School-based OTs have a much narrower approach to sensory integration and sensory processing disorder than do private, clinic-based OTs. In school, the OT's job is not so much to change the sensory processing of the child as it is to make a better fit between the sensory needs of the child and the school environment. Most schools do not have the suspended or other movement equipment, the space, or the resources to allow for the extensive one-on-one time between therapist and child that is necessary to work directly on actually changing sensory processing.  Most agree that it isn't appropriate to do true Sensory Integration therapy in a school setting - it just isn't part of the scope of practice under IDEA or Multi-Tiered Interventions.

That doesn't mean, however, that there is nothing to be done for a child with sensory processing difficulties in the school! What is in our scope of practice is helping a child who has sensory processing difficulties to navigate the school environment (minimize sensory distractions, provide necessary sensory inputs for self-regulation so that the child can attend and learn) and we do this by giving teachers, parents, and some older children just enough information to use strategies and accommodations in the existing school environment. Often, a school-based OT will act as a consultant to gather relevant information from the teacher and staff and to help implement strategies to help the child work around any sensory difficulties. We tend to use terms like "over-sensitive," "triggers," "tools," and

Here is a list of resources and ideas with that aim in mind:

• Assessment -- see this link to more on Sensory Assessment. Personally, I find that observations in the classroom and interviews with teachers are the most useful. The emphasis in schools is to identify the areas of educational concerns, whether they may be related to sensory aspects of the environment (missing or present), and whether it is warranted to apply in sensory strategies.
  
• Items for individuals in the classroom (fidget toys, move'n'sit cushion) -- see Sources for Sensory Tools. Usually, the aim of addressing sensory issues in the school is to find a good match between the child and his or her environment. That means finding strategies to keep the child's arousal level functional during school, as well as changes that can be made to the classroom to allow for sensory needs of the child. These can include such simple ideas as having the child sit next to a wall or with his back to a wall so that he doesn't need to be vigilant about someone walking behind him. They can be as comples as having a pup tent in the room with beanbag chairs and other calming pressure touch items for children who become overwhelmed to retreat. See my list of sensory strategies. Many are appropriate for classrooms. There are loads of other such lists out there. Here's a good one from the author of Raising A Sensory Smart Kid.
  
• Helpful information -- I find Oh Behave! to be a super-useful booklet to give to teachers or parents who are skeptical of the "other side" of the debate. If you don't know what I mean, you probably haven't been involved in the common situation where one party (most often, in my experience, a parent) feels that their child is being ostracized, made to feel ashamed, and even being harshly punished for behaviors that they cannot help because they are caused by sensory processing problems. Another party in the picture (usually a teacher or other school employee) feels that the child is being manipulative, the parents are in denial about their child's behavior problems, and they (the party skeptical of the sensory problem) are being asked to make special exceptions to well-thought-out classroom rules because the sun apparently shines out of this child's -- well, you get the picture. The thing is, in my humble experience, they are both right! There are both sensory problems that are driving the child's behavior AND the child is using their different sensory status to drive their mis-behavior. You cannot separate a person's sensory experiences from the rest of them, and that includes past experiences, personality, thought processes, desires, and everything else that makes us tick. So, as I was saying, I love this booklet because it gets at the heart of the matter - changing negative behavior patterns through a combination of behavioral AND sensory strategies. Everyone is on the same page in the desired outcome, right? It also answers many of the protests that teachers have about using sensory strategies ("it will reward his bad behavior," or "the other students will all want one too," for example).
  
• Group Activities -- see Alert Program and Take 5! and others on this page
  
• Feeding Issues (not terribly common in school-based) see Oral and Feeding Issues