Understanding Sensory Challenges
TL;DR? Check out our Sensory Quick Guide.
A story
My kid loves math. They’re really good at it. Then, in grade 11, they suddenly hated physics.
“The teacher hates me.” “It’s too hard.”
It was not too hard, and this teacher adored my kid.
So I go for a parent–teacher conference in the physics room. I walk in and the heat hits me like a wall of bricks.
“Oh yeah,” the teacher says. “It’s warm all winter because we’re above the boiler room.”
In that hot second, I knew my kid’s struggles had nothing to do with physics.
“Oh,” my kid said when I brought up the heat later. “That’s probably it.”
We got them a seat just outside in the hall, with the classroom door open so the teacher could be heard and keep an eye on them. They got an A in physics.
This kind of thing happens all the time with sensory challenges.
In some ways, sensory needs are low-hanging fruit. Not because they’re simple, but because sometimes moving the seat, adding headphones, or offering a swing makes more difference than years of behavior or regulation programs ever could.
When kids are struggling, especially in ways that seem “weird,” unexpected, or out of proportion, it’s worth looking at sensory factors first. Even more so if your child has autism, ADHD, anxiety, trauma history, or other things that often come with sensory differences.
Things to understand about sensory challenges
Sensory struggles are real.
This isn't just discomfort. For some kids, what seem like “normal” levels of sensory input can cause actual physical pain, panic, nausea, and/or a full-body stress response, flooding kids' systems with “do something!” signals that feel like anger or panic. Having too little sensory input can be terrifying: imagine not being able to tell where your body ends and the chair begins, or feeling disconnected from your own limbs.
Kids aren’t being dramatic, picky, manipulative, or deliberately difficult. They are dealing with very real differences in how their nervous systems take in, filter, and make sense of the world around them, the world inside them, and the relationship between the two.
Sensory challenges don't announce themselves clearly.
Your child isn’t going to say, “I’m overwhelmed by proprioceptive input.” Sometimes they can say, “It’s too hot in here.” Often they can’t.
They may not even realize what it is. They feel agitation, discomfort, or a sense that something is wrong, and they do their best to explain it. That explanation might sound like: “Everyone is staring at me,” or “I’m bad at math now.”
Misattribution has real consequences: the things they do to address or in response to this story they’ve made up to explain the discomfort not only won’t help but also can quietly erode confidence, learning, and willingness to try.
Sometimes kids don’t have language for what they’re feeling. Sometimes the language doesn’t exist. And sometimes kids do recognize what’s happening, only to hear adults respond with: “It’s not that hot,” “You just ate,” or “You’re fine.”
Most parents aren’t dismissive on purpose. They’re using their own bodies as reference points. But when kids repeatedly hear that their experience doesn’t match reality, they may stop trusting their own signals, or stop trying to explain them at all.
Sensory challenges are differences in how the nervous system detects, filters, and prioritizes information.
Note: I am not an occupational therapist. Your OT might explain this differently.
They often show up as hypersensitivity (input registers as “too much” quickly) or hyposensitivity (needing more input to register). Many kids have spiky sensory profiles, with needs that vary by sense, situation, stress level, illness, fatigue, or stage of development.
You may hear the terms sensory processing differences or Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). SPD isn’t a formal DSM diagnosis, but it’s widely used by occupational therapists and families.
Many “behaviours” are kids’ attempts to cope with these differences.
Some kids avoid overwhelming input; others seek it out intensely through movement, pressure, or repetition.
A child hiding under a table and a child who can’t stop crashing into things may both be trying to get their nervous system to a tolerable place. Behaviors like chewing, rhythmic rocking, or hitting their own legs often provide strong proprioceptive input that helps a child feel grounded.
This is different from intentional self harm. That said, if a behavior is leaving marks, escalating, or paired with emotional distress, get support. An occupational therapist can help identify what your child needs and safer ways to meet that need.
Pushing through sensory distress takes enormous energy, if it’s even possible.
That energy then isn’t available for learning, emotional regulation, or social interaction. Ignoring sensory needs also means kids never learn to recognize what they’re feeling or how to advocate for themselves.
Sensory struggles across 5 senses…
How kids might experience them, and what to look for.
Visual
Lights that feel painfully bright, flickering or buzzing fluorescent lights, visual clutter. Kids might squint constantly, avoid looking at screens or books, complain about headaches, or prefer dimly lit spaces. On the flip side, some kids crave high contrast, movement, or bright colors; they might stare at spinning objects or lights.
Sound
Everyday noises that hurt, feel startling, or flood the system. Your child might cover their ears, complain that places are "too loud" when they seem fine to you, or have meltdowns in busy restaurants or assemblies. They might hear the buzz of fluorescent lights that you can't hear, or startle at sounds other people don't notice (our oven fan is awful!). Some kids seek out loud noises, humming, or music constantly for that strong auditory input.
Taste
“Pickiness,” strong preferences for crunchy or predictable foods, avoidance of slimy textures. Kids may be diagnosed with Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID). Your child might gag at the sight or smell of certain foods, refuse anything "mixed together," or eat the same five foods on repeat. They might prefer very hot or very cold foods for strong temperature input, or crave intense flavors while finding bland foods unbearable. This is not defiance or faking. Their sensory system is genuinely responding to textures and tastes differently than yours.
Smell
Perfume, smoke, cleaning products, or food smells that feel nauseating or overwhelming. Your child might refuse to go into certain stores, gag at food smells, or complain about smells nobody else notices. They might get headaches, avoid hugging people who wear perfume, or have seemingly random meltdowns that turn out to be smell-triggered. Alternatively, some kids seek out strong, "stinky" smells: sniffing markers, their own socks, or getting close to smell things intensely.
Touch
The classic war with underwear. Tags, seams, tight waists, or clothes that are too loose and unpredictable. “My socks are yelling at me.” Kids might refuse to change clothes (or wear them), hate certain fabrics, or have ongoing battles about haircuts and hair washing. Or they might crave deep pressure: squeezing, hugging hard, hitting, biting, not to hurt, but for that strong input.
…And three more senses many of us never learned about
Proprioception
The sense of where your body is in space. It supports balance, coordinated movement, force control, and personal space. Kids who need more proprioceptive input might crash into people, hug too hard, stomp when they walk, or constantly seek "heavy work" like pushing, pulling, climbing. They might love weighted blankets, tight bear hugs, or resistance activities. Others might seem clumsy, have difficulty with personal space, or struggle to judge how much force to use.
Interoception
The sense of what's happening inside your body: Hunger, thirst, fullness, needing to use the bathroom, temperature, feeling sick, emotional cues, and early signs of sleepiness. Kids with interoceptive differences might not realize they're hungry until they melt down, have frequent accidents because they don't notice the signal until it's urgent, or say "I'm fine" when they're actually exhausted or in pain. They might struggle with potty training long past when you'd expect, forget to eat or drink, or have difficulty recognizing when they're getting sick.
So much of our self-regulation curriculum asks “what’s happening in your body?” For kids with interoceptive differences, the answer may genuinely be divergent or “I don’t know,” making these approaches confusing or ineffective without sensory support.
Pain perception (nociception)
Some kids notice pain late, struggle to locate it, or react very strongly once they do notice it. Your child might not cry when genuinely hurt, fail to notice injuries until later, or have an extremely high pain threshold that worries you. Or the opposite: they might react intensely to minor bumps, have very low pain tolerance, or struggle to distinguish between "this actually hurts" and "this feels uncomfortable." Nociceptive differences are often connected to chronic pain, migraines, and confusing injury patterns.
If any of this feels familiar, or explains things that haven’t made sense before, don’t panic. The good news is sensory strategies can be super helpful, and one tool often supports many challenges.
Read more in Real life sensory strategies, or go to the Sensory Quick Guide.