June 17th 2026
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WellBeing Magazine
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There is a lot of talk these days about falling somewhere on the spectrum. This has almost become an integrated part of mainstream language, with the increasing awareness of what it means to have autism or Asperger’s traits. But what is still quite misunderstood and not yet widely recognised is another spectrum that shows up in different yet overlapping ways.
Living with heightened sensitivity
Being a highly sensitive person (HSP) or empath is often quite difficult for others to comprehend due to people’s limited lens of perspective, clouding their openness and receptivity to the existence of these states. It is also a spectrum, with some similarities to what people have come to recognise as traits that occur in people who fall on the autism spectrum.
Highly sensitive people share many of these similarities, feeling attuned to sounds, smells, noise and bright lighting, sharing this heightened sense of sensory attunement. Dr Elaine Aron in her book, The Highly Sensitive Person, describes this as a “difference in arousability”. She explains that HSPs “notice levels of stimulation that go unobserved by others” and “reflect more on everything”, even being more sensitive to “physical sensations like pain”.
There would be many children who become labelled incorrectly as falling on the autism spectrum due to displaying these traits and a heightened inner world. Anxiety is also common for both those on the highly sensitive and autism spectrum, as now more than ever there is so much happening all around us to integrate and process, coming in so rapidly and fast as things get ever increasingly quicker in our technologically advancing world. It is imperative to know how to appropriately support people, to learn how to distinguish between the presentations of those on the autism and HSP spectrums, as well as to identify any co-existing anxiety at play.
To distinguish between the two spectrums, one extremely helpful factor is a person’s capacity for emotional attunement with others. HSPs are mostly highly emotionally attuned, whereas those on the autism spectrum have a lot more difficulty interpreting the emotions of others — this being one of the hallmark features. Children with autism also tend to display a tendency to become much more hyper-focused, inward and absorbed by their passions and interests, with less capacity to recognise the nuances and subtleties of social cues.
A HSP is often aware and articulate with their emotional world, enjoying deep and meaningful connections with others over superficial exchanges. Yet like those on the autism spectrum, they may get overwhelmed in certain places, with certain people or in specific heightened circumstances. This is especially the case when there is an element of sensory overload at play — for instance, in settings with loud noises, bright lights, multiple stimulating activities going on at once — or with certain people who are loud, fast talkers or overly assertive.
The best way for people on both spectrums to optimise their experience of life is to work with these sensitivities, rather than against them, unlike with anxiety, for example, where part of the resolution lies in exposure to the triggered situation. When we are anxious, the anticipatory anxiety component can be high and therefore facing the things that cause us anxiety can usually be very helpful when done in a gentle, safe way.
With sensory sensitivities, however, it is like the volume dials are constantly turned up during someone’s experience of life. This requires a gentler approach of managing triggers long-term, working with them and adapting to them, rather than pushing a person on either spectrum to the point of flooding and overload, which will then only lead to anxiety.
A confounding factor is the impact of anxiety on either spectrum of sensitivities. When we are feeling more anxious, whatever the cause, this can dial up our sensitives even higher. So it is also important to address any underlying anxiety that may also be interfering with a person’s capacity to enjoy the multifaceted aspects of human life.
Deep emotional attunement
Further along the highly sensitive person spectrum lies those who identify as an empath. Empaths have an innate ability to detect and feel the emotions and subtleties of those around them, as well as a deeper awareness of energy, of places, different environments and what is unfolding in the collective consciousness at large. Dr Judith Orloff , author of The Empath’s Survival Guide, describes empaths as having “an extremely reactive neurological system”. She says that “we don’t have the same filters that other people do to block out stimulation. As a consequence, we absorb into our own bodies both the positive and stressful energies around us.”
It’s similar to the impact of anxiety on the HSP, however, when empaths experience trauma or are anxious, their inputs can become clouded by the hyper-vigilance that arises as a self-protective mechanism. Here again lies the importance in resolving any contributing factors that may be unhelpful and negatively impacting their intuitive and subtle awareness capacities. When this occurs and empaths experience an undercurrent of chronic fear, they can be increasingly prone to relational sensitivities, hyper-vigilant of the emotional states of those around them.
However, as often deeply connected and spiritual beings, the more empaths can connect with their true nature and higher wisdom from within, the more they can cultivate the inner power to set energetic boundaries with the outside world — people, places and collective inputs.
It can seem difficult to comprehend for those that perhaps don’t relate to the traits that constitute either spectrum. As human beings, often when we haven’t experienced something ourselves, it is very challenging to conceive of how it could feel for someone else. Yet one of the gifts of being an empath is an innate ability to step into the shoes of others. This means that empaths often make the most caring and loving partners, healers and friends, as they enable others to feel truly heard and have a way of listening with all of their being.
Keeping an open mind
For those who struggle to comprehend these traits and don’t experience the world in this way, maintaining an open mind is important, to imagine just for a moment a world beyond your own.
For instance, when it comes to understanding the impact of sensory sensitivity, imagine someone talking to you loudly in an office while you work, loud music coming from two different directions, an ambulance going by and the phone ringing, all at the same time. This is a simple example and glimpse into what it feels like to live with sensory sensitivities on either the autism or HSP spectrums. For empaths, in addition to the multiple sensory inputs, emotion and energy are additional senses that arise in their field of awareness. Just like hearing the music of a song or having a light shining in your eyes, empaths feel energy and emotion in the same way.
As with the impact of anxiety, these traits can fluctuate at different times, becoming heightened by everyday stressors, fatigue or collective occurrences and reduced when feeling calm, safe and at peace.
So, as a society that increasingly prides itself on accepting and embracing differences, we need to expand our limited perspectives, to enable even more widespread understanding of diversity beyond our own experiences, and what is deemed the “norm”. We have come so far already, but there is still room for us to grow and evolve, to expand our limited viewpoints, to open our minds and hearts to others’ worlds.
We also need to teach our children how to accept and understand who they are, to welcome all our differences as human beings and to support them to truly thrive.
How to support someone on the spectrum Grounding practices:
• Mindfulness such as yoga, tai chi, swimming laps or snorkelling.
• Breath awareness with a focus on prolonging the exhalation to activate the parasympathetic rest and digest part of our nervous system.
• Time in nature to connect with the healing properties of the natural world can help us connect back to ourselves, the earth and the interconnectedness of all beings.
Managing sensory inputs:
• Avoiding/reducing time spent in shopping centres or in places that are overwhelming due to loud or multiple noise sources and bright lighting.
• Time limitations on interactions with people that we may find energetically draining to us. Explaining our sensitivities can also be helpful to reduce others taking this personally.
Creating boundaries:
• Expressing our needs without feeling guilty. As highly sensitive people, we can feel guilty that we are inconveniencing others due to mainstream expectations. This can be in relation to time spent with family and friends, or the way in which we choose to work. Yet this is just our conditioning at play. There is nothing wrong with having different needs to those we love or others around us. We are all equal and have the right to express our needs if done so in kind and gentle ways.
• Giving ourselves permission to leave places or situations in which we become sensory overloaded is also important. Despite our best efforts, there will be times when our resources to cope with a situation have been exhausted and we need to step away. And that is okay!
Supporting sensitive children
It is time for a new way of thinking around sensitivity. This means reframing how we see those on the sensitive spectrum and learn to educate children of the gifts of sensitivity. Sensitive people make the most empathetic, kind and compassionate friends, partners and colleagues. We need to value diversity and embrace all the different types of traits human beings can embody.
Editor’s note: While there may be areas of overlap in how sensitivity presents, being a highly sensitive person or empath is not the same as autism, which is a clinically assessed neurodevelopmental difference.
This article is featured in Wellbeing Magazine Issue 222
The post Spectrums, Senses and Sensitivity appeared first on WellBeing Magazine.
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