Editorial illustration for "Sensory processing, in plain language".
What sensory processing is
Sensory processing is how the nervous system takes in information from the body and the environment - sound, touch, movement, sight, smell, taste, body position, balance - and turns that information into a response.
Most of this happens below conscious awareness. When it's working well, we don't notice it. When it isn't, the world feels louder, brighter, more demanding, or less predictable than the people around us seem to find it.
What it isn't
It is not a diagnosis on its own. Sensory profile differences are common across many conditions - autism, ADHD, DCD, anxiety - and also in children with no diagnosis at all.
It is not 'fussiness.' A child who melts down at the texture of school uniform fabric is not being difficult - their nervous system is genuinely registering that texture as a threat-level signal.
When it's worth speaking to an OT
When sensory differences are getting in the way of things the child needs to do - sleep, mealtimes, school, friendships, getting dressed without conflict.
An OT assessment is not a treatment; it's a clearer picture of what's going on, so the family and the school can stop guessing.