How can I prevent sensory overload in my autism special education classroom?
Sounds, smells, lights, touch and other sensations can be overwhelming to students with autism. If you’re a teacher, teaching assistant or therapist of a child or teenager with autism, understanding sensory overload will help you engage, motivate and teach them. In this blog post, we’ll cover:
-what sensory overload is,
-possible sensory triggers in the classroom
and practical steps to help your students avoid sensory overload.
What is sensory overload?
Sensory Overload occurs when too much sensory input from sounds, smells, tastes, vision and/or touch overwhelms the brain. The autistic brain is unable to filter out less important sensory input, so it struggles to try to process all types of sensory input at once.
Sensory overload can trigger an intense emotional response in students with autism - fear, anxiety, and/or anger. Sensory overload can also cause a physical response in children with - pain, nausea, sweating, headache or dizziness.
Students with autism can become overloaded suddenly or gradually. An autistic child might have become overwhelmed at home before school, when travelling to school, in the playground or school entrance, before they even arrive in your general or special education classroom. Sensory overload in kids with autism can occur at any time of day.
If you keep data on sensory behaviors you will often find a pattern of sensory triggers for an individual child. For example, you might notice that your students with autism often experiences sensory overload after break, or before reading lessons. Working with the parents of students with autism is often the best approach for working out the sensory triggers for their autistic child. I’ve written an Easy Read Sensory Processing Guide containing practical advice to help parents and families support the sensory integration needs of their child with autism.
What does sensory overload look like in a child with autism?
The outward signs of sensory overload are different in every student with autism, but can include
A flushed or pale face
Sweating
Fast breathing
Fast pulse
Freezing (catatonia)
Shaking
Crying or screaming
Dizziness or fainting
Loss of appetite
Nausea
Increased stimming, for example, pacing, rocking, or flapping
Why do students with autism experience sensory overload?
Sensory input from the students’ environment = too much sensory information for child’s brain to process = their brain becomes overwhelmed = the students’ autonomic nervous system is triggered.
Because of how their brains are wired, autistic students process sensory input differently than other students in your school. The brain of a neurotypical child, quickly gets used to unimportant sensory input in their environment, such as the feeling of clothes against their skin, or the smell of a teacher’s perfume. This is called habituation, and allows people to focus on taking in new information, while filtering out irrelevant background information. Children and teenagers with autism often have reduced habituation.
Common sensory overload triggers in children with autism
Every autistic student has different sensory overload triggers . Here are some examples of common triggers which might affect your students:
Visual
Busy hallways - lots of kids, decor on walls
Busy classroom walls - posters, schedules, prompts, bright colors
Patterned clothing of peers & staff
Busy pages of books, or worksheets with lots to read and look at
Bright light - flickering fluorescent lights, or sunshine through windows
Bright screens - bright colors, quick movement
Sound
Volume - loud voices, bells, chairs moving
Pitch - younger children’s voices, giggling
Overlapping sounds - several low level sounds all happening at once
Sudden sounds - doors banging, bells, items being dropped, phones ringing
Animals - birds chirping, dogs barking
Voices - several voices at once
Smell
Food smells from the cafeteria, or snacks
Perfumes & laundry detergent
Unpleasant odors
Classroom cleaning products
Taste
Foods for snack or lunch which are too strong, spicy, salty or sweet
Medications
Touch
Difficulties with processing touch can make general hygiene challenging for children with autism because of the tactical input caused by
Washing & drying hands
Clothing textures
Bumps
Touching foods
Touching art or play items
What does sensory overload feel like for students with autism?
How sensory overload feels varies for autistic children, but often:
it can be very frightening
it can cause the student to feel unwell or exhausted afterwards
it can make the student feel upset or embarrassed.
It is common for older students with autism who are aware of their sensory overload triggers to try to avoid them. Refusal to take part in an classroom or school activity is often an autistic individual’s way to feel safer.
Sensory strategies teachers can use in the autism classroom
Implementing sensory integration strategies in your classroom might help reduce sensory overload for students with autism, such as:
Adapting the classroom environment - eg lighting and seating
Reducing clutter by storing activities in plain boxes and bins, in cupboards, or behind plain curtains
Reducing visual information on the walls, by only displaying essential posters and visual supports
Offering ear defenders or noise cancellation headphones
Reducing perfumed products
Using additional soft furnishings to absorb sounds
Reminding staff and students to lower their voice
Providing movement breaks and a quiet area to retreat to
Resources to check out
FREE Autism Sensory Needs + Accommodations Chart
Sensory Overload Scenarios Worksheets
Fight, Flight or Freeze Triggers Cards
Sensory Processing Easy Read Guide for Parents
I hope the information in this post helps you understand more about the sensory needs of your students with autism!
Need specific advice on Sensory Integration? Check out the options for a Consultation
Please note- the Sensory Integration information in this post is not intended to replace therapy from a qualified Occupational Therapist.