🌈 Sensory Observation Checklist
Noise, labels, haircuts, food textures, spinning, bare feet on grass. Write down how your child actually reacts across a fortnight, and a pattern usually appears that is hard to see day to day.
How to use it at home
- Print one sheet and fill it in over about two weeks, across ordinary days rather than special outings.
- Tick what you see rather than what you expect. A child can be over-sensitive to sound and under-sensitive to movement at the same time — that mix is common and worth capturing.
- Add the trigger in the notes: which shop, which fabric, which food, what time of day.
- Note what helps as well as what sets things off. If ear defenders, a tight hug or a quiet room settle your child, that is genuinely useful information.
- Bring it to your appointment. It gives us a fortnight of real life instead of twenty minutes in an unfamiliar room.
A quick preview — here’s what you’ll print:
Tick what you notice over about two weeks. Children are often over-sensitive in one sense and under-sensitive in another — record both. This is not a test and there is no score.
| Sound | Often | Sometimes | Not yet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Covers ears at everyday noise — mixer, hand dryer, traffic, crowds | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Very distressed in busy, echoing places such as markets or halls | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Does not seem to notice loud sounds, or their own name in noise | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Makes constant noise or hums to themselves | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Touch, clothing and grooming | Often | Sometimes | Not yet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fights haircuts, nail cutting or teeth brushing | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Pulls at labels, seams or socks; will only wear certain fabrics | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Dislikes being touched lightly, but likes firm hugs | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Does not seem to notice mess on hands or face, or minor bumps | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Movement and body | Often | Sometimes | Not yet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Constantly spinning, rocking, jumping or crashing into things | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Frightened of feet leaving the ground — swings, slides, stairs | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Bumps into furniture and people; seems unaware of their own body | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Chews clothing, pencils or toys well beyond the teething stage | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Food and mealtimes | Often | Sometimes | Not yet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Refuses whole textures — soft, lumpy, mixed or crunchy | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Gags at the sight or smell of certain foods | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Eats a very narrow range of foods and resists anything new | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Stuffs the mouth very full, or eats extremely slowly | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Light, sight and attention to detail | Often | Sometimes | Not yet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Squints, covers eyes or is upset by bright or flickering light | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Is drawn to spinning objects, patterns or lights | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Struggles to find an object in a cluttered place | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Afterwards | Often | Sometimes | Not yet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Takes a long time to settle once upset | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Is calmed by deep pressure, a quiet space or a familiar item | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Reacts more strongly when tired, hungry or unwell | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
- Print one sheet and fill it in over about two weeks, across ordinary days rather than special outings.
- Tick what you see rather than what you expect. A child can be over-sensitive to sound and under-sensitive to movement at the same time — that mix is common and worth capturing.
- Add the trigger in the notes: which shop, which fabric, which food, what time of day.
- Note what helps as well as what sets things off. If ear defenders, a tight hug or a quiet room settle your child, that is genuinely useful information.
- Bring it to your appointment. It gives us a fortnight of real life instead of twenty minutes in an unfamiliar room.
Pairs with our free sensory home program at inclusivetherapycentre.com/home-programs
Why this helps
Sensory difficulties are easy to mistake for behaviour, and that mistake costs children a lot. A child who screams in a busy bazaar, refuses to wear a school shirt, or gags on rice with an unfamiliar texture is often described as difficult, fussy or spoiled. Watch closely over a fortnight and something else usually emerges: the same kind of input causes trouble each time. Writing it down is what turns “he is being naughty” into “loud, echoing places are unbearable for him” — and those two descriptions lead to completely different responses from the adults around a child.
The pattern also matters more than any single reaction. Some children are over-responsive and pull away from ordinary input — sound, touch, light, texture. Others are under-responsive and go looking for it, crashing into furniture, chewing collars, spinning until they fall over. Plenty of children do both, in different senses, on different days. None of that is captured by a single visit to a clinic room, which is exactly why we ask parents to record it at home. Our page on sensory processing differences explains what sits behind each of those patterns, and signs of sensory processing difficulty walks through them with everyday examples.
Two honest limits, and we would rather say them plainly. First, this is an observation record, not a test — there is no score and no threshold. Professionals use standardised, validated questionnaires for this, such as the Sensory Profile or the Sensory Processing Measure, which are scored against comparison groups; a printable sheet is not. Second, and specific to us: we do not employ a licensed occupational therapist. Our motor and sensory work is practical skill-building led by our special education and ABA team, and where a child needs assessment or treatment by a qualified OT, we say so and point you towards one. That is described in full on our motor and daily-living skills page.
Sensory differences also travel with other things. They are common in autistic children, though a child can have them without being autistic and be autistic without having them. Feeding difficulties often turn out to be about texture rather than appetite. Handwriting difficulty sometimes traces back to how a child registers pressure and position. So fill the sheet in broadly rather than narrowly — the section you nearly skipped is often the one that explains the rest.
When you want to act rather than record, our free sensory home program gives a week-by-week structure you can run at home, and the calm-down steps card is worth printing alongside it for the moments when a child has already tipped over. If mealtimes are the flashpoint, keep notes on textures specifically — that detail shapes the plan more than anything else.
Tips for using it well
- Do record ordinary days. A birthday party tells you a child was overwhelmed at a party; a fortnight of school runs tells you something you can act on.
- Don’t treat it as a score sheet. Sensory profiles are mixed by nature, and adding up ticks would flatten exactly the detail that makes them useful.
- Do write down what helps — headphones, a quiet corner, deep pressure, a familiar cup. Half of a good sensory plan is built from what a family has already discovered by accident.
- Do separate “will not” from “cannot bear”. A child who covers their ears and cries at the sound of a hand dryer is not being defiant.
- Don’t force a child through a strong sensory reaction to prove a point. It rarely builds tolerance and it usually costs you trust.
- Do note food by texture rather than by name — smooth, lumpy, crunchy, mixed — because texture is usually the thing that matters, not the dish.
- Do bring the sheet along if you are already working through our big feelings home program, since sensory triggers and emotional outbursts are often the same story told twice.
Common questions
Does a sensory checklist tell me if my child is autistic?
No. Sensory differences are common in autistic children and are one of the things a diagnostic team asks about, but plenty of children have sensory difficulties and are not autistic, and plenty of autistic children have few sensory difficulties. This sheet records one part of a much bigger picture. If autism is your underlying worry, our free development check covers a wider range of signs, and our autism page explains how a proper assessment actually works.
My child seeks out spinning and crashing rather than avoiding things. Should I still use this?
Yes — that is sensory seeking, and it belongs on the sheet just as much as covering ears or refusing labels. Children who are under-responsive to movement or deep pressure often go looking for more of it: spinning, jumping off furniture, squeezing into tight spaces, chewing clothing. It is frequently read as hyperactivity when the child is actually topping up a sense that under-registers. The checklist has a movement section for exactly this.
Is “sensory processing disorder” a real diagnosis?
This is worth being straight about. Sensory differences are real, well recognised and can genuinely disrupt a child’s day. But sensory processing disorder is not a standalone diagnosis in the main diagnostic manuals, and it is usually described alongside autism, ADHD or a developmental difficulty rather than on its own. That is not a reason to dismiss what you are seeing — it is a reason to have the whole picture assessed rather than treating the sensory piece in isolation.
Do you provide sensory integration therapy?
Not in its licensed form, and we would rather tell you plainly. Ayres Sensory Integration is delivered by trained occupational therapists, and we do not have a licensed OT on staff. What our special education and ABA team provides is practical, graded sensory support and daily-living skill-building, described on our sensory support page. Where a child needs the licensed protocol, we will tell you and help you find the right professional.
My child only reacts like this at home. Does that still count?
It counts, and it is worth writing down exactly that way. Many children hold themselves together all day at school and unravel the moment they are somewhere safe, which is tiring for them and bewildering for parents who are told their child is “fine”. Record both settings honestly. A difference between them is information about demands and coping, not evidence that you are imagining it.
Written by the Inclusive Developmental and Therapy Center therapy team — our Speech & Language Therapist, psychology and ABA staff. This page is awaiting its clinical review.
Want help using these with your child?
A short, friendly conversation is the best first step. Call, text or WhatsApp us — we’ll listen and guide you, with no pressure.
MPS Road, Block A Model Town, Multan (near Bloomfield Hall School, Street No. 2) · Mon–Sat, 10 AM – 7 PM