Sensory Diversity

Sensory Diversity is the recognition that every individual perceives, filters, and responds to the world in a fundamentally unique way. While the vital movement for neurodiversity celebrates the different ways our brains process thought, sensory diversity focuses on the very gateway to those thoughts—our senses. It asserts that the world, both digital and physical, must be intentionally built to accommodate the full spectrum of human sensory experience. Sensory diversity views our senses similarly to how neurodiversity views the brain. However, sensory diversity is focused widely on specific sensory processing of the world. While sensory dysregulation, the term I use for those who have sensory processing that is atypical, refers to a mismatch in sensory processing, neurodiversity refers to different brain types, including neurotypical and neurodivergent. In this view, sensory dysregulation is a form of neurodivergence.

For many neurodivergent individuals, the world is not merely a collection of experiences but a relentless barrage of sensory input that the nervous system must constantly negotiate. While neurotypical standards often dictate that we should be able to ignore the hum of a refrigerator, the fluorescent flicker of an office light, or the distant murmur of a crowded room, the reality for those with sensory processing differences is that these inputs are physically and emotionally taxing. We are often taught from a young age that resilience means enduring discomfort for the sake of social cohesion, yet true resilience often lies in the quiet radical act of honoring our physiological needs rather than suppressing them. This means moving away from the lingering grief of what we think our lives should look like and toward a functional acceptance of what they actually require to be sustainable and healthy.