Strategies for Sensory Challenges

My son is non-verbal.  Recently he has begun screaming.  This is not out of anger, but to hear his own voice.  It is quite loud and can be very distracting at home to his siblings and out in public.  I don’t want to discourage his trying to communicate, so am not sure how to handle it.

I am working with a child who has just started licking things: people, walls, toys, etc. Redirection makes him frustrated.   How can I help him reduce this behavior?

I teach 2nd grade in a very busy classroom.  There is one student who has major difficulty with certain academic tasks and will melt down whenever he gets frustrated.  We don’t know what to do when he gets like that – it’s very disruptive!  Sending him out of the classroom isn’t the answer.  What can I do to help him calm down?

My student chews anything he can.  He will chew anything that is on his desk like his pencil or eraser.  He chews on his shirt sometimes and often his fingernails.  What can I do to stop this behavior?

I often hear about children having a limited number of foods they will eat. My son is starting to have some problems during meals. Are there some things I can do before I start having eating issues?

I am using a prompt hierarchy from most to least with a student to teach eating with a spoon. But whenever I do hand-over-hand he jerks his hand away – how can I teach him?

My son has a need to wear only shorts every day. This need goes into the winter and life becomes difficult. I worry regarding recess, walking and waiting for the bus and any time he is out. I worry about how this is looking in school as well. What can I do to get him to wear long pants?

My child balks when it is time to brush his teeth.  I think he has sensitivity to brushing.  He cries and just turns away – what can I do?

How can I prevent a student from being non-compliant during groups or activities?

My 7 year old is strangely tuned in to certain sounds. For example, if the pages of a book are being turned within hearing distance, he reacts by screaming at the offender to stop it. He is agitated by the noise to the point of having to leave the proximity so he doesn’t continue to fixate on it. When someone who has dry hands rubs them together and he can hear it, it gives him the “willies” and chills. Yesterday at a restaurant, I reached to pull a napkin out of a dispenser , and he reacted by slinking down in the booth saying, “Great! Thanks a lot –I just lost my appetite from you doing that.” He couldn’t finish his toasted cheese sandwich. Another example is that he reacts loudly when paper is being ripped or a sheet of paper is being torn from perforations in a spiral bound notebook. When my long fingernails scratch against him, or I scratch my own itch, it drives him crazy.

How can our family help minimize these seemingly over-the-top reactions to what seem like innocuous sounds–besides the obvious removal of known triggers? Should we be concerned?