupational therapy, and coping strategies, sensory differences can become less of a barrier. DBT skills from the distress tolerance and mindfulness module can be particularly beneficial. With help, a person who processes information in an untypical way can begin to appreciate the unique way that they experience the world.

Soft, fuzzy-looking pastel puffy letters spelling SID & SPD are wrapped in barbed wire with a mint green background and represent the sensory disorder.
Sensory Integration Disorder and Sensory Processing Disorder are sensory disorders that can make everyday things feel overwhelming or underwhelming.

Clinical Description

Sensory Integration Disorder (often called Sensory Processing Disorder) is not formally recognized in the DSM-5 as a standalone diagnosis, but it is widely discussed in occupational therapy and neurodiversity research. It refers to difficulties in the way the brain processes and responds to sensory input from the environment. It’s a complex and complicated disorder has just as many presentations as people it affects.

People with SID/SPD may be:

  • Over-responsive (hypersensitive): everyday sounds, textures, lights, or smells can feel overwhelming or even painful.
  • Under-responsive (hyposensitive): needing more input than others to register sensation, such as not noticing pain, seeking out pressure, or appearing unaware of sensory cues.
  • Sensory-seeking: craving intense movement, touch, or stimulation (spinning, crashing into things, chewing, fidgeting).

These processing differences can affect daily functioning, learning, and relationships. Many children with ADHD, autism, and other neurodevelopmental conditions also experience sensory integration or sensory processing challenges.