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What is a teacher to do? There are so many sensory types in a classroom and each child in that classroom has a different sensory need. One of the most difficult aspects of teaching is handling behaviour problems. Inappropriate behaviour interrupts lessons, tests a teacher’s patience and distracts the other children from the tasks at hand and from learning. And to top it all off, the teacher is left feeling overwhelmed and out of control.

Sensory processing happens at all times in response to all environments, and most definitely in a classroom filled with children. Understanding the impact of sensory input from the environment will help in making the necessary changes needed to create and facilitate a stress-free space for the children to learn.

So ask yourself a few questions:
• Is there a white space to break up all the classroom decorations?
• How much artwork/posters do you have on your walls or hanging from the ceilings?
• Is the primary teaching area free of clutter?
• How much natural light is there in the classroom?
• How noisy is the area surrounding your classroom?
• Are you as a teacher competing with other sounds while teaching?
• Are there any distracting smells in the classroom (flowers, scented soap, perfume, candles)?

These are very basic, but insightful questions for taking note of the environment’s impact on the sensory needs of the children in our classrooms. Doing a sensory audit every now and then, even if you ask a colleague to have a look for you, will help in designing classrooms for better learning to occur.

Let’s look at some general guidelines to help with making classrooms stress-free and sensory-smart.

1. Create a quiet space

A quiet space is a space to which a child can escape when feeling overwhelmed and overloaded (which will help with decreasing auditory and visual input)
Have a clear way in which a child can signal when he or she needs the quiet space
The space can be as simple as a room corner with a small tent or a desk covered by either a sheet or blanket
Place soft toys, various-sized cushions, noise-cancelling earphones, a small radio with earphones and sunglasses in the tent (smaller stuff can be placed into a box)

2. Visual Input

Many children are easily overstimulated by a constant visual input
Increase the amount of natural light in the classroom – do not cover the windows with artwork
Limit the number of visual distractions by creating clear and clutter-free workspaces (stores supplies and materials off the desks/tables)
Limit decorations and artwork to a designated art wall, either to the back of the classroom, away from the visual field of the children and opposite the wall where the board is
Use desk dividers during testing to help a child stay focused on critical desk work (or allow the child to sit facing a blank wall, with the back to a teacher and class)
Limit the amount of information on a worksheet
Allow for sunglasses for those who are very sensitive to light

3. Auditory Input

The quickest way to calm an overwhelmed class is to quieten things down
Play white noise while the children work – help to block out typical school sounds
Play calming music for the whole class (for individuals in the quiet space provide headphones)
Provide noise-reducing headphones
Minimise verbal instructions – use more picture or word visuals)

4. Movement Breaks

Movement is a great way to get the whole class to regulate and refocus
The movement used with resistance is more effective as the heavy work will give the muscles and joints calming and organising movement
Slow move from extreme positions, i.e. move from sitting on the floor to standing
Send the child on an errand – add resistance by asking the child to carry something heavy (books, backpack)
Ask the children to move the desks and chairs themselves when rearranging furniture
Chair push-ups, pushing against Thera-band (tied to the legs of chairs), handing out and collecting books, wiping the board clean, holding a heavy door open, etc. are all great ideas to combine movement and resistance into the day’s routine
Movement breaks just before testing is a great idea to help calm and regulate the children in order to focus
Use a wiggle cushion to provide movement when sitting
Who says that children have to sit to work – allow them to kneel or stand during activities
Have a specific area in your room to allow the children to stomp their feet or pace (padded carpets or foam blocks are good
NEVER TAKE P.E. OR BREAK TIME AWAY FROM A CHILD

5. Touch, taste, and smell

Applying deep pressure to the body with a hug, weighted blanket or vest
Allow the child to sit on a bean bag or ball
Have a tactile box filled with little fidget toys – stress balls, beads on a string, Thera-putty, small soft toys
Allow for sports bottle with spout top for drinking water
Blow balloons or feathers
Crunchy and chewy foods help with calming, they provide deep resistive pressure through the jaw – nuts, apples, carrots, chewing gum, chewing bracelets or necklaces
Open windows to decrease distracting classroom smells
Be wary of wearing too much perfume
Keep scent-free tissues handy to provide a neutral scent
Use scent-free soap in the bathrooms and at the basins

Be aware of where your children are sitting. Your sensory-sensitive children will prefer to sit on the outside of a row, or at the back of a class, where they can monitor what is happening around them. If sitting on the floor, give them a designated space so that other children do not accidentally touch them.

As a teacher, you will know when to adjust the environment so that you have happy and focused children. If you are not feeling comfortable within your environment and teaching is difficult, then the chances are that the children in your class are also struggling to cope with the sensory environment.

Annabella Sequeira holds an MSc (Occupational Therapy) degree from the University of Cape Town, backed by over 22 years of experience in both the public and the private sectors. She has extensive practical experience in the area of Sensory Integrative Dysfunction in children and is passionate about empowering others to improve functionality and quality of life.

April marks Autism Awareness month. All around the world-famous landmarks have been lit up with blue lights, a great way for the world to notice that Autism is real, it impacts more people than we can imagine and yet, there is still so much to learn about the condition.

There is no doubt in my mind that parenting is the most difficult and demanding job of all, and this is ever more true in the case of parents with children on the autistic spectrum. Autism impacts many aspects of a family’s life:

Anxiety, depression, and exhaustion take their toll on the physical well-being of caregivers
There is a huge financial burden due to providing medical and therapeutic care, as well as the appropriate specialized toys and equipment and finding the best school
It adds strain on the parent’s and siblings’ relationships. Parents have less quality time together and siblings often feel overshadowed and left out by the added attention and care that the autistic member of the family needs.

SENSORY PROCESSING
Ask any adult or adolescent about what they found most difficult in living with Autism and they will mostly confirm that dealing with the sensory elements of Autism was their biggest hurdle. At every moment in our 24-hour day, our senses are inundated with new and old sensory input, which gets filtered appropriately in order for one to function effectively. Many autistic children have great difficulty with processing sensory input from the environment and added to that, they have great difficulty communicating what they don’t like about the sensory input.

Autistic children are typically sensory sensitive with either low or fluctuating thresholds, meaning that they are hugely affected, (often negatively), by sensory input from their environments. It is just too loud, too bright, too tight or too fast for them. They experience sensory overload on a constant basis and they really battle to cope with this. Their withdrawal patterns and poor social skills are not necessarily caused by sensory overload but are augmented by their sensory issues. Children on the autistic spectrum need consistency, routine and structure. Unpredictable and sensory overloaded environments (like shops and shopping malls) are very difficult for them to cope with, which typically will cause them to throw tantrums, get aggressive and/or withdraw from such environments.

SENSORY MELTDOWNS
Sensory meltdowns occur when there is some form of discordance that happens in one or more of the sensory systems (touch, taste, sound, sight, smell, movement). Low blood sugar levels are also of relevance, as lowered blood sugar levels heighten all the senses. Remove the child from the distressing environment and take him to a safer and calmer place.

These meltdowns happen quickly and without warning. The best advice for parents is to try not to over-protect these children or to shield them from stressful environments. Learn to anticipate which sensory system overloads the quickest and be prepared. Exposure to new and uncomfortable environments needs to be done in a gentle and calculated way (when the child is calm and regulated) as it helps them learn to anticipate, to adapt to and to manage these environments. A portable sensory toolkit can be taken with you whenever you are away from home.

PORTABLE SENSORY TOOL KIT

Sunglasses (to decrease the effect of bright light)
Baseball cap or wide-brimmed hat (for decreased visual stimulation)
Ice cold water bottle with a sports cap for sucking water or an ice-cold juice with a straw
Chewy snacks, like biltong, dried fruit, chewing gum
Soundproof headphones for very loud environments
Change of clothing (long-sleeved t-shirt to avoid unwanted touch)
Deep bear hugs – calming effect
Deep breathing – the universal calmer

The senses are thus vital in coping with Autism. Understand it, use it wisely and learn to look at people and environments from a sensory point of view.

Lastly, parents, you are the voice for your autistic child, you are their champion, you fight for their cause and you love them now as you did on the day that they were born. They are still the same children who love you for always being there for them, even when they cannot tell you themselves. You are the one that they depend on to tell the world that they are not less because of a diagnosis or label.

Annabella Sequeira holds a BSc (Occupational Therapy) degree from the University of Cape Town, backed by 22 years of experience in both the public and the private sectors. She has extensive practical experience in the area of Sensory Integrative Dysfunction in children and is passionate about empowering others to improve functionality and quality of life.

Category: Education

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