Olfactory: Under Responsive
1. Student has a strong preference for certain smells
Sensory Strategy:
- Provide activities which stimulate the olfactory senses:
- Playing in grass
- Using smelly or scented play doh
- Cooking with strong smells
- Have a scented lamp, candle, lotions, liquid soap, scented markers or stickers available to smell to alert student
- Set up a Smelling Station:
- Use containers filled with different cotton balls containing essential oils, spices, smelly objects e.g. cheese and rubber bands
- Provide the student with a scent they prefer and allow the student to sniff the scent to stay alert
Point to remember
- Provide jars of scented oils which student can access during the day
2. Student under reacts to strong smells
Difficulty in detecting unpleasant odours can leave students vulnerable to eating or drinking poisons because of their inability to detect bad smells.
Sensory Strategy:
- Teach students skills to avoid ingesting harmful foods and substances
- Teach students to read expiry dates and danger labels. A visual reminder page may help with this.
- Observe other students’ reactions to bad smells. Teach the student how to spot bad smells using others’ reactions (body language and facial expressions).
Point to remember
- Teach student to understand ‘Use by’ dates on food items, and ‘Hazardous’ symbols on toxic items.