For someone with a learning disability or autism, the everyday world can feel very intense. Trying to process so much information - in the form of sights, smells, sounds and textures - coming at them at once can sometimes be overwhelming and can lead to an experience called sensory overload.
Here we explore what sensory overload looks like and how you might support the person you care for if they are experiencing sensory overload.
Sensory overload takes place when someone feels overwhelmed because their brain is receiving more information from their senses than it can comfortably deal with. Sensory overload is very common in people with a learning disability or autism who are often extremely sensitive to sensory stimulation, like sights, sounds, textures, temperatures and smells.
What triggers sensory overload will be different from one person to another. Some people with a learning disability or autism might be highly sensitive to touch, with the lightest feeling of pressure causing discomfort or pain. Someone might find perfumes or food smells unbearable, whereas others might find all types of sensory input, like noise, lights, touch, smell and taste extremely challenging.
Whilst environments like shopping centres and other busy public places are likely to be uncomfortable for someone with a learning disability or autism, even a seemingly more relaxed environment like an office or tutor room can still be highly triggering to someone with autism or a learning disability. This can be due to certain characteristics they might find difficult, like a particular layout, harsh lighting, or certain images on the walls.
Sensory overload can cause someone to feel threatened and unsafe. This experience of overwhelm can result in physical discomfort and agitation, as well as emotional responses like anxiety, fear and panic. It can also lead to extreme tiredness or fatigue due to the effort required to process the intensity of the experience.
Sensory overload can also trigger a fight, flight or freeze response that can look like behaviour that challenges others around them, and meltdown or shutdown responses.
Someone experiencing sensory overwhelm may display their distress in various ways.
They might begin by showing restlessness or irritability, by stimming, trying to reduce the level of sensory information coming at them by covering their face and eyes, by trying to get away from a particular situation, or by shutting down and becoming completely unresponsive. Someone with a learning disorder or autism who is experiencing sensory overload may find it more difficult to focus and feel disoriented, becoming fearful and unable to regulate their emotions and behaviour to the extent that they experience a meltdown.
It’s important to remember that someone in this state is not being intentionally difficult or aggressive but simply attempting to cope in what they are experiencing as a highly threatening situation. To others, this can look like anger or violent outbursts, with crying, shouting and/or hitting themselves or hitting out at others.
It can be difficult to witness someone you care for experiencing sensory overload, especially if you are out in public. Our article on managing social situations when supporting someone with a learning disability or autism offers more helpful strategies and support here.
Ways carers can help to manage or prevent sensory overload
If you are caring for someone with a learning disability or autism, there are ways to help them manage or prevent sensory overload. You might start by talking with them in a relaxed, familiar place so they can identify what triggers them in other situations. What are their particular triggers? How do they make them feel?
Being aware of certain triggers, both at home and in public places, can be useful as it means that you can both take steps to reduce exposure to particular stressors or ensure they don't become overwhelming, and develop strategies for situations where stress levels begin to feel challenging. Sharing this information with others where appropriate can also be useful.
Finding simple ways to reduce the impact of a certain trigger, like minimising light and noise, keeping spaces and walls uncluttered, wearing comfortable clothing, and using noise-cancelling headphones on public transport, can also be supportive.
It isn’t always possible to predict when a challenging situation might arise, and so other strategies can be helpful. Sometimes, supporting someone to intentionally experience a potentially stressful situation for a short amount of time can help them build up some resilience to it. Agreeing beforehand that you will only spend a few minutes walking through the park, for example, can be one way to do this.
Someone with a learning disability or autism will always feel more secure in a familiar environment too, so visiting somewhere in advance to check it out at a quieter, off-peak time can help.
For someone with a learning disability or autism, sensory overload takes place because the brain becomes overwhelmed with too much to process at once, and so taking regular breaks to disrupt this seemingly endless flow of information can be a good strategy. Sometimes just a couple of minutes of rest or a few deep breaths in a calmer environment can help someone with autism or a learning disability to reset and prevent sensory overload from escalating.
Supporting the person you care for to develop their own wellbeing strategies, like a regular practice of simple breathing and relaxation techniques, can help them to lower their response to stress and so reduce some of the symptoms of sensory overload.
There are also a range of tools available to reduce the impact of sensory overload in any environment. Noise-cancelling headphones, tinted glasses and toys that offer tactile feedback can all help, and the person you care for will be able to let you know what works best for them.
Ways carers can support someone experiencing sensory overload
Being able to ask for what they need in different situations, and feeling confident enough to advocate and let others know what is and is not acceptable for them, will help the person you care for to feel more confident and secure in any situation.
Feeling able to advocate for themselves can go a long way to prevent sensory overload from developing in the first place, and as their carer, encouraging the person you care for to feel able to communicate their needs and boundaries can be a hugely valuable part of your role.
You can prepare in advance by role-playing certain scenarios, and encouraging the person you care for to carry a simple ID card to make others aware of their needs without the added stress of verbal interaction.
At times, you may be aware that the person you care for is experiencing sensory overload and feeling challenged. In that instance they may need you to advocate for them, help them to get out of a particular situation, and support them in managing their physical and emotional responses.
During a stressful situation, staying as calm as you can as their carer will help the person you care for a great deal. You might calmly ask them what they need, help them to move to a quieter space where possible, and also support them to draw on the strategies that suit them best, like conscious breathing to soothe their nervous system, deep pressure techniques to help them feel more focused and secure in their body, or the use of any particular aid, like a weighted blanket or fidget toy, that they find useful.
An episode of sensory overload can be extremely demanding on their nervous system, and so encouraging the person you care for to find time to rest and fully relax afterwards can help them to feel more balanced and resilient again.
Accessing further support
If sensory overload is having a significant impact on the person you care for, reducing their ability to complete day-to-day tasks, engage in life and do the things they enjoy, you might consider accessing specialist support. Speaking to your GP is a good first step, and they will be able to connect you with professionals like an Occupational Therapist (OT) who can work with the person you care for to come up with strategies and interventions, like sensory integration therapy, tailored to support them and their individual needs.