These supporting visuals have been thoughtfully designed to pair alongside the When I Feel Like I Need to Escape social story to help children communicate overwhelm, emotional escalation, and the reasons behind their distress in a simple, visual, and supportive way.
Perfect for classrooms, wellbeing spaces, therapy rooms, and home environments, these visuals support children who may struggle to verbally explain how they are feeling when overwhelmed, anxious, frustrated, or dysregulated.
This resource pack includes:
A child-friendly emotional regulation scale that helps children:
identify how overwhelmed they feel,
communicate their emotional state,
recognise when they may need support, space, or a break,
and build emotional awareness over time.
The scale uses simple visuals, colour coding, and clear language to support emotional communication in a non-threatening and neurodiversity-affirming way.
A supportive communication tool that helps children identify why things feel hard in the moment.
Children can point to possible triggers such as:
noise,
too many people,
confusing work,
transitions,
sensory overwhelm,
worries,
feeling unsafe,
needing space,
and more.
This allows teachers, parents, and therapists to better understand the child’s experience and respond with appropriate support rather than escalation.
Includes a simple instruction sheet explaining:
how to use the visuals,
when to introduce them,
ways adults can respond supportively,
and how the visuals connect with emotional regulation and nervous system support.
These visuals are highly recommended alongside the social story:
“When I Feel Like I Need to Escape”
A regulation-focused social story that helps children understand:
why they may want to run away, hide, or escape,
what overwhelm feels like in the body,
safe ways to regulate,
and how to ask for help and return to learning safely.
Together, the social story and visuals create a powerful regulation support toolkit for children experiencing school overwhelm, anxiety, emotional escalation, shutdown, or escape behaviours.
Autism / ADHD / PDA profiles
School anxiety
Emotional regulation support
Wellbeing rooms
Counselling and therapy settings
Parent support
Classroom regulation strategies
Neurodiversity-affirming practice
Created by The Regulated Family — practical, compassionate tools supporting calmer nervous systems, stronger connection, and emotional safety.
These supporting visuals have been thoughtfully designed to pair alongside the When I Feel Like I Need to Escape social story to help children communicate overwhelm, emotional escalation, and the reasons behind their distress in a simple, visual, and supportive way.
Perfect for classrooms, wellbeing spaces, therapy rooms, and home environments, these visuals support children who may struggle to verbally explain how they are feeling when overwhelmed, anxious, frustrated, or dysregulated.
This resource pack includes:
A child-friendly emotional regulation scale that helps children:
identify how overwhelmed they feel,
communicate their emotional state,
recognise when they may need support, space, or a break,
and build emotional awareness over time.
The scale uses simple visuals, colour coding, and clear language to support emotional communication in a non-threatening and neurodiversity-affirming way.
A supportive communication tool that helps children identify why things feel hard in the moment.
Children can point to possible triggers such as:
noise,
too many people,
confusing work,
transitions,
sensory overwhelm,
worries,
feeling unsafe,
needing space,
and more.
This allows teachers, parents, and therapists to better understand the child’s experience and respond with appropriate support rather than escalation.
Includes a simple instruction sheet explaining:
how to use the visuals,
when to introduce them,
ways adults can respond supportively,
and how the visuals connect with emotional regulation and nervous system support.
These visuals are highly recommended alongside the social story:
“When I Feel Like I Need to Escape”
A regulation-focused social story that helps children understand:
why they may want to run away, hide, or escape,
what overwhelm feels like in the body,
safe ways to regulate,
and how to ask for help and return to learning safely.
Together, the social story and visuals create a powerful regulation support toolkit for children experiencing school overwhelm, anxiety, emotional escalation, shutdown, or escape behaviours.
Autism / ADHD / PDA profiles
School anxiety
Emotional regulation support
Wellbeing rooms
Counselling and therapy settings
Parent support
Classroom regulation strategies
Neurodiversity-affirming practice
Created by The Regulated Family — practical, compassionate tools supporting calmer nervous systems, stronger connection, and emotional safety.
