From Overlooked to Empowered

Outline

Content & Engagement Plan

Opening & Story Anchor (10 minutes)

Introduce the session focus through a short vignette illustrating sensory dysregulation.

Audience reflection using a Think-Pair-Share activity to connect personal experiences.

Understanding Sensory Awareness (15 minutes)

Present key research linking sensory needs, trauma, and equity.

Small group brainstorm: identify environmental or instructional barriers that may overwhelm learners.

Experiencing the Sensory World (15 minutes)

Participants engage in a brief simulation of sensory overload.

Facilitated debrief to build empathy and connect insights to classroom practice.

Strategies for Inclusive Practice (20 minutes)

Introduce Universal Design for Learning principles and sensory-aware strategies.

Case study carousel: groups rotate through scenarios to generate supportive responses.

Leadership and Culture Shift (15 minutes)

Explore how leaders can embed sensory awareness into culture, policy, and professional learning.

Gallery walk: participants add ideas to posters on leadership actions.

Action Planning & Closing Reflection (15 minutes)

Individual action plan: identify one classroom/school strategy, equity shift, and collaboration opportunity.

Partner share and whole-group reflection on key takeaways.

Frequency & Tactics for Engagement

Interactive element every 10–15 minutes.

Strategies include Think-Pair-Share, group brainstorms, simulations, carousel discussions, gallery walks, and action planning.

Balance of peer-to-peer collaboration, experiential learning, and individual reflection.

Movement-based activities sustain energy and model inclusive, sensory-aware practices.

Outcomes

After this session, participants will be able to:

Recognize signs of sensory dysregulation and tell them apart from deliberate misbehavior.

Discover and reflect on the effects of sensory overload through interactive simulations.

Use Universal Design for Learning principles to create inclusive and sensory-aware classroom strategies.

Build responses that show empathy when students exhibit behaviors that require a shift from punishment to a more collaborative approach.

Create a personal action plan that includes one sensory-aware strategy, one equity shift, and one collaborative step to implement immediately in their context.

Supporting research

Blodgett, C., & Lanigan, J. D. (2018). The relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and academic success in elementary school children. School Psychology Quarterly, 33(1), 137–146.
https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000256
CAST. (2018) Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.2. http://udlguidelines.cast.org
Delahooke, M. (2019). Beyond behaviors: Using brain science and compassion to understand and solve children's behavioral challenges. PESI Publishing.
Perry, B. D., & Szalavitz, M. (2006). The boy raised as a dog: Other stories from a child psychiatrist's notebook—Basic Books.
Perry, B. D., & Winfrey, O. (2021). What happened to you? Conversations on trauma, resilience, and healing. Flatiron Books.
STAR Institute. (2020) Sensory Processing Disorder Fact Sheet. STAR Institute for Sensory Processing
Understanding Sensory Processing Disorder in Children - Sensory Toys For Autism. https://sensorytoysforautism.com/understanding-sensory-processing-disorder-in-children/