Summary
This wiki uses an expanded, eight-sense model rather than the traditional five, because the three “hidden” senses — proprioception, the vestibular system, and interoception — turn out to matter as much for daily functioning as the familiar five, and are more often the sites of autistic sensory processing differences. This page lays out the full taxonomy, using the distinctions drawn in van Berckelaer-Onnes, Dijkxhoorn & Hufen 2018 — SGL literature synthesis §2.3 and in the Dutch sensory processing framework.
The two-level distinction
This framework divides the senses along two axes simultaneously.
Axis one — where the stimulus comes from:
- Exterosensoren (exteroceptors) — stimuli from outside the body
- Interosensoren (interoceptors) — stimuli from inside the body
Axis two — how far the stimulus originates (external senses only):
- Nabijheidszintuigen (proximity senses) — touch, taste, smell, movement, balance
- Vertezintuigen (distance senses) — hearing, sight
The proximity/distance distinction is historical, going back to Goldfarb (1961) and Prick (1965), who hypothesised that autistic children tended to “get stuck” in the proximity senses and avoid the distance senses. The distinction is clinically useful even where the underlying hypothesis is only partially supported.
The external senses
Touch — tast (het tactiele systeem)
The largest sensory system by surface area and in some accounts the most important. Skin receptors detect pressure, temperature, pain, vibration, and texture. Autistic people frequently experience atypical touch processing — some textures are unbearable, others are sought out; light touch may be experienced as painful while firm pressure is calming.
Smell — reuk
Closely tied to memory and emotional wellbeing. Atypical smell processing is under-assessed in standard instruments but frequently reported by autistic people as a major factor in which environments are tolerable.
Taste — smaak
Five recognised taste categories: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami. Taste is strongly entangled with smell — what presents as “picky eating” is often as much about smell and texture as about taste itself.
Hearing — horen
Processes environmental sounds and supports language development. Auditory hyper- and hyporesponsivity are both common in autism. A practical consequence is that someone who appears “deaf” to conversation may be acutely tuned to specific sounds (a particular voice, a particular piece of music, ambient hum).
Vision — zien (visus)
Perceives images, light, and spatial information. Autistic visual processing can involve heightened detail sensitivity, discomfort with flicker or fluorescent lighting, and sometimes unusual patterns of visual seeking (staring at light sources, tracking rotating objects).
The body senses
Proprioception — proprioceptie
Sensors in muscles, ligaments, and joints tell the body where its parts are in space without visual feedback. Atypical proprioception shows up as “not knowing one’s own strength”, reduced body awareness, clumsiness that is not simply motor difficulty, and the common autistic pattern of seeking deep-pressure input (heavy blankets, tight clothing, squeezing). Kapp & Neeman (2012) note that many autistic people have poor body awareness; Shetreat-Klein, Shinnar & Rapin (2014) link proprioceptive differences to social mobility and participation.
Vestibular sense — evenwicht
The balance system, located in the inner ear and connected via nerves to brainstem structures. Monitors head position, acceleration, and spatial orientation. Distinct from proprioception: vestibular signals come from the head, proprioceptive signals from everywhere else. Autistic vestibular differences often appear as either seeking rocking and spinning motion or strong avoidance of it.
The internal senses
Interoception — interoceptie (interosensoren)
Sensors that register internal bodily signals: hunger, thirst, bladder and bowel fullness, pain, muscle tension, heartbeat, breath. Interoception is increasingly recognised as the sensory substrate of emotional awareness — you cannot easily name a feeling if you cannot detect the bodily state that constitutes it. Atypical interoception in autistic people is under-studied but is a plausible mechanism behind features as apparently different as alexithymia, trouble recognising when to eat or use the toilet, and difficulty identifying one’s own emotional state until it becomes overwhelming.
Nociception — nociceptie
The specific sensors for pain, distributed through organs, muscles, and skin. Sometimes grouped with interoception, sometimes treated separately because the pathways are distinct. Atypical nociception in autism can mean either elevated pain sensitivity or reduced pain signalling — with the latter being a significant safety concern.
Brain stimuli — not strictly a sense, but important
The Dutch sensory processing framework explicitly includes hersenprikkels (brain stimuli) alongside sensory input: thoughts, emotions, and language. These are not sensory processing in the strict neurological sense, but the framework treats them as continuous with sensory load because overwhelm from one’s own thoughts can be as destabilising as overwhelm from the environment. A person running on a loop of anxious thoughts is expending the same regulatory resource as someone in a loud room.