How to Advocate for Your Child’s Sensory Needs at School Without Feeling Pushy

Advocating for your child’s sensory needs at school can feel like a sticky situation. Perhaps your child’s teacher has reached out to you explaining how their behavior is (or is becoming) disruptive for the whole class. There was probably a specific situation that forced the conversation, and now things are to the point where the teacher needs more help to continue to support your child’s success in school. 

Now, it’s easy to get caught up in your emotions during a time like this, but remember – your child’s teacher has a whole classroom to manage & they are doing their best. Also, teachers don’t typically receive training on sensory processing & how it can impact behavior at school. 

From working with families in our clinic overtime through situations just like this, we have classified school advocacy into three stages. Let’s walk through them together so that you can feel confident when advocating for your child’s sensory needs at school. First we are going to get curious.

Phase 1: Get Curious & Collect Data

First things first, we need to get more information about the specific behavior. When does the behavior typically happen? Is it during a specific activity or time of day (after recess, lunch, specials)? Is it frequently with a specific child/adult? Or a specific area (outside, cafeteria, hallway)? Or during a specific subject? The goal here is to look for patterns. Once you identify any ‘triggers’ you can then work on incorporating strategies to support your child. Your child’s teacher should be able to help answer some of these questions, so don’t hesitate to reach out to them to get more information if you need help.

Phase 2: Learn & Share Resources

If you haven’t already – make sure you know about sensory processing, self regulation, & how it can impact behavior. If you expect your child’s teacher to know about these things, then so should you! Remember, this is a collaborative experience. You are responsible for understanding your child’s behavior & getting them the support they need. To get started, we suggest reading ‘Understanding Dysregulation in Children: What Every Parent Needs to Know’ & downloading our free ‘Sensory Processing Crash Course’.

Once you have a good foundational understanding of these concepts you will be in a good position to collaborate with the school to implement sensory strategies that will support your child. 

As mentioned before, there’s a good chance your child’s teacher does not understand how sensory processing challenges impact behavior. To help them understand you can share our instagram account for teachers (@theteachers_ot), or share the resources mentioned above.

Phase 3: Explore Strategies & Support Systems

Now that you’ve identified patterns/triggers, and educated yourself (& the teacher) about sensory processing & self regulation, it’s time to start exploring strategies. Refer back to your data & identified triggers. What is this behavior trying to tell us? We believe that behavior is communication – it’s trying to tell us something. 

Does your child frequently miss directions? Their auditory system could be overwhelmed and unable to focus on the right information. Maybe try giving them visual cues or placing their desk at the front of the room.

Does your child struggle to stay in their seat? Perhaps their nervous system is overloaded and seeking more muscle input to regulate. Maybe they could benefit from more muscle input via a wobble cushion or weighted lap pad. Or perhaps they could benefit from sitting in a quieter spot in the room.

Does your child frequently use too much force with objects or peers? Chances are their proprioceptive system (muscle/joint/ligaments) is not getting enough information to understand how much force they are using. Give them more opportunities to get heavy work (put them in charge of moving chairs/desks, have them deliver a box filled with books to the library or another room, or have them wipe down the board/desks).

Come up with a few strategies to start with and see if they improve your child’s behavior. It might take a few weeks of using certain strategies to know if they are helpful, so give them time. If the strategies aren’t working, try something else. It definitely takes some experimentation! What works for another child might not work for another. 

If you don’t see any improvement after a few iterations of experimenting with different strategies, it may be best to get an evaluation from an occupational therapist that has training in sensory integration. 

How Parents Can Support Teachers in Implementing Sensory Strategies at School

As a parent advocating for your child’s sensory needs at school, you want to make it as easy as possible for your child’s teacher to implement these strategies. 

Do not expect (or ask) the teacher to buy sensory supports like cushion seats, weighted vests, headphones, etc. This is something that you should provide. Keep in mind that although the teacher will do their best to protect the sensory supports you provide for your child, there is always going to be a chance that something could happen to it. 

Before you (& your child’s teacher) implement a sensory tool in the classroom, have a conversation with your child about how to use their sensory support to minimize misuse & distraction. The teacher should also have a conversation with your child, but the more reminders they have the better! Make sure you follow up with the teacher on the sensory supports or strategies to see how it’s going and if there is anything else you can do to help. 

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Advocating for your child’s sensory needs at school is a learned skill, and the more you do it the easier it’ll come to you. Even when things feel tough, remember that you and your child’s teacher are a team. Get curious about the behaviors (what are they trying to tell us?), do your research, and approach the situation with a collaborative mindset.

If you are located around Sandy Springs, Georgia we’d love to support your family in person at our clinic. The best way to reach out to us is through our contact form on our contact page. If you are not located within driving distance to our clinic, we’d love to support you online through parent coaching (reach out to us via our contact page) or our free resources in our resource library.