Mislabeled: Why Sensory Processing Differences Can Often Be Mistaken For Anorexia
One of the inspirations for Little Bird came from a question: what happens when the medical system prioritises a label over a person?
In the book, fourteen-year-old Olivia is misdiagnosed with anorexia because she cannot eat. But Olivia isn't afraid of weight, she is overwhelmed by a world that is too loud and too bright. She actually has a restrictive food sensitivity and is autistic with a demand avoidant profile. This article examines the dangerous overlap between sensory processing issues and eating disorder diagnoses.
For Olivia, the texture of peas feels like "small, wet pebbles," and a shower feels like "thousands of tiny needles" in her skin. When neurodivergent individuals experience this level of sensory overwhelm, food often becomes a primary battleground.
I set the book around ten years ago in 2015. We have come a long way since then in understanding more about neurodivergence and sensory sensitivity. Just ten short years ago, it was common for girls especially to be diagnosed with an eating disorder like anorexia when they were actually high sensitive to food texture, taste and scent as part of their neurodivergent profile.
Traditional eating disorder treatments that often focus on compliance and nutrition, can be traumatising if the underlying sensory issues are ignored. By shifting the focus from disordered eating to sensory safety, we can provide more compassionate care for those whose brains are simply tuned to a different frequency.
The Trap of "Tough Love"
In Little Bird, Olivia’s world becomes a "dehumanising blur of hospital stays, sterile wards, and tough love". In these environments, refusal to eat is often viewed as an act of defiance or a psychological battle with body image. But for a neurodivergent person, it is often a biological survival mechanism. If every bite feels like swallowing shards of glass, in that context, tough love only serves to increase the autonomic nervous system's distress.
Why the Medical Path Can Fail NDers
The medical world often prioritises diagnoses over the person in order to meet quotas and hit targets set by the government. Mental health and wellbeing go out of the window to prioritise saving a life - which is totally understandable! However, it can leave sensitive children and neurodivergent people with more trauma.
When a child like Olivia stops eating, the system triggers a standard protocol designed for Anorexia Nervosa. This protocol often includes:
Forced Nutrition: Ignoring the sensory pain caused by specific textures.
Sterile Environments: Hospital wards filled with fluorescent lights and beeping machines that add to the "static".
Compliance Metrics: Measuring progress by BMI rather than by the reduction of sensory overwhelm.
Shifting to Sensory Safety
True healing begins when we stop seeing the individual as a problem to be fixed and start seeing them as a "little bird with clipped wings". As Olivia discovers through her connection with Riley and his horses, freedom comes from being in an environment that matches your frequency.
I will say that if you have a child that isn’t eating you must consult your GP. There are absolutely valid health concerns related to a child that is chronically underweight or dealing with fluctuating weight whether that is from anorexia, bulimia or sensory sensitivity. Ensuring they are stable and healthy is the priority. But what can get missed is the sensory sensitivity aspect. You may want to consult this website for information on Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake https://www.arfidawarenessuk.org
For those supporting neurodivergent individuals, "sensory safety" means:
Validating the Sensation: Acknowledging that the needles or pebbles are a real physical experience, not a picky choice. If you have a child that is sensitive about food, try not to label them picky or force them to eat.
Modifying the Environment: Reducing the loud and bright triggers that drain the energy needed for eating and can help a nervous system that is in fight-flight calm down enough to rest and digest.
Prioritising Regulation over Compliance: Understanding that a regulated nervous system is a prerequisite for a healthy relationship with food.
"She also said you can be sensitive to food," Mum says toward the end of the story. "Dad and I have talked it through... no more diagnoses and doctors for a while."
By following Mum and Dad’s lead in Little Bird, we can move away from rigid systems and toward a world that finally hears the music beneath the static.
If you are affected by any of the topics discussed in today’s article, then either get in touch by dropping me an email claire@harmonyhealingservices.co.uk or you may like to sign up for my newsletter. I share weekly articles about somatic practices to support the nervous system and will be letting my followers know when they can order a copy of Little Bird. You’ll also get a free copy of my pantoum poem, a companion to Little Bird.
