Best Blog Posts for Sensory Supports

To start this school year, our team is compiling some of our best examples of supports we have seen in our districts and featured in previous blog posts. Today we are highlighting all of the Best Blog Posts for Sensory Supports!

Click on the hyperlink under each heading below to be taken to the related post on that topic.

• Sensory Systems Overview

• Sensory Tips and Tricks

• Sensory Activities at Home

• Heavy Work

• Incorporating Heavy Work into Daily Routines for Resistant Students

• Incorporating Proprioceptive Input

• Hallway Paths

• More Hallway Paths

• Purposeful Walk

• Purposeful Walks and Sensory Jobs

• Exercise

• More Exercise

• S’cool Moves

• Motor Room

• Active and Passive Sensory Rooms

• Mini Calming Sensory Rooms

Regulation Rendezvous: More Exercise

As we have shared previously, exercise is an evidence-based practice for students with autism spectrum disorders. It has been identified to improve behavior, increase school readiness, improve academic outcomes, and improve motor skill development. Exercise is defined as an increase in physical exertion for a minimum of 10 minutes that occurs on a regular basis. The physical exertion is measured by an elevation in the participant’s heart rate and an increase in core body temperature as evidenced by sweat production. 

Today's Regulation Rendezvous features examples of exercise equipment and visual supports we have seen in the districts we support. 

Equipment

There is some truly neat exercise equipment out there! We love seeing all the creative ways our teams incorporate this equipment into daily routines, transitions, sensory breaks, and related service therapy sessions. 

Climbing Wall
Amy Pratt
Springcreek Primary, Piqua

Obstacle Course
Michelle Gardner
Cookson Elementary, Troy

Obstacle Course
Michelle Gardner
Heywood Elementary, Troy

Student Weight Room
Wayne High School, Huber Heights

AmTryke
Amy Pratt
Springcreek Primary, Piqua

Color Hop Game
Five Below

Stationary Bike
Julia Millikin
Milton Union Elementary, Milton Union

Exercise Dice
Five Below

Tricycles
Amy Pratt
Springcreek Primary, Piqua

Stationary Bike and Exercise Balls
Bobbi Jo Chapman
Snyder Park Elementary, Springcreek

Visual Supports

Exercise often begins with a warm-up activity, followed by the exercise activity, and finishes with a cool-down activity. To help students with completing exercises in a predetermined sequence, many of our team provide visual supports. 

S'cool Moves Poster
Tracey Cooper
Tecumseh Elementary, Clark County ESC

Astronaut Exercise Sequence
Cassie Zerkle
Miami East Elementary, Miami County ESC

Sensory Circuit
Bobbi Jo Chapman
Snyder Park Elementary, Springfield

Sensory Break Visuals
Emma McKenzie
Tipp Middle School, Tipp City

Movement Station
Marissa Steinhelfer
West Carrollton, MCESC

S'cool Moves Station
Tracey Cooper
Tecumseh Elementary, Clark County ESC

Warm Up Sequence Choices
Tracey Cooper
Tecumseh Elementary, Clark County ESC

To find more great ideas for incorporating exercise for your students, check out our previous post:

Exercise

Regulation Rendezvous: Purposeful Walk

Many of our students struggle to remain well-regulated while seated in the classroom. They need opportunities built into their day for movement and exercise. One of our favorite strategies to recommend is a Purposeful Walk because it provides the student with calming vestibular and proprioceptive input through a structured task with a definite ending point.  Check out some of the great Purposeful Walk ideas we have seen in our districts in today’s Regulation Rendezvous.

Purposeful walks are already naturally built in throughout the day when students transition between different locations in the school building. Incorporate additional sensory input during these times through using a weighted backpack, weighted cart to push, or carrying a weighted transition item like a stuffed animal filled with plastic pellets.

Weighted Transition Buddy
Annette Baker and Bridgette Powers
Miami East Elementary, Miami East

Transition with Weighted Backpack and Cart
Emily Ottmar
Stevenson Elemetary, Mad River

Other naturally-occurring opportunities for purposeful walks can be embedded as jobs throughout the day. Students can collect recycling, gather milks in the cafeteria during breakfast and lunch, bring out recess equipment, collect textbooks or dictionaries in class, collect and return library books, or collect PE equipment.

Pusher for Library Books
Jennifer McGowan
Smith Middle School, Vandalia

Recess Equipment Rolling Tubs
Greenmont Elementary, Kettering

Tub of Library Books on Carpet Square
Terri Wheeler
Milton Union Elementary, Milton Union

Collecting Milks

Additional purposeful walks can be scheduled for a particular student who needs additional opportunities to move. These walks could include a treasure hunt walk, guided map walk, walking laps in the gym or on the playground, or making deliveries. 

Delivery Envelope
Rylie Jarrett
Stevenson Elementary, Mad River

Delivering Reams of Paper
Bradford Elementary

Be creative and have fun coming up with a theme for a student’s purposeful walk or incorporate their special interests! Keeping students motivated and engaged will allow the purposeful walks to be an effective calming support strategy for your students

Regulation Rendezvous-- Exercise

Exercise is an evidence-based practice for students with autism spectrum disorders. It has been identified to improve behavior, increase school readiness, improve academic outcomes, and improve motor skill development. Exercise is defined as an increase in physical exertion for a minimum of 10 minutes that occurs on a regular basis. The physical exertion is measured by an elevation in the participant’s heart rate and an increase in core body temperature as evidenced by sweat production. Exercise often begins with a warm-up activity, followed by the exercise activity, and finishes with a cool-down activity.

Many different activities are considered to be exercise. Some examples include jogging/walking, yoga, swimming, resistance training, etc. The key is to identify an exercise activity that the individual with autism will be willing to actively complete. Today's Regulation Rendezvous features ways we have seen exercise incorporated into classrooms around the Miami Valley. 

Some classrooms have exercise equipment that students can use during sensory breaks or at scheduled times of day.

rock wallEric Bostick
Beverly Gardens Elementary, Mad River

scooterboard with backrestTabitha Eaton
Main Elementary, Beavercreek

stationary bikeJennifer McGowan
Smith Middle School, Vandalia

treadmill
Carrie Prickett
Jane Chance Elementary, Miamisburg

If you have a student who likes to pace, jump, crawl, or use a scooterboard during their exercise break, it can be helpful to provide a path as a visual support so they understand the expectation in that area and to decrease distraction in other areas of the classroom. 

Therese Garison
Helke Elementary, Vandalia

Studebaker Preschool, Huber Heights

Other effective visual supports include exercise routines, choice board, or exercise dice. 

Brittany Bush
Spinning Hills Middle School, Mad River

Allyson Rudnicki
Tipp High School, Tipp City

Jackie Vollmer
Driscoll Elementary, Centerville

Edison Elementary, Dayton

Carrie Prickett
Jane Chance Elementary, Miamisburg

If students are scheduled to engage in a work task after exercising, we recommend having them  complete a calming activity such as dots and squeezies, deep breathing, or a cool down stretches to help calm their bodies in preparation for work.