Practice & Strategies

The science pages explain what sensory processing is and how it differs in neurodivergent people. This section is about what to do: what helps, what doesn’t, and what the evidence says.

Frameworks for daily support

Prikkelbalans — stimulus balance — the four-zone model (green, orange, red, blue) for understanding and managing arousal. Developed through the Dutch SGL project.

Building an individual prikkelprofiel — a step-by-step method for mapping an individual’s sensory processing across all eight senses. The foundation for any personalised support.

Prikkeltaal — stimulus language — a vocabulary framework for making sensory experience discussable. You can’t support what you can’t name.

Approaches and values

Low-arousal approaches — preventing escalation by changing the environment and carer behaviour, not the person. Widely used in UK care settings.

SPELL framework — the National Autistic Society’s five principles: Structure, Positive approaches, Empathy, Low arousal, Links.

Sensory-friendly design — designing environments (classrooms, care facilities, workplaces, homes) that accommodate sensory processing differences. Includes the ASPECTSS architectural framework.

Observed patterns

Stimming as self-regulation — the neurobiological evidence that stimming is the nervous system regulating itself, not a behaviour to extinguish.

The accommodation-exposure question — when to modify the environment versus when to support the person in expanding tolerance. The defaults matter.

Hypo- en hyperresponsiviteit — how hyper- and hyporesponsivity manifest across the eight senses, with per-sense observations.

Positive aspects of hypo- and hyperstimulation — sensory differences as sources of pleasure and strength, not just difficulty.

Practical tools

Sensory products and fidget tools — what they are, why people use them, what the evidence shows, and how to evaluate them critically.