What is a Sensory Profile?
A sensory profile is a way of mapping out your sensory needs and preferences. It considers each sense, one by one, helping to identify your responsiveness to sensory input and determine your 'just right' sensory experience. This process can be done in a detailed and standardized way through an evaluation with a professional such as an Occupational Therapist. The evaluation tool, Adult/Adolescent Sensory Profile, is commonly used to "measure sensory processing patterns and effects on functional performance." The Pearson's Sensory Profile webpage goes on to explain, "An individual answers questions regarding how he or she generally responds to sensations, as opposed to how he or she responds at any given time." There are other versions of Pearson's Sensory Profile available for children.
Now, for a less formal "DIY" version of the sensory profile, you'll find those steps listed here. The sensory profile I will be describing is less detailed and relies on the personal insight of you and others who know you well, rather than a standardized evaluation to collect this data. You will be considering which sensory experiences you like and don't like. You will be asked to notice what causes overwhelm, what contributes to joy and pleasure, and how to get back to a regulated sensory system.
First, we'll start by simply labeling the eight aspects of your sensory system. You're likely familiar with the "five senses," but may not realize there are three more. I'll describe these below.
The Eight Senses
Vision (Sight): The ability to perceive and interpret visual stimuli through the eyes.
Audition (Hearing): The ability to perceive and interpret sound waves through the ears.
Olfaction (Smell): The ability to detect and identify scents through the nose.
Gustation (Taste): The ability to detect and interpret flavors through the taste buds on the tongue.
Tactile (Touch): The ability to perceive and interpret sensations of pressure, temperature, and pain through the skin. In addition to these traditional five senses, there are three more that are crucial for a comprehensive understanding of your sensory system:
Vestibular (Balance and Movement): The sense of balance and spatial orientation, which helps with coordination and movement. It is mediated by the inner ear.
Proprioception (Body Position): The sense of the relative position of body parts and the strength of effort being employed in movement. It involves receptors in the muscles, tendons, and joints.
Interoception (Internal Body Awareness): The sense of internal bodily sensations, such as hunger, thirst, heart rate, and the need to use the restroom. It provides awareness of internal states and physiological conditions.
Why it's Important to Know your Sensory Preferences
Understanding your sensory preferences is crucial for several reasons, ranging from enhancing daily life to improving mental health. Here's a detailed look at why it's important to know your sensory preferences:
Improved Self-Awareness. Is self-awareness ever a bad thing? You'll have more opportunities to understand what's happening, why it's happening, and what to do about it.
Enhance your Daily Functioning. Make your life easier by personalizing your environment to suit your sensory needs. You might find you're more productive and regulated in a sensory-friendly environment.
As number two suggests, Emotion Regulation can more easily be achieved. You might be surprised to learn how anxiety, agitation, distractibility, overwhelm, and more are directly related to your sensory experience.
Improved Mood. Adding to the emotion discussion, engaging in enjoyable and soothing sensory stimuli can boost your mood and bring you joy.
Improved Relationships. When our self-awareness grows and we find ways to communicate our needs more effectively, we are more likely to get our needs met, feel empowered, gain support, and improve relationships and social situations.
How to Create a Sensory Profile
You can use this Sensory Profile Template to follow along and create your own.
It's important to know that we each have unique sensory needs and preferences. Some sensory experiences are overstimulating or distressing, while others are enjoyable or calming. There is no right or wrong/bad or good way to experience your senses. Your sensory experience is yours and only you will know if something is too much or too little. In the linked template, you’ll find six categories of senses, with a list of questions under each. If you're unsure how to answer the questions, you might bring more attention to that sense as you go about your day, and then add information when you become more aware. You may also find this Sensory Preference Checklist helpful in narrowing down and offering ideas about your preferences.
Here are several questions to ask yourself as you think about each of your senses:
When am I most comfortable?
What do I crave or find enjoyable?
When am I most uncomfortable?
What causes me to feel overstimulated, overwhelmed, anxious, distracted, agitated, shut down, and/or panicky?
Once I'm overstimulated or hyperaroused, what calms me down and helps me feel regulated?
Once you have a better understanding of what your sensory preferences and needs are, you can then start to plan for preventing and managing sensory overwhelm. Here are several questions to ask yourself while creating a plan:
What are my comfort items?
Who are my comfort people or animals?
What are my comfort environments?
What environments, experiences, and things, do I need to avoid?
What strategies can I use to prevent sensory overstimulation or understimulation?
What strategies can I use to cope with sensory overstimulation or understimulation?
Sensory Strategies
To continue generating ideas for meeting your sensory needs and coping with sensory over or under-stimulation, you can review the list below.
Vision (Sight):
Dim lighting
Visual schedules and timers
Blue light glasses
Lava lamps or color-change lighting
Sunglasses or hats
Nature views or virtual windows
Audition (Hearing):
Noise-canceling headphones
Listening to music, audiobooks, or podcasts
Playing a favorite TV show or movie in the background
White noise machines
Earplugs
Olfaction (Smell):
Aromatherapy
Scented candles, sprays, diffusers
Carrying scented items
Avoiding strong odors
Gustation (Taste):
Oral sensory tools (i.e.- chewable jewelry)
Variety of textures in food
Strongly flavored or "comfort/safe" foods
Mindful eating
Mint or gum
Regular hydration
Tactile (Touch):
Fidget tools
Weighted blankets, vests, or stuffies
Sensory bins (Bins filled with items like sand, rice, or beans)
Brushing technique
Wearing favorite fabrics
Vestibular (Balance and Movement):
Swinging, spinning, rocking
Bouncing on an exercise ball
Exercise or Dance
Jumping on a trampoline
Standing desk
Proprioception (Body Position):
Exercise
Heavy work activities
Compression clothing
Chewing gum or eating crunchy foods
Squeezing stress balls or playdough
Interoception (Internal Body Awareness):
Mindfulness and body scan exercises
Regular breaks for hydration, eating, and bathroom
Visual reminders and easy access to water bottles and snacks
Breathing exercises
Biofeedback devices
How to Use your Sensory Profile
Finally, what should you do with your sensory profile once it's created? Well, you can do as little or as much as you'd like. The process of thinking through and writing down your sensory needs and plans has likely increased your self-awareness. You may find yourself better able to adjust expectations, find accommodations, offer yourself compassion and understanding, and prevent or cope with sensory disruptions. That is huge! As with each of the previous sections, here's a list of ways you might use your profile.
Share with friends and family.
Seek accommodations at work or school.
Store it somewhere accessible for easy reference when things get out of whack.
Treat it as a working document. Continue to learn, try new things, and find what and when things work and don't work. Adjust your profile as needed.
Slowly make changes in your daily life, environments, and relationships to formulate a life that feels good and prevents chronic over and under-stimulation... ultimately preventing burnout.
What else can you come up with? I'm certain there are many more ways to use this profile. Get creative!
My Favorite Sensory Resources
For a deeper dive into this subject, check out these resources.
Kelly Mahler is an Occupational Therapist who specializes in interoception, aka "The eighth sense." She offers a variety of free and paid resources to learn about interoception and increase personal interoception awareness and regulation.
Dr. Neff, with Neurodivergent Insights, provides a Sensory Preferences Checklist to help in discovering and creating a sensory safety plan.
The OT Toolbox shares extensive information on developing a Sensory Diet. Sensory diets outline specific activities to engage in throughout the day to meet sensory needs and recover from sensory overwhelm.
Do you have questions? Do you need help creating this profile? Would you like support finding sensory accommodations and making changes in your life? I'd love to help if I can. Reach out and we'll set up a consultation!