Blog #477: Why There Should Be Sensory Friendly Trainings Ahead of School Field Trips

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Although it is a little early, let alone the school year, to be talking about end of the year field trips, I wanted to touch base on the idea that as the ratio of neurodivergent diagnosises continues to grow, now more than ever that there needs to be sensory friendly trainings ahead of certain field trips that are multi-day and can be hard for some students who are sensory friendly.

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Now, the reason I bring this up is because my town’s middle school recently announced their annual end of the year 8th grade trip to New York City and Washington, DC. For the past several years, the 8th grade class has gone to Washington, DC, Baltimore, MD, Philadelphia, PA and New York City as a culmination of the overall Middle School experience.

Some of the activities featured on this trip include having group photos in front of the White House, visiting the national memorials, having dinner cruises, etc. Now, you might be wondering why there needs to be sensory friendly approaches to these activities? Well, this is coming from someone who went on a class trip to New York City as a senior at Seekonk High School and that there were some sensory related challenges that I had to face.

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The idea of having sensory friendly trainings for multi-day field trips can prove to be beneficial for sensory friendly and special education students on account that having sensory friendly approaches can make the field trip more tolerable for them. When I went to New York City, some of the sensory friendly approaches included:

Being in the lead chaperones (my high school art teacher) group of 10.

Being checked on by the chaperones frequently and ensuring that I was with students that I could trust.

Having lunch at a sensory friendly location in New York City.

Being allowed to wear my IPod during lull periods.

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Now, when you look at this, you might be wondering that this is something to get the student out of participating in something fun such as being with their peers. However, there are some students who may not want to be in the group picture or be stuck in an environment that will be bothersome. The truth of the matter is that there are sensory friendly locations students can go to away from the tension of being in a large group setting.

For example, a sensory friendly location in Washington, DC is Arlington National Cemetery. Usually a place filled with respectful silence will give the student a chance to destimulate after a hectic period of time. One particular spot is the graves of President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963), his wife Jacqueline (1929-1994) and their children Patrick and Arabella, Senator Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968), his wife Ethel (1929-2024) and Senator Edward Kennedy (1932-2009). Not only can the student pay his or her respects to these important people, but they are also given a chance to stim and being in a quiet environment.

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Now, much like with School Safety Drills, School Assemblies and School Lunch Periods, some schools will often balk at the approach of being more sensory friendly and inclusive for special education students because it will ruin the experience of the general education students. The fact is that special education students will want to go on these trips (if they meet expectations that are required of them, of course) and schools would expect them to be involved with all the other students.

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Catch you all later!!