What sensory adjustments can a school make, and how do we ask?

The short answer

Map the sensory demand in the place and time where access is lost. Noise, light, touch, smell, movement, body signals, crowding and unpredictability can combine differently in registration, lessons, corridors, lunch, toilets, PE and transport. Ask what the child notices, what adults observe, what happens afterwards and what is different on easier occasions. Then test a change linked to that barrier: altering timing or route, reducing unnecessary input, making information more predictable, offering a usable quiet option, adapting clothing or equipment, or allowing safe regulating input. Ear defenders and sensory tools are possibilities, not universal answers. Define how the child gets the adjustment, how learning and return are protected, what the fallback is and when it will be reviewed. Consider SEN or additional-needs provision and disability-adjustment duties separately where both apply.

• Map the sensory load by place, time, duration and recovery cost.
• Include internal body signals, crowding and unpredictability as well as the five familiar senses.
• Reduce or reorganise the demand before expecting the child to tolerate more.
• Make quiet spaces and exits operational, with a return route and fallback.
• Test equipment with the child and review its benefits and costs.
• Link any reasonable-adjustment request to the child's specific disadvantage.