Q&A: Tracking for Sensory Diet Effectiveness?

Questions:

I was wondering if you do a tracking system for the effectiveness of the sensory diets provided.

Answer:

I don’t have one particular tracking system, but I do highly recommend taking data on the target behavior before implementing a sensory program and then once again after the program has been in place for a few weeks.

So, if the target behavior is wrist biting while in the cafeteria, for example, I would take data on the frequency of wrist biting in the cafeteria for 3 consecutive days and average the results. This helps ensure that I’m not just seeing a particularly good day or a particularly bad day. Then we would implement the sensory program based on the sensory issues that seem to be contributing to the wrist biting based on the assessment. Typically, I would do 3 more consecutive days of data tracking after 1 month of intervention. Then we can compare our intervention data to our preintervention data.

You may choose to track the intensity, length, or frequency of the behavior, or whatever seems most appropriate based on the behavior you are targeting. We have some basic data-tracking forms available in our FREE RESOURCES section here:

I hope that helps! Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Best Wishes,

Gwen