How to reduce sensory overload to create a calmer home for your autistic child Autism-Friendly Home Organization Strategies for Overwhelmed Parents Part 1 #148

Autism-Friendly Home Organization Strategies for Overwhelmed Parents – World Autism Acceptance Month 2025

Did you know that clutter can actually increase sensory overwhelm and anxiety for autistic children — even when they don’t seem bothered by it? In this first episode of my special series for World Autism Acceptance Month, I’m exploring how our home environments can either support or stress out our kids — and how small changes can make a big difference.

I’ll share what I’ve learned through personal experience as a mum of a child with autism and PDA, and offer simple, practical ways to create a sensory-friendly, low-stress home that works for your child and your family — no perfection required.

You’ll learn:

• Why visual clutter can lead to sensory overload, stress, and meltdowns
• How to identify which parts of your home might be dysregulating your child
• Simple ways to reduce visual and sensory input (without doing a full makeover)
• The importance of soft textures, calm colors, and clear labeling
• How to declutter intentionally, while still respecting comfort items and sentimental things
• What it really means to organize your space for calm, regulation, and connection

This episode is for you if:

• Your child gets overwhelmed by their environment or struggles to stay regulated
• You’re craving more calm in your home but don’t know where to start
• You want to support your child’s sensory needs without creating more stress for yourself

Key message: When we create a low-stimulation, clutter-free space that works for our kids' sensory needs, we also make life easier, calmer, and more manageable for ourselves too.

Mentioned in this episode:
🎁 Grab your free copy of [The Frustrated Parents Guide – How to Get Your Kids to Tidy Up Without Them Even Realizing It. Full of gentle, neurodivergent-friendly strategies to get your kids involved in tidying, without stress or pushback.

In tomorrow’s episode, we’ll dive into routines and predictability — why they’re so important and how to make them work for your unique child.

Thanks for listening! For more organizational motivation, support and free resources:
Join my online membership Clutter Free Collective
Join my podcast Facebook group Living Clutter Free Forever Podcast: KonMari® Inspired Organizing | Facebook
Visit my website www.caroline-thor.com
Come and say 'hi' on Instagram @caro.thor
Follow me on Facebook @carolineorganizer

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Mini-Series
• 1:12 Understanding Sensory Needs and Clutter
• 2:39 Creating a Sensory-Friendly Home
• 4:30 Practical Steps to Simplify
• 5:50 Labeling and Organization Systems
• 6:18 Closing and Next Episode Preview

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to Autism Friendly Home Organization Strategies for Overwhelmed Parents a special mini -series with me, caroline, for World Autism Acceptance Month in 2025. This year's theme for World Autism Month is Celebrate Differences, and I could not love that more. I'm a mum of a child with autism and PDA, so I know firsthand how unpredictable life can feel. Flexibility isn't just helpful in my world, it's essential, and while our home is far from perfect, having it organized in a way that supports us has made all the difference. I created this series to share practical, realistic strategies that help you create a calm, clutter-free environment, one that works for your child, your needs and your energy. Even if you're not raising an autistic child, these tips can help any family, because building a home that supports your real life and celebrates what makes you unique benefits everyone. Let's get into it, makes you unique benefits everyone. Let's get into it. So welcome to day one of this mini-series, and today's theme is understanding sensory needs, and clutter, clutter can just make life really overwhelming for autistic individuals, and in this episode, I would like to show you how to create a calm, structured environment and why it's important. But I would just like to add in a quick disclaimer here. Every autistic person is different. These are general strategies and you will need to adjust them for your child's needs.

Speaker 1: 1:40

Okay, so why can clutter be overwhelming for autistic individuals? First of all, if we've got lots of visual clutter around, it's going to create sensory overload, and that can lead to stress, meltdowns and trouble focusing. Some kids with autism might need real order in their lives, while others my son seem to be unbothered by mess but still struggle to function in it. And then you have others who are totally unbothered by mess and function just fine in it, and this is where you need to really look at your child and be clear about which of those categories your kid fits into, because what you don't want to do is create an environment that makes them feel uncomfortable. So how can you go about creating a sensory friendly home, something that isn't full of visual clutter and sensory overload? First of all, you can declutter strategically. You can focus on areas where there is just too much stuff that is causing distraction or stress. You may notice that in certain parts of your home your child is calmer than they are in others, and start to look at whether that is to do with the environment and whether it has something to do with the amount of things that are in that space and whether it has something to do with the amount of things that are in that space.

Speaker 1: 3:04

Try to reduce visual noise where possible. Use simple, clear storage, closed bins, minimal open shelving. Make it as simple as you can for them. Consider the lighting and colours. Try to avoid flickering lights, overly bright colours that feel chaotic.

Speaker 1: 3:29

Try to involve your child if they're old enough to have an opinion in what they would like to have, especially in a space like their bedroom. And then think about textures and sounds. These really matter to some kids. Some prefer soft textures, other like firm, structured surfaces. Talk to them about what they like the feel of and what they, for example, would like to have around them. So if you have a problem with them being, perhaps in the living room and wanting to sit on the sofa with you, then perhaps look if having a soft blanket on there that they can sort of wrap themselves up tight in would help them be able to be part of that space with you more often.

Speaker 1: 4:11

And this is what I'm talking about. When I'm talking about organisation, I'm not just talking about getting rid of stuff. I'm talking about how do we organise our space so that we make it accessible for our kids and reduce our stress at the same time. So some practical steps to simplify your home. Declutter with intention. Make sure you remove the excess, the things you don't really need, but keep comfort items. Now, I love the KonMari method. I'm trained as a KonMari consultant. So keeping items that spark joy for you, that you really love, and removing the excess, the visual clutter, is really going to help you create a space that you all feel comfortable in.

Speaker 1: 4:55

Create low stimulation zones, a quiet space where your child can regulate their emotions. And another game changer is to use labels and clear organization. It helps with predictability. It may feel weird to have all the drawers in your house labeled and all the cupboard doors labeled, but it is amazing what a difference it will make for your child, this idea that they know where everything is, they feel safe to go and look for things because they can, if they're old enough, read the label, and it will help your whole family, help you with putting everything away. And that, for me, has been a total game changer.

Speaker 1: 5:36

If you know that something that would make the world of difference to you is being able to get members of your family to you is being able to get members of your family, especially your kids, involved in helping with the tidying up each day. Then I have something that can help you. It is the Frustrated Parents Guide how to Get your Kids to Tidy Up Without them Even Realizing it. It's free and you can grab your copy in the show notes. So my takeaway from this mini episode for you is that a calmer space can reduce sensory stress, and that, in turn, is going to make daily life easier, not just for your child, but also for you. Coming up tomorrow, routines and predictability. I hope you'll join me for that. Until next time.