The unrelenting hum of harsh, fluorescent lights. Aisles crowded with people jostling your cart. Startling announcements blaring over loudspeakers. For some, these common shopping experiences are extremely stressful, debilitating or even painful.
They have what is known as sensory processing disorder, a neurological condition that can cause people to be either over- or under-responsive to different internal and external sensory stimuli, as well as experience other sensory processing differences that can lead to challenges with language, coordination, movement or intellectual milestones.