If your child finds it hard to settle and sleep, the bedroom environment might be quietly working against them. In this 30-minute course, Occupational Therapist Jessica Kirton walks through five sensory adaptations you can make to your child's bedroom — across light, sound, fabrics, bedding, and smell — to create a space that supports sleep rather than competes with it.
Most sleep advice for children focuses on bedtime routines — wind-down activities, screen time, consistent timings. All of that matters, but for sensory-different children, the bedroom environment itself often plays a much bigger role than parents realise. The wrong streetlight pattern, an itchy seam, the wrong weight of duvet, a faint smell, or a heating system that clicks on at midnight can each be enough to keep a child awake or wake them in the night.
In this course, Occupational Therapist Jessica Kirton walks through the relationship between sensory processing and sleep, helps you spot the sensory factors that may be affecting your child's rest, and shares five evidence-based adaptations across the five senses most relevant to the bedroom: visual, auditory, tactile, proprioceptive, and olfactory.
Each adaptation is paired with the underlying sensory principle in plain language, so you'll understand why it might help — and feel confident adapting it for your child. Sleep changes work best introduced gradually, and children's sensory preferences shift over time, so this course gives you a framework you can return to as your child grows.
Across the course, Jessica covers:
This course is designed for parents and carers of children aged 5 and above who find it hard to settle or stay asleep — whether your child has a diagnosis (autism, ADHD, sensory processing differences) or no formal diagnosis at all.
Sleep changes are best introduced gradually, and the bedroom environment is just one part of the wider sleep picture. If sleep difficulties are significantly affecting your child's wellbeing or development, please also speak with your GP — particularly if there are concerns about breathing, restless legs, or other physical factors.
This course focuses on the bedroom environment. It doesn't cover bedtime routines, daytime sensory input to support sleep, or sleep difficulties linked to medical conditions. If you're looking for advice on those, the strategies here will sit alongside whatever else you're working on — they don't replace it.
📥 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 — try one or two adaptations and give them a few weeks before deciding what's helping. Sleep changes are gradual.
Want personal support?
How to use this course
Meet the course leader, Jess Kirton
Welcome
What we are going to cover
What this course does not cover and why
Why is Sleep Important?
How External Sensory Input Affects Sleep
How Poor Sleep can Exacerbate Sensory Difficulties
Sensory Modulation and Sleep
Specific Sensory Difficulties and Sleep
Other Indicators of Poor Sleep Patterns for Children with Sensory Modulation Needs
Why is a Sensory-Friendly Environment Important
Visual Adaptations - Using Light and Colour to Support the Sleep Cycle
Auditory Adaptations - Sounds and Silence to Support Sleep
Tactile Adaptations - Strategies to Help your Child Manage Fabrics and Temperature
Proprioceptive Adaptations - Positioning and Bedding to Improve Sound Sleep
Olfactory Adaptations - The Powerful Impact of Smell: Often Overlooked
What has Been Covered
Take Home Points
Thank You for Watching
