Sensory Processing Disorder: Is Your Child Overwhelmed or Under-Stimulated?

You are at a birthday party. Every other child is laughing and running around — but yours is pressed into a corner, hands over ears, overwhelmed by the noise and chaos. Or perhaps your child is the one careening into walls, crashing into furniture, and seeking intense physical sensations that leave you bewildered. Either way, you wonder: what is happening inside my child's body?

The answer may be Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) — a condition where the brain has difficulty receiving and responding to information from the senses in the way most people do.

Understanding the Sensory System

Most of us think of five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. But the sensory system is more complex than that. Two additional senses play critical roles in how we experience and interact with the world:

• Proprioception: The sense of where our body is in space — from the muscles and joints
• Vestibular sense: Our sense of movement and balance — from the inner ear

For children with SPD, any or all of these sensory channels may be processing information in an atypical way — either too intensely (hypersensitivity / over-responsiveness) or not enough (hyposensitivity / under-responsiveness).

Signs of Sensory Over-Responsiveness

A child who is hypersensitive to sensory input may:

• Cover ears in response to sounds others barely notice (hand dryers, vacuum cleaners, crowds)
• Refuse to wear certain clothing — particularly bothered by tags, seams, or specific fabrics
• React intensely to light touch — dislikes being hugged, brushed, or touched unexpectedly
• Gag or refuse food based on texture, smell, or appearance
• Become distressed by bright lights, busy visual environments, or transitions
• Avoid playgrounds, swings, or other movement activities
• Become overwhelmed in busy places like shopping malls or classrooms

Signs of Sensory Under-Responsiveness

A child who is hyposensitive may:

• Crash into furniture, walls, and people — constantly seeking intense physical input
• Not notice or react to pain that would upset other children
• Spin, rock, or jump excessively and seem unable to stop
• Mouth objects, chew on clothing, or put everything in their mouth beyond the expected age
• Seem unaware of how hard they are pressing, hugging, or holding objects
• Have difficulty knowing where their body is — clumsiness, falling frequently
• Appear lethargic or have difficulty staying alert and focused

How Sensory Processing Disorder Affects Daily Life

SPD is not simply a preference or a phase. When a child's sensory system is dysregulated, it affects almost everything: their ability to focus and learn in the classroom, their participation in play and social activities, their tolerance for self-care routines like dressing and grooming, and their emotional regulation throughout the day.

Many children with SPD are misread as "difficult," "dramatic," or "naughty" — when in reality, they are struggling with a neurological processing difference that they have no control over and no language to explain.

How Sensory Integration Therapy Helps

Sensory Integration (SI) Therapy, developed by occupational therapist Dr. A. Jean Ayres, is the gold-standard treatment for SPD. At MIRAI Centre in Bangalore, our Sensory Integration-certified occupational therapists use a fully equipped sensory gym to provide children with precisely the type and amount of sensory input their nervous system needs — what we call the "just-right challenge."

Through therapeutic activities involving swings, climbing, tactile play, balance boards, and weighted equipment, we help the brain learn to better process, organise, and respond to sensory information. Over time, children become better regulated — calmer when they need to be calm, more alert when they need to focus, and more comfortable in their own skin.

What Parents Can Do at Home

A key part of sensory integration therapy is the "sensory diet" — a personalised schedule of sensory activities woven into the child's daily routine. Our OTs work closely with parents to create a sensory diet that can be implemented at home and at school, extending the benefits of therapy into every part of the child's day.