Georgia PBS Interventions - Florida's Positive Behavior Support ...

If the Function is to Escape “Sensory Overload”For some students, especially students with autism spectrum disorders there are many sensory issuesthat can affect their behavior. Here are some examples that have been discussed in literature:Sensory StimulusAnother student crying for long periods of timeBright lightsBuzzing lights (fluorescent)Chairs scooting on the tile floorDoors opening and closingFire AlarmsLunchroom noiseObnoxious smells (like tire smell in Sam’s Club)People talking near the roomMost Simple SolutionEarphones listening to music or aninteractive computer game that hasmusic.Sunglasses, visor, or baseball capAlso, see later in this section aboutcreating a light therapy room where thelights are off and black lights andcolorful Christmas type lights are usedfor sensory input on a calming level.Halogen lamps or floor lamps with regularbulbs.Tennis balls cut and inserted over tips ofchairs.Hinges that stop doors from slammingAdvance warning from administration soa social story can be read prior to theactual bell. Also, the earphones used byairport personnel do a good job ofblocking out loud noises.Social story prior to visiting, music withheadphones gradually fading the volume,sitting off to one end of the cafeteria sonot in the middle of the noise.Coming in toward the end of a lunchperiod so that the majority of thestudent’s lunch time is during the nextperiod’s beginning time while most kidsare still eating and not talking yet.Essential oils on cotton ball and put inshirt pocketReminders of Quiet Zone outsideclassroom.Sometimes it takes more than a sign onthe wall.One school found that lowering the lightswas a good signal to let students knowthis was a Quiet Zone.Another school color coded the ceilingtiles to alert to students to Quiet Zones.Positive Interventions and Effective Strategies Riffel -© 2005 - 54 -