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Sensory Street

University of Oxford

Welcome to Sensory Street!
We are a University of Oxford research project exploring the lives of autistic people with sensory processing difficulties using creative and immersive experiences…

About the Project | Get Involved

Our creative partner @sensoryspectacle has designed a range of immersive experiences in the past based on the descriptions and experiences shared by people living with sensory processing differences. For example, their sensory classroom explored what it was like to be a person in a lesson with auditory, visual and olfactory processing difficulties… Now that we have collected data from a range of different autistic adults we are working with @sensoryspectacle to design and create an immersive event to help explore what it is like to be autistic in public spaces. We can’t wait to see what they design! One year ago this week we started our Sensory Street accounts so that we could start learning more about autistic people’s experiences and sharing what we had learnt! Thank you to everyone who has been involved in telling us about their experiences in public spaces both in our focus groups and on social media. We can’t wait to host a public event later this year and look forward to seeing you there! Follow us to learn more over about what we create… ⠀ Happy new year! Here at Sensory Street 2021 has been a busy year for us, with several new members joining our team. We’ve also completed 7 focus groups and presented in an online conference “The Future is Sensory” by @sensoryintegrationeducation as well as worked with schools to try and learn more about what public places are like for autistic children. Hopefully 2022 will be equally exciting… The winter holiday period can be loaded with new sensory information which can make it more challenging for autistic people. This can include changes to routines, new sensory textures (e.g. less familiar foods or clothing) and an increased number of social events. ⠀ Our last sense is smell! This is received through our nose and is processed in the same part of the brain as our emotions. People under-sensitive to smell can have a reduced/no sense of smell and may lick items to better understand them (incorporating their sense of taste). Other people may find smells intense and overpowering which can make toileting more difficult. They also may find distinctive scents more challenging such as certain perfumes or shampoos. ⠀ Did you know that there are links between difficulties with sensory processing and movement difficulties? Our senses provide us with information about the environment around us so that we can respond appropriately. Difficulties processing sensory information can make it harder to learn new skills and coordinate responses or movements. Want to learn more? Visit our blog on our website… ⠀ Proprioception is the feedback we receive from muscles/joints in the body. It helps us understand where our body is in space as well as our movements and actions. This sense is important for coordinating movements of the body. ⠀ Over the past few weeks we have been collecting and reviewing all the information from our questions on social media earlier this year. We will be using your thoughts alongside comments from our focus groups to create an event in 2022 about what it is like to be autistic in different public spaces. Want to learn more? Visit our website or send us a message to ask a question! ⠀

Contact

Please get in touch with us at
sensorystreet@psy.ox.ac.uk
Or follow us on social media to learn more about the project

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