Thinking Aloud

Thinking Aloud is an information resource for teaching staff, SEN professionals and parents to raise awareness of synaesthesia, both as a standalone manifestation and for its co-occurrence with the autistic condition. The goal is to help teachers and SEN staff recognise synaesthesia in the classroom and understand how it could impact on both learning and behaviour. What is synaesthesia, and why does it matter? Synaesthesia – or synesthesia – is a sensory processing condition that causes a crossover of one or more senses: in short, a single sensory input triggers more than one sensory response. Someone with synaesthesia might see sound, or experience a tactile sensation in response to taste or smells. However, the full scope of the condition blurs those boundaries to include non-sensory inputs: synaesthesia can be as much about processing information and abstract concepts, and it can play a key role in learning and education. Synaesthesia’s anomalous responses are spontaneous and involuntary. No two synaesthetes will necessarily experience or process the world in the same way. For some the condition exists as barely noticeable background noise; for others it can be all-encompassing or even overwhelming. While considered to be a mostly benign or even positive condition, some aspects of synaesthesia can be problematic. Anyone can have synaesthesia, but it has been found to be four to five times more common in people who are autistic – some aspects of the condition can even help to provide a framework to explain certain autistic traits. A better understanding of synaesthesia can help to give a deeper insight into certain behaviours, responses or learning differences. It also serves as a useful window into the brain and the different ways our brains function. That in turn can help to foster better acceptance of different methods of processing, understanding and, importantly, learning. Looking at synaesthesia from this perspective helps all of us to do that.