Who’s Using Sensory Ladders – and Why I’d Love to Know…
Read about OT Student Sally V’s use of Sensory Ladders here and her awesome final placement!
And then, let me take you back for a moment. It was the early 2000s, and I was sitting with a young woman on a ward who was struggling to explain why one minute she was calm, and the next—tears, fury, or complete shut-down. She told me she felt “like a bottle of fizzy pop with no lid”… and that beautiful, fizzy metaphor stayed with me.
That’s where Sensory Ladders™ really began—not as a product, not even as a formal idea, but as a shared moment of co-production. A conversation between two people trying to make sense of what the body was saying when words weren’t enough.
🪜 Born from the Body. Built in Collaboration.
Over the years, Sensory Ladders™ have evolved in the most beautiful ways. But they’ve always stayed rooted in that core principle: everyone is a sensory being, and everyone deserves a way to map their inner experience in a way that feels safe, understood, and shared.
They’ve been drawn in hospital wards and kitchen tables, in therapy rooms and classrooms, in community centres and cafés. And the most powerful ones are always co-produced—designed together, in collaboration, with the person at the centre of the experience.
Whether it’s a child with autism, a teen navigating trauma, an adult in recovery, or an older person with dementia—Sensory Ladders™ offer a personalised, creative and respectful way to build understanding and empower doing. And they come alive when shared.
✨ Sensory Ladders™ in the Real World
I’ve seen Sensory Ladders™ turned into storybooks and sticker charts. I’ve seen fairy ladders with glitter and moss, dino ladders with stomps and snores, and ladders for adults made from poetry, playlists, colours and scents.
Here are just a few that have stayed with me:
🧍♂️ A young autistic man in a forensic mental health setting drew a ladder that helped him explain when he was “scratchy hissy cat” versus “calm purring cat.” It helped staff spot the early signs of distress and plan regulation strategies before behaviours escalated.
👩🦱 A mother recovering from postnatal trauma created a ladder that included her “blobby fog” state. Identifying that state meant she could start to use movement and grounding to reconnect—supporting her praxis and daily function.
🏃♀️ A woman with ADHD co-designed a ladder to help her understand the difference between fizzy panic and motivated focus. That awareness helped her time her planning, improve pacing, and feel confident again at work.
👨🦯 An older adult with Parkinson’s co-created a ladder with his therapist that became part of his daily self-check-in. It helped his wife understand what kind of support he needed—and when just a cup of tea and quiet was enough.
🧠 In neurorehabilitation, therapists have shared stories of using Sensory Ladders™ with people post-stroke and in early-onset dementia services, helping individuals and families articulate subtle changes in alertness, comfort, and readiness for action.
Every single ladder is a reflection of the nervous system—and of the person’s voice.
💬 Sensory Ladders™: A Personalised Communication Tool that Supports Praxis
One of the most powerful things about Sensory Ladders™ is that they’re not just regulation tools—they are communication tools and praxis tools.
They help make the invisible visible. They give shape and language to inner states that can be hard to explain—especially for people who don’t yet (or no longer) have easy access to words. They provide a shared visual language between the person and those around them: parents, teachers, carers, partners, teams.
But just as importantly—they support praxis.
Praxis is the ability to plan, sequence, and carry out actions. And in times of stress or dysregulation, praxis is often the first thing to slip away. When the body doesn’t feel safe or settled, the brain finds it hard to ideate, choose, organise, and act.
This is where Sensory Ladders™ quietly shine.
By giving a person a map of their internal states and linking each rung to doable, familiar, co-produced actions, they start to rebuild the bridge from feeling to doing.
Each ladder becomes a praxis scaffold:
- A way to recognise,
- A way to plan,
- A way to sequence,
- A way to move — from chaos or collapse, into calm, connection, and action.
And every Sensory Ladder™ is different. That’s the point.
Some are built with glitter pens and stickers, others with metaphors like train stations or weather patterns. One autistic adult used traffic lights, another used flavours. A woman navigating grief created a ladder shaped like a spiral, showing how she often loops back before moving forward.
Every ladder is personal, co-produced, and meaningful. That’s what makes them effective—and that’s what makes them beautiful.
🧠 Perception: The Gateway Between Feeling and Doing
Before we can do, we must know. Before we plan, we must perceive. Before we act, we must feel safely enough to notice how we feel.
This is the quiet power behind Sensory Ladders™—they start with perception.
Perception is how we make sense of the signals coming in from our bodies and the world around us. It’s the brain interpreting what’s happening on the inside (interoception), in space (proprioception), and through movement (vestibular), touch, sight, sound, smell, and taste.
When perception is fuzzy or unreliable—when we can’t tell if we’re hungry, tired, agitated or shut down—it becomes incredibly hard to regulate or act with intention.
That’s where Sensory Ladders™ come in.
They offer a scaffold—a personalised, visual way to notice and name what we’re feeling. This act of noticing is the gateway to regulation, and then to praxis: the ability to plan, sequence, and do.
Perception → Naming → Regulation → Praxis → Participation
😍 The Infectious Generosity of Sensory Ladders™
What began as one person’s drawing has now become a shared language used across the UK and around the world. And honestly? That’s thanks to the infectious generosity of this community.
Therapists share ladders with other teams. Parents adapt them for siblings. Teachers borrow them to support pupils. Translators help put them into Arabic. Artists help make them accessible. Each time someone adds to the idea and shares it back, it grows.
Sensory Ladders™ were never meant to be owned. They were meant to be offered—freely, compassionately, with kindness. That’s how movements grow. That’s how we build a sensory-aware, neuro-affirming, co-regulating world.
🌍 Where Are You Using Sensory Ladders™?
This isn’t just a survey. It’s a celebration. An invitation. A gathering of stories from wherever these ladders have landed. I want to hear from you:
- Are you using a Fairy Ladder? A Dino one? A handmade one with stickers?
- Have you co-created ladders with children, teens, adults or elders?
- Are ladders supporting praxis, helping people move from frozen or fizzy to doing, being, becoming?
- Are they helping reduce distress, build connection, support learning, aid transitions, or make self-expression possible?
📝 Please take just 2 minutes to share your story here or via the form below:
👉 https://forms.gle/2nGMvisWC1zB3DRo8
Your response could help shape the next wave of co-created tools, guides, and shared practices. Because the story of Sensory Ladders™ isn’t mine. It’s ours.
With love, fizz, and endless curiosity,
Kath 🌈
Founder of Sensory Ladders™
www.sensoryladders.org
