We have set out to develop a new measure of subjective sensory sensitivities. We wanted to ensure that the questionnaire was based on people’s everyday experience of sensory information, and how they cope with it.

We also wanted to be able to explore whether there might be subtypes of sensory experience (e.g., Does everyone who finds visual information uncomfortable dislike bright lights? Or do some people dislike bright lights, whilst others dislike bold and contrasting colours?).

We are developing this measure to be used across all senses – we are currently working on the auditory, tactile, taste, and smell versions. The visual measure is already completed.

Cardiff Hypersensitivity Scale – Visual (CHYPS-V)

We have completed development of our visual sensitivity measure, the CHYPS-V. It has been submitted for academic publication; we will publish the work here when it becomes available.

Until then, you can download the measure (either as a PDF or Qualtrics qsf file) here. You can also view the poster below, which we presented at the European Conference on Visual Perception (2024). In it, we describe how factors (subtypes) of visual sensitivity vary across clinical diagnoses and areas of neurodiversity, and how they associate with symptoms of anxiety: