Neurodivergence Across the Senses

The range of human sensory experiences and perceptions is much greater than most people are aware. I’m not sure about you, but as I grew up, I just assumed that how I experienced the world was the same as others. I knew that I was impacted more than most by some sensations such as woollen clothes and loud noises.

One thing I never questioned was my ‘minds eye.’ I never understood how we were expected to see ourselves on a beach under a palm tree for guided meditation, but I always thought that everyone was finding it as difficult as me. It has only been in the last few years that I learnt that most people aren’t faced with a black screen inside their mind when asked to imagine or think about something. I was astounded when I realised all those times I lay there perplexed and bored during guided meditation, others could actually see a version of themselves on that beach.

It is still such a strange concept to me to know that when asked to describe a loved one many people are describing what they can see in their minds eye, not just going through an itemised list of what they know about that person. I know that my father had dark straight hair, wore glasses, had a beard, was tall and skinny, and had pronounced veins on his arms. They are all facts I remember about him, but if I want to know exactly what he looked like, I have to look at a photo. It is only through a photo that I know the shape of his nose or about the patches under his mouth where facial hair didn’t grow.

Learning about aphantasia helped me make sense of my experience of the world and at the same time taught me about the huge variability when it comes to people’s experience of the mind’s eye. This made me want to understand the differences in other sensory perceptions, so here is a brief explanation of a variety of sensory differences. Hopefully, you learn something new about your own experiences or gain insight into how different others’ perceptions of the world can be.