If I asked you what a sensory overload is, what would be your first thoughts?
What Is It?
A sensory overload is effectively when our body is overwhelmed by something. This could be a build up of competing sounds, a struggle to process the surroundings or struggling to be able to calm if there is a part of our environment we are unable to cope with. This could be as small a thing as the tag in a piece of clothing or one sound at the wrong pitch.
So often it’s usually happening when we’ve been stressed out by a small thing and there’s a bit of a domino effect when something else may not go as planned. The more uncomfortable we are, the more likely what we would have been able to cope with before we now can’t. It can be really quite scary for us going through that. I’ve had a few sensory overloads myself since I was twenty years old.
My First Sensory Overload
My first sensory overload occurred when there were competing sounds; a live band playing music, someone speaking on a microphone, people mumbling all around me for an interactive part of the event. I felt trapped, unable to escape from the main room as a second group of people had come down from a meeting and were gathering in the foyer of the building. As I had no idea what it was, I was stuck in that environment with no guides to help me get out of it. It turned out to be a sensory overload because I couldn’t easily process my surroundings as I usually would.
At that time, I was in my final year of university. Luckily, I had an adviser from the National Autistic Society assigned to me and she was able to explain what had happened. To combat it happening again, I bought myself a set of ear defenders. This means I can put them on, block out all the noise and let myself breathe, regaining control until I’m ready to take them off. They have been really helpful when I’ve had stresses build up to a head where I had a sensory overload by the build-up of noise while I have been distressed by other factors.
How To Keep Sensory Overloads At Bay
Not everyone uses the same tools either. Some have noise cancelling headphones that they can play music through to help them calm down. Sometimes it might not even be an issue with sound. It could be any of the senses that are overloaded, such as the touch sense may be struggling with a particular fabric or a clothes tag at the back of the neck.
So, should you be unsure what to do to help the person with autism, or indeed if it’s you who have sensory overloads, the best thing to do is ask them what you can do to help them. It could be as simple as having a sensory area for them to escape to or have a fidget toy to distract them or a kind of weighted blanket to help them relax. If it’s yourself who has had a sensory overload, it may be helpful reflect on an event where it may have happened before and with that hindsight think about what might help you should it happen again. Having a plan of what to have in place should you or someone you care about have a sensory overload is the best thing you can to do minimise how long it takes to recover afterwards.
Looking After Yourself
Recovery afterwards can take time, so please be kind to yourself or to them if it’s someone you care about. When I had my first sensory overload, it seemed to affect my ability to process instructions given by my lecturers. They struggled in some instances to help me understand what they were asking me to do for assignments. We got there in some instances, but now I know how I’m affected afterwards, I can plan it in to give myself time to recover and readjust.
So, remember it’s no one’s fault this happens. Make sure you have some kind of plan, such as make sure you have some ear defenders, noise cancelling headphones, fidget toy or whatever you need with you. If you can feel one coming, that will be the point to get yourself out of that situation if you can or put on the ear defenders/noise cancelling headphones. Be kind to yourself afterwards. You don’t realise how much energy it takes out of you until it’s passed.
To give others an understanding of what it’s like having a sensory overload, I made a short film called Sensory Minefield in 2019. Click here to view it.