Glossary

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Sensory Adaptation(also: Habituation, Olfactory Fatigue)

Sensory adaptation is the diminishing response of a sensory system to a constant or repeated stimulus over time. Classic examples include no longer noticing a steady smell, becoming accustomed to ambient noise, or losing awareness of clothing pressed against the skin. In…

Sensory Disability(also: Sensory Impairment)

A disability that affects one or more of the senses — most commonly vision and hearing, but also including touch, taste, and smell. Sensory disabilities encompass conditions such as blindness, low vision, deafness, hard of hearing, and deafblindness. In digital accessibility,…

Sensory Processing Sensitivity(also: SPS, Sensory Processing Differences)

Sensory Processing Sensitivity refers to differences in how an individual perceives, filters, and responds to sensory input across modalities such as vision, sound, touch, taste, and proprioception. It is commonly elevated in autistic people, but also occurs in people with ADHD,…

Sensory Sensitivity(also: Sensory Sensitivities, Hyper-/Hyposensitivity)

Heightened or reduced responses to sensory input including sounds, lights, textures, tastes, and smells. Sensory sensitivity is common among autistic people, with approximately 74% experiencing atypical sensory processing. Hypersensitivity (over-responsiveness) may cause…

Shutdown(also: Autistic Shutdown)

A response to overwhelming sensory, emotional, or cognitive input in which an autistic person withdraws or retreats from their environment. Unlike meltdowns (which are outward expressions of distress), shutdowns involve a reduction in communication, interaction, and…

Somatosensory(also: Somatosensation, Bodily Sensation)

Relating to the sensory system that processes touch, pressure, temperature, pain, and body position (proprioception). The somatosensory system is crucial for accessibility technologies that bypass vision or hearing, including Braille reading, tactile graphics, vibrotactile…

Synaesthesia(also: Synesthesia)

Synaesthesia is a perceptual phenomenon in which a stimulus in one sensory modality automatically and involuntarily triggers an additional experience in a different modality or sub-modality - for example, seeing specific colours when hearing musical notes (chromesthesia),…

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