Sensory Ladders® | Regulation, Perception, Praxis and Participation

Sensory Ladders® are co-produced tools that help make visible a person’s sensory experience, including how regulation, perception and praxis shape participation in everyday life.

They help people and those around them notice patterns, communicate unmet need, and understand when there may be a lack of goodness of fit between the person, the environment, the activity and the relational response.

Sensory Ladders® are not about fixing the person. They are about understanding experience, improving fit, and creating the conditions in which participation becomes more possible.

Explore Sensory Ladders® and Download the Starter Guide here: https://sensoryproject.org/product-category/sensory-ladders-global/

Useful across home, education, work, community, health and care settings. Now in many languages from across the globe via our Translation Project, powered by “infectious generosity”. Read more here: Sensory Ladders Translation

What are Sensory Ladders®?

Sensory Ladders® are personalised visual tools created with a person, not for them.

They help make sensory experiences easier to notice, describe and share. A Sensory Ladder® may include how different states feel in the body, what others might notice, what feels supportive, what increases strain, and what may need to change so participation becomes easier.

This makes Sensory Ladders® more than a chart. They are shared meaning-making tools that support understanding, self-advocacy, co-regulation, praxis and participation.

A neuroaffirming way to understand unmet need

People are often described in ways that place the difficulty inside them alone. They may be called avoidant, challenging, resistant, dysregulated, unmotivated or non-compliant.

Sensory Ladders® invite a different starting point.

They help us ask:

• What is this person’s body communicating right now?
• What sensory, relational or participation need may be going unmet?
• Where is there a mismatch between the person and what is being asked of them?
• What needs to change so there is more goodness of fit?

This shift matters. It moves thinking away from blame and towards understanding, adjustment, and shared problem-solving.

Sensory Ladders® and regulation

Regulation is not just about calming down. They are about being in the right state, for the activity, in a particular environment, including others in the space and their relational responses.

People may need support to become more alert, more settled, more grounded, more organised, more connected, or simply more ready for what the moment is asking of them.

Sensory Ladders® help make this visible. They support people and those around them to notice what different states feel like, what makes them harder or easier to manage, and what support makes participation more possible.

That support may involve changes in pace, movement, sensory load, predictability, task demand, rest, recovery, or access to trusted co-regulation.

Sensory Ladders® and perception

Perception shapes how people take in, make sense of and respond to the world around them and within them.

When perception is under strain, the world may feel too loud, too fast, too bright, too close, too busy, too uncertain or simply too much.

Sensory Ladders® help make perceptual experience easier to describe and understand. They can help people communicate what overload, confusion, disconnection, discomfort or uncertainty feels like, and what helps restore clarity, safety or orientation.

They also help others recognise that what looks like withdrawal, distress, shutdown, control or refusal may reflect sensory and perceptual strain rather than unwillingness.

Sensory Ladders® and praxis

Sensory Ladders® do not only support regulation. They also help make visible readiness for action and participation.

Praxis is the ability to come up with an idea, plan an action, sequence it and carry it through.

In simple terms, it is about getting the body and brain ready for doing.

When sensory systems are under strain, praxis can become harder. A person may know something is expected, but not feel organised enough, grounded enough, safe enough or ready enough for the doing.

For therapists, Sensory Ladders® help make visible how sensory state may be affecting ideation, planning, sequencing, postural control, organisation and adaptive response. They support a more compassionate reading of what is happening when someone appears slow, avoidant, controlling, distressed or stuck.

Sensory Ladders® and participation

Participation is the heart of everyday life.

It includes being able to join in, communicate, move, rest, learn, work, relate, care for yourself, contribute and engage in what matters to you.

Sensory Ladders® help make visible how regulation, perception and praxis shape participation, and where unmet need or lack of fit may be making everyday life harder.

They support a shift from trying to change the person alone towards asking what needs to change around the person as well.

That may mean changing expectations, pace, environment, activity demands, timing, support or relational response so participation becomes more realistic, more respectful and more sustainable.

Sensory Ladders® across everyday life

Sensory Ladders® are for all people.

They can be used across the lifespan and across many settings, including home, education, work, community, hospital, mental health, care and supported living.

• At home, they can support shared understanding around routines, rest, recovery, relationships, self-care and sensory effort across the day.
• In education, they can support readiness, transitions, communication, task demands, emotional safety and shared sensory language.
• At work, they can help people communicate what supports focus, pacing, comfort, recovery and sustainable participation.
• In health, mental health and care settings, they can help make visible overload, shutdown, fatigue, agitation, distress, disconnection or reduced orientation, and support more thoughtful responses.

They matter wherever people are trying to take part in everyday life and where sensory experience may be affecting what is possible.

Sensory Ladders® and goodness of fit

A person’s place on a Sensory Ladder® is never only about them.

It also reflects whether the environment feels supportive or overwhelming, whether the activity is a good fit for that moment, whether the pace and expectations are manageable, whether the relational response feels safe and attuned, and whether needs have been recognised early enough.

This is why Sensory Ladders® sit so well with the PEAR TREE™ Lens.

They help make visible the relationship between person, environment, activity and relational response, rather than reducing experience to behaviour or compliance.

Sensory Ladders® through the PEAR TREE™ Lens

Person
What is this person experiencing in their body right now? What are they showing us about regulation, effort, comfort, perception, overload or readiness?

Environment
What in the space is helping, and what may be increasing strain? Think about sound, touch, movement, light, visual load, pace, unpredictability and social demand.

Activity
What is the task asking of the person? Does it require planning, sequencing, posture, timing, communication, waiting, coping with change or interpreting other people?

Relational response
How are others responding? Is the person being met with curiosity, adjustment and co regulation, or with pressure to cope without enough support?

This helps keep the focus on fit, not fault.

What makes Sensory Ladders® different?

Sensory Ladders® are not one size fits all.

They are not about moving everyone towards the same ideal state. They are not about masking need or teaching people to appear more comfortable than they are.

They are designed to honour lived experience, support communication of unmet need, strengthen self-understanding and self-advocacy, guide change in the environment and activity, support co-regulation and relational safety, and make participation more possible through better fit rather than greater pressure.

How to begin with Sensory Ladders®

Sensory Ladders® begin with curiosity.

Notice together what participation looks like when it is easier. Notice what changes first when things become harder. Notice what increases sensory strain, what supports clarity or comfort, what the activity is asking of the person, and what may need to change around the person rather than only within them.

From there, a Sensory Ladder® can be co-created in a way that is meaningful, usable and grounded in real everyday life.

For therapists and services

Sensory Ladders® can support collaborative reasoning by helping teams link regulation, perception, praxis and participation with lived experience and context.

Used well, they help make visible how sensory strain, overload, under registration, fatigue, environmental mismatch, relational stress or unmet need may be affecting everyday life.

They are not a replacement for skilled assessment or for Ayres Sensory Integration® intervention where indicated. They are a co-produced tool that strengthens shared understanding, supports advocacy, and guides meaningful adjustment across everyday settings.

Looking for support with Sensory Ladders®?

At ASI Wise & Sensory Project, we share practical, evidence-informed resources to help people, families, educators, therapists and services use sensory knowledge in ways that are compassionate, relational and participation-focused.

Sensory Ladders® help make visible the relationship between regulation, perception, praxis and participation, and where unmet need or lack of goodness of fit may be getting in the way.

That is why they matter across everyday life.

Frequently asked questions

What is a Sensory Ladder®?

A Sensory Ladder® is a co-produced visual tool that helps a person describe sensory states, communicate unmet need, and identify what support may help participation in everyday life.

Who are Sensory Ladders® for?

Sensory Ladders® are for all people. They can be used across the lifespan and across home, education, work, health, care and community settings.

Do Sensory Ladders® only support regulation?

No. Sensory Ladders® also help make visible perception, praxis and participation. They help people and those around them understand not only how someone feels, but how sensory experience affects readiness, doing and everyday life.

What is praxis in simple terms?

Praxis is the ability to come up with an idea, plan what to do, and carry it through. In simple terms, it is about getting the body and brain ready for doing.

Are Sensory Ladders® behaviour charts?

No. Sensory Ladders® are not behaviour charts. They are co-produced tools that help make sensory experience, unmet need and lack of goodness of fit easier to understand.

Can Sensory Ladders® be used alongside therapy or support planning?

Yes. Sensory Ladders® can support shared understanding, communication and planning. They do not replace skilled assessment, but they can strengthen co-production and help guide meaningful adjustment and support.