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Build Your Sensory Toolkit
Your sensory system is always doing work in the background. Some input drains you; some input helps you regulate. Knowing your own map — what's too much, what's just right, what you actively seek — lets you build a kit instead of white-knuckling through the day.
My sensory profile
For each sense, drag the two sliders: how much you SEEK that input, and how much it OVERWHELMS you. The wheel draws your profile as you go.
My sensory profile
I seek it — How much you enjoy or actively seek this kind of input.
It overwhelms me — How much this kind of input tends to overwhelm or drain you.
Sound
Noise, music, voices, background hum.
I seek it (0–10): ____
It overwhelms me (0–10): ____
Light & sight
Brightness, flicker, visual clutter.
I seek it (0–10): ____
It overwhelms me (0–10): ____
Touch & texture
Clothing, textures, being touched.
I seek it (0–10): ____
It overwhelms me (0–10): ____
Smell & taste
Food textures, scents, strong smells.
I seek it (0–10): ____
It overwhelms me (0–10): ____
Movement
Motion, balance, needing to move.
I seek it (0–10): ____
It overwhelms me (0–10): ____
Inside signals
Hunger, thirst, pain, temperature.
I seek it (0–10): ____
It overwhelms me (0–10): ____
What soothes each sense
Now note what actually helps or feels good for the senses that need it.
Soothers & tools
Sound
- What soothes or helps me here: ____________________
Light / sight
- What soothes or helps me here: ____________________
Touch / texture
- What soothes or helps me here: ____________________
Smell / taste
- What soothes or helps me here: ____________________
Movement / body
- What soothes or helps me here: ____________________
My everyday tools
Tick what already helps you, and add your own.
- [ ] Noise-canceling headphones / earplugs
- [ ] Sunglasses / a hat / dimming the lights
- [ ] A fidget or something to hold
- [ ] Deep pressure (weighted item, firm hug, tight clothes)
- [ ] Movement (walk, rock, pace, stretch)
- [ ] A planned quiet break
My own go-to tools
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Pack your kits
What would you put in a kit for each setting, so it's ready before you need it?
Out-and-about kit (bag/pocket)
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Work / study kit
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Stimming is allowed: Stimming and seeking input are healthy ways your body regulates. The goal isn't to do less of it — it's to give yourself what helps, on purpose.
Go deeper
Ready for more? These lessons pick up where this worksheet leaves off.
- Sensory Processing, from The Neurodivergent Brain. How sensory processing differs in autism, ADHD & AuDHD — hyper/hypo senses, stimming as regulation, and the hidden tax.
- Sensory Profile — Sensory Processing Across Eight Senses, from Autistic Self-Discovery. The three senses nobody taught you, and why sensitivity is six dials rather than one.
- Building Your Personal Regulation Toolkit, from The Neurodivergent Brain. The capstone: build a personal regulation plan around your wiring — name your state, match tools to it, catch overload early, design your space.