Sensory overload in class

Four steps, in order, that work with a class of thirty still in the room. None of them require another adult, and none of them require the child to explain anything.

Lower the input before you say anything

Overheads off, music off, the class given a quiet task. Changing the room is faster than changing the child and does not single anyone out.

Offer the exit without an audience

A pre-agreed card, a job that requires leaving the room, or a corner they can use without asking. Leaving must not cost them any social standing.

Drop the work, keep the place

The task can be finished later or not at all. Insisting on the worksheet in the next ten minutes will cost you the next hour.

Log the trigger, not the behaviour

Time of day, what preceded it, what the room was doing. Four or five entries usually show a pattern that a behaviour log never will.

The corner has to be boring

A calm corner stocked with the most interesting things in the room becomes a destination, and then it has to be rationed, and then it is a reward rather than a regulation space. Keep it dull, keep it always available, and it stays useful. How to build one.

When to escalate

If a child is overloading daily, leaving the room repeatedly, or the pattern is getting worse across a term, that belongs with the SENCo and, with parental consent, an occupational therapist. Environmental adjustments are worth making either way, but they are not an assessment.