Just Right Programme

A system for supporting sensory and emotional regulation in children with autism.

What 'Just Right' is

The 'Just Right' approach is a programme created by SEN specialist teachers and health professionals in Brighton & Hove to help autistic children.

It's proving a massive success, and schools across the city and beyond have already received training or requested training on it.

The programme is built around a scaling system, with 4 colour 'zones' to:

  • help children understand and communicate the emotions they're experiencing
  • learn how they can go about positively managing them

It helps them understand what makes them feel 'just right' and when they are feeling this, for example, when they're calm and alert and able to respond positively to whatever is happening in their environment.

The 4 colour zones are:

  • green is 'just right' - calm, alert and focused
  • orange is 'fizzy' - bubbling, not calm, anxious, possibly hyper-alert
  • blue is 'floppy or fidgety' - under-stimulated, tired, bored, not alert, possibly feeling ill
  • red is 'crisis' - unable to cope, exhibiting challenging behaviours, wanting to run away, shutting down from the outside world

The colour coding replaces the need to use complex words to describe emotions - words which, to children with autism, can seem vague, confusing or even worrying.

The video below shows a child and his school assistant talking about how the 'Just Right' approach helps him.

The Just Right programme is tailored to each child. SEN Specialist Teachers work with individual children and their parents to understand, from the child's point of view, what each colour zone looks and feels like to each child.

They also work with every child to:

  • see what can be done to help them feel in the 'green zone' as much as possible
  • look at what the triggers are that take the child from one zone to another
  • practical things they can do to help them get back to the 'green'

This might be things like:

  • making sure they have the same seat every day
  • making sure they get a short burst of exercise to either help calm them if they are in the 'orange zone' or wake them up if they're slumping into the 'blue zone'
  • giving them a quiet, calm blank space to retreat to when they are over-stimulated or in the 'red zone'

The tools and strategies developed with parents and children can also be used at home, which gives a consistent approach across the children's lives.

The programme has had some incredible success stories. It's beginning to make a difference in schools across the city, and many parents have told us it's making a real difference to their lives.

Get more information about the Just Right programme

For more information about the Just Right programme, you can:

  • contact the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) at your child's school
  • contact the BHISS Autism and Language Team:
  • phone the Occupational Therapy Team at the city's Seaside View Child Development Centre on 01273 265 806