Unicorn Roots

But you don’t look disabled

Sensory disabilities are as complicated as our senses are. Most people are familiar with deafness and blindness. However, many people are less familiar with conditions like anosmia, congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP), hypoesthesia, hyperesthesia, hyperacusis, photophobia, auditory processing disorder (APD), or sensory processing disorder (SPD). This means that an individual with one of these conditions may have an increased or decreased sensitivity to different types of sensory input, such as touch, sound, visual input, or even smell and taste (Cleveland Clinic, 2023; NORD, 2025; Merriam-Webster, 2026).

In my case, my ASD-1 (formerly Asperger’s syndrome) makes it more difficult for me to process verbal communication and certain types of physical contact quickly. In elementary school, my parents were told that I had an auditory processing deficit (formerly a layman’s term for what is now APD). However, I would also scratch tags and buttons off clothing and flinch when someone suddenly touched me. Decades later, I was diagnosed with ASD-1, and it was suggested that my previous informal diagnosis of APD may actually be SPD, not uncommon in those of us labeled as high-functioning autistic.

A sensory disability can be defined as an impairment of one or more of the 5 senses: smell, sight, taste, hearing, and/or touch. Surprisingly, the most common sensory disability is related to taste impairment. Sensory disabilities are often genetic, but can also be caused by illness or injury. They are also most common in seniors, mostly affecting their quality of life. In fact, deaf-blindness, a sensory disability involving the loss or significant impairment of both hearing and vision, is often seen in older adults with dementia. To add to this, one-third of seniors with vision loss also have symptoms of depression and loneliness. However, one in six kids has at least one sensory disability that inhibits their daily life and learning. These disabilities can also affect learning and performance in school. Though they can’t be cured, symptoms can be treated and managed with therapies like sensory integration, occupational therapy, and physical therapy. Service dogs trained to aid those with sensory disabilities can also help by retrieving items, guiding, providing emotional regulation and stability (both physically and psychologically), alerting to oncoming seizures, providing direct companionship and a sense of security, and many more services (Khalid, 2025). 

At its core, a sensory disability is a neurological condition that in some way prevents the brain’s processing of sensory info in a typical manner. This includes vision and hearing loss. However, it also includes conditions like Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). Symptoms and signs of ASD can include some difficulties with communication, behavioral challenges, social interaction, and typical learning methods. Assistance needs vary significantly depending on the individual. An autistic person may lack the instinct to point to things of interest, and they may not readily follow another’s gestures. This disinterest in social interaction may lead to trouble relating to others, self-isolation, avoiding eye contact, trouble expressing emotions, showing empathy in a typical way, and echolalia (Cleveland Clinic, 2023; Rutgers-New Brunswick, 2025).

References

Cleveland Clinic (2023). Echolalia. Health Library. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/echolalia

Khalid, E. (2025). Sensory Disabilities — Type, Effects, and Treatment. NuPrisma. https://nuprisma.com/sensory-disabilities-types-effects-and-treatment/

Merriam-Webster (2026). Medical Dictionary. Medical Dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/medical

NORD (2025). Congenital Insensitivity to Pain (CIP). National Organization of Rare Disorders. https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/congenital-insensitivity-to-pain-cip/

Rutgers-New Brunswick (2025). Sensory Disabilities. Department of Kinesiology and Health. https://kines.rutgers.edu/dshw/disabilities/sensory/1061-sensory-disabilities