Strategies for Sensory Challenges

My grand-daughter is age 7 and I take care of her. She receives speech, O.T., P.T. and feeding programs. She has a lot of sensory problems. I try everything to help her. I can’t take her out to eat because the smells make her go wild. Please help.

How do I provide sensory breaks to a child during a busy classroom day without the child leaving his/her desk and missing important instructional time?

What are some strategies to reduce or extinguish vocal and motor self-stimulatory behaviors that interfere with learning and community inclusion?

I have a student in my special education classroom who continually wants to take off his shoes. I allow this in my room but I can’t have him walking through the school without his shoes. When it is time for an outside class, I try to explain this to him and start putting on his shoes. He will then throw them and cry or scream. What can I do?

My 7 year old son, diagnosed with autism, is constantly writing or scratching on my walls with anything he can find, whether it’s a pen to write or one of his toys to scratch. He draws mostly bridges on my walls, but he does draw other things as well (things that interest him). I was thinking about painting a wall with dry erase paint and making it clear that it’s his wall to draw on to try to contain the drawling to one area. My questions are:  Could my idea work and if not how do I get him to stop drawing on my walls?

We have many double periods of math throughout the week. It makes it very difficult for some of my students to continue attending. What can I do to help them (and me) get through these times?

Every year I have 1 or 2 students in my class who can become very upset about different situations. They may hit, cry, yell, or sometimes run out of the room. What can I do to help them stay in control before resorting to these behaviors?

My son is non-verbal.  Recently he has begun screaming.  This is not out of anger, but to hear his own voice.  It is quite loud and can be very distracting at home to his siblings and out in public.  I don’t want to discourage his trying to communicate, so am not sure how to handle it.

My child has multiple diagnoses including ADHD, PDD NOS, and OCD. He has many self-calming behaviors and vocal tics in school. He may clear his throat and ‘zone out.’ He may keep his fingers crossed. These behaviors are concerning me. What can I do to decrease them?

I have a student who chews her pencil during seatwork. She chews the metal top until it is ragged or comes off and will often chew the pencil right down to the lead. Not only does this behavior distract her during writing activities, but I am concerned for her safety! I have tried chewy pencil tops, other oral stimulation (candy, gum), and visual cues. Nothing seems to prevent her from chewing the pencil. How can I prevent this behavior.