Sensory Observation Checklist and Sensory Break Menu: School and Home, High School

Before you can help a kid who covers their ears in the cafeteria or crashes into everything at recess, you need to describe what you are seeing. This checklist helps adults notice patterns and bring real notes to the people who can help make sense of them.

What's included:

• A short note on what this is and is not (it is for noticing, not diagnosing)

• An observation checklist by area: sound, touch, movement, sight, and more, with "avoids" and "seeks" columns

• A classroom break menu

• A home break menu

• A what helps log

How I'd use it:

Fill it in over a week or two, not in one sitting. Bring it to the team, the family, and your occupational therapist if your school has one. The break menus are a nice way to give a kid choices without a long conversation.

The observation checklist has room for dates and notes, so you can show patterns over time instead of a one day snapshot. It does not tell you why a child does something, and it says so plainly. It just helps the adults describe what they see in the same words. The what helps log is the piece families like, because it turns into a list of things that work at home and school.

Who it's for: Teachers, paras, and families. Grades PreK 8.

What you download: one printable PDF, 3 pages, US Letter.

Made by Jeremy D. Gooch, special education teacher and transition coordinator. Drafting and layout had AI assistance; every page was checked by me.