SENSORY
Extremely powerful tool and one that parents as well as professional caregivers can use.
https://www.autism.org/sensory-integration/Children and adults with autism, as well as those with other developmental disabilities, may have a dysfunctional sensory system – referred to as sensory integration disorders in ASD. Sometimes one or more senses are either over- or under-reactive to stimulation. Such sensory problems may be the underlying reason for such behaviors as rocking, spinning, and hand-flapping. Although the receptors for the senses are located in the peripheral nervous system (which includes everything but the brain and spinal cord), it is believed that the problem stems from neurological dysfunction in the central nervous system–the brain. As described by individuals with autism, sensory integration techniques, such as pressure-touch can facilitate attention and awareness, and reduce overall arousal. Temple Grandin, in her descriptive book, Emergence: Labeled Autistic, relates the distress and relief of her sensory experiences.
In the unit I had been working on for two plus years we have a sensory room, we call it the activity room...every single thing except maybe the ceiling is sensory, even the walls and floor...Thr floor is a puzzle and walls are chalkboards.
Parents can buy and make wonderful sensory items and one that is fairly expensive does well, a weighted blanket.
Music is of course tied to the sense of hearing, and most of what you read might reflect that though it's overstating the obvious and ignoring a lot. This is from a page telling parents how to create their own sensory environment.
https://www.werockthespectrumkidsgym.co ... -spectrum/Don’t overlook a few awesome musical instruments for your sensory play area. There are a lot of benefits to offering music and music classes for children, and of course sound is one of the five senses. If you’re worried about it getting too loud, pick out objects that offer softer sounds, such as chimes or certain bells. If you are looking to get creative, get a few plastic eggs and stuff them with all sorts of different items like coins, buttons, or paper clips. That way kids will be able to hear all the different sounds and how they work together. Make sure to tape or glue them shut!
On my new unit we have an old acoustic guitar with one nylon string, the client is gone now but that was a coping tool for this client to just pluck that one string. This was also tactile, we also have kids with keyboards and with many I can see boredom set in...these kids need more knobs, sliders and interactive stuff that create fun sounds...now you think about how many of us get into sound design, think about how cathartic it can be, great sensory activity for those with the needs for such.
Tactile System
The tactile system includes nerves under the skin’s surface that send information to the brain. This information includes light touch, pain, temperature, and pressure. These play an important role in perceiving the environment as well as protective reactions for survival.
Dysfunction in the tactile system can be seen when an individual:
withdraws from being touched
refuses to eat certain ‘textured’ foods
refuses to wear certain types of clothing
complains about having one’s hair or face washed
avoids getting one’s hands dirty (i.e., glue, sand, mud, finger-paint)
uses one’s fingertips rather than whole hands to manipulate objects
A dysfunctional tactile system may lead to a misperception of touch and/or pain (hyper- or hypo-sensitive ) and may lead to self-imposed isolation, general irritability, distractibility, and hyperactivity.
Tactile defensiveness is a condition in which an individual is extremely sensitive to light touch. Theoretically, when the tactile system is immature and working improperly, abnormal neural signals are sent to the cortex in the brain which can interfere with other brain processes. This, in turn, causes the brain to be overly stimulated and may lead to excessive brain activity, which can neither be turned off nor organized. This type of over-stimulation in the brain can make it difficult for an individual to organize one’s behavior and concentrate and may lead to a negative emotional response to touch sensations.
Vestibular System
The vestibular system refers to structures within the inner ear (the semi-circular canals) that detect movement and changes in the position of the head. For example, the vestibular system tells you when your head is upright or tilted (even with your eyes closed). Dysfunction within this system may manifest itself in two different ways. Some children may be hypersensitive to vestibular stimulation and have fearful reactions to ordinary movement activities (e.g., swings, slides, ramps, inclines). They may also have trouble learning to climb or descend stairs or hills; and they may be apprehensive walking or crawling on uneven or unstable surfaces. As a result, they seem fearful in space. In general, these children appear clumsy. On the other extreme, the child may actively seek very intense sensory experiences such as excessive body whirling, jumping, and/or spinning. This type of child demonstrates signs of a hypo-reactive vestibular system; that is, they are trying continuously to stimulate their vestibular systems.
https://www.autism.org/sensory-integration/Vestibular System
The vestibular system refers to structures within the inner ear (the semi-circular canals) that detect movement and changes in the position of the head. For example, the vestibular system tells you when your head is upright or tilted (even with your eyes closed). Dysfunction within this system may manifest itself in two different ways. Some children may be hypersensitive to vestibular stimulation and have fearful reactions to ordinary movement activities (e.g., swings, slides, ramps, inclines). They may also have trouble learning to climb or descend stairs or hills; and they may be apprehensive walking or crawling on uneven or unstable surfaces. As a result, they seem fearful in space. In general, these children appear clumsy. On the other extreme, the child may actively seek very intense sensory experiences such as excessive body whirling, jumping, and/or spinning. This type of child demonstrates signs of a hypo-reactive vestibular system; that is, they are trying continuously to stimulate their vestibular systems.
Proprioceptive System
The proprioceptive system refers to components of muscles, joints, and tendons that provide a person with a subconscious awareness of body position. When proprioception is functioning efficiently, an individual’s body position is automatically adjusted in different situations; for example, the proprioceptive system is responsible for providing the body with the necessary signals to allow us to sit properly in a chair and to step off a curb smoothly. It also allows us to manipulate objects using fine motor movements, such as writing with a pencil, using a spoon to drink soup, and buttoning one’s shirt.
Some common signs of proprioceptive dysfunction are:
clumsiness
a tendency to fall
a lack of awareness of body position in space
odd body posturing
minimal crawling when young
difficulty manipulating small objects (buttons, snaps)
eating in a sloppy manner
and resistance to new motor movement activities
Another dimension of proprioception is praxis or motor planning. This is the ability to plan and execute different motor tasks. In order for this system to work properly, it must rely on obtaining accurate information from the sensory systems and then organizing and interpreting this information efficiently and effectively.
The uses for music therapy is amazing, we have kids with keyboards who would do well with sound design, it's quite cathartic as we know and if they had hands on with faders and knobs it just gets better. We have had clients with guitars, none now but we'll, on Wed nights we have drum circles by the waterfront. It's more than just listening to music
I lived on a hill 
Some kids like the burrito, wrap em up in their blanket at night. I am grateful to good staff when I started because often when a kid is inappropriate they will say it's sensory. There are things I would be in my head like "what!!!" and I would get a little nod from another staff. It itch's here scratch there, fascinating. 
