Course overview

If your child seems to "save it all up" for the moment they get home, this short course is for you. Eight practical sensory strategies for the first hour after school — to help your child decompress, and to make the post-school stretch feel calmer for the whole family.

Many children hold themselves together at school all day — managing noise, lighting, social demands, transitions, and sensory input that can feel intense — and then need to release that build-up the moment they're somewhere they feel safe. For lots of families, that "somewhere safe" is home, and that release can look like meltdowns, tears, withdrawal, or big feelings that seem to come out of nowhere.

In this 45-minute course, Occupational Therapist Jessica Kirton shares eight sensory strategies you can weave into a predictable, calming after-school routine. The aim isn't to "stop" the meltdown — it's to support your child to co-regulate alongside you, and to give their nervous system the kind of input that helps it settle.

The strategies are designed for children up to age 10. None of them require equipment or extra resources — they're things you can introduce gently into your existing first-hour-after-school routine. Most parents find that combining two or three of the strategies into a personal "calm and decompress" sequence works best, and Jessica explains the sensory principles behind each one so you can adapt them to suit your child.


What you'll explore

Across eight short sections, the course covers:

  • How to help your child "check in" with their body using interoception
  • Gentle muscle and joint movement (proprioception) to support a sense of calm
  • When and how to add rocking or swinging movements (vestibular input)
  • Deep pressure and oral tactile strategies — and the different ways each can help
  • Using auditory input (sounds, silence) thoughtfully as part of the routine
  • Small visual environment changes that can soothe an over-stimulated child
  • Familiar smells and flavours as gentle cues that help your child feel secure
  • Why these strategies work — the sensory integration theory in plain language

Who this course is for

This course is designed for parents and carers of children up to age 10 who experience after-school meltdowns or post-school dysregulation — whether your child has a diagnosis (autism, ADHD, sensory processing differences) or no formal diagnosis at all.

If you're not sure whether sensory differences are part of your child's picture, that's fine too — the course explains the underlying principles so you can decide what feels relevant.


A few things worth knowing

📥 Course notes & glossary are downloadable and yours to keep.

📄 Certificate of Attendance available once you've completed the short check at the end.

🕒 Take your time — your access stays open for 30 days, and the course is designed to be dipped into rather than completed in one sitting if that suits you better.

Talk it through 1:1 with an OT

Want personal support?

If you'd like to discuss your child's specific situation in more detail, you can book a 30-minute one-to-one online session with Dr Lelanie Brewer, Advanced Sensory Integration Practitioner. A focused, friendly conversation about what might genuinely help..
Find out about 1:1 OT coaching — £45 →
Dr Lelanie Brewer

Course curriculum

    1. How to use this course

    2. Meet the course leader, Jess Kirton

    1. Welcome

    2. Who this course is most useful for, and what we are going to cover

    3. What this course does not cover and why

    1. Use interoception to help your child 'check in'

    2. How to do a body scan with your child

    1. Using the muscles and joints to regain a sense of calm

    2. Proprioception - How to do it

    1. Rocking and swinging movements to feel settled and calm

    2. Introducing vestibular movement strategies

    1. What is deep pressure, and why might it be helpful

    2. Deep pressure, how to do it

    3. For some children, gentle deep pressure can be added in to help

    4. Oral Tactile sensory strategies to explore

    5. How to introduce Oral Tactile strategies to calm and relax

About this course

  • 31 lessons
  • 0.5 hours of video content

Lecturer

Jessica Kirton

Occupational Therapist and Advanced Sensory Integration Practitioner

Jessica Kirton is an Occupational Therapist and Advanced Sensory Integration Practitioner with 15 years of clinical experience supporting children, young people, and their families. Since qualifying as an OT in 2011, Jessica has worked across the full range of UK settings — the NHS, private practice, special schools, mainstream schools, and specialist early years intervention — alongside voluntary work overseas. She has set up OT services across schools and held positions as Lead OT, giving her a depth of practical experience across both 1:1 therapy and the wider systems around children's lives. Her courses for Sensory Help Now bring that clinical experience into a parent-facing format: practical, neuro-affirming, and grounded in the sensory integration principles she teaches.

Reviews

5 star rating

Amazing concise & practical info!

Angela busby

This is super helpful, easy to finish quickly and very practical! 8-9 great strategies I’m going to try straight away to help after school meltdowns. Loved it thank you!!!

This is super helpful, easy to finish quickly and very practical! 8-9 great strategies I’m going to try straight away to help after school meltdowns. Loved it thank you!!!

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5 star rating

Very helpful!

Menia Baka

This easy to understand and follow webinar is very helpful in order to give the proper advice to parents or caregivers that struggle with the sensory overload of their children!

This easy to understand and follow webinar is very helpful in order to give the proper advice to parents or caregivers that struggle with the sensory overload of their children!

Read Less