'I felt like my senses were under attack': An interpretative phenomenological analysis of experiences of hypersensitivity in autistic individuals.

Taels et al. (2023) talked to autistic adults about hypersensitivity. They used a method called interpretative phenomenological analysis. This lets people tell their own story in their own words.

The team asked how hypersensitivity feels day to day. They wanted to know why it matters to the person living it.

Participants said hypersensitivity feels like an attack on their senses. It is overwhelming, intrusive, and tied to unpredictable places or people.

One person said, 'I felt like my senses were under attack.' These stories show that sensory pain shapes every social moment.

Price et al. (2025) asked autistic teens the same questions in secondary schools. Their answers match the adults: lights buzz too loud, rooms feel unsafe, quiet spaces are scarce. Together the two studies show the problem starts young and stays.

Hwang et al. (2020) ran a survey with autistic adults. They found intolerance of uncertainty links sensory issues to anxiety. Liesbeth’s stories give the lived voice behind those numbers.

Uljarević et al. (2018) saw the same sensory-uncertainty-anxiety path in people with Williams syndrome, not autism. At first glance this looks like a clash, but it shows the pathway is trans-diagnostic. The same mechanism hurts across labels.

Hypersensitivity is not a side note; it is a core stressor. When you cut uncertainty—post visual schedules, give ear defenders, warn before fire drills—you also cut the sensory attack. Start sessions by asking, 'What hurts your senses right now?' Then remove or soften that input before teaching anything else.