best sensory option for school

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What do you find is the best sensory option or fidgit for in school to help calm your body?

Gum helps me and is the most socially acceptable

Have something like blu tac except much more flexible
which fidget with
also have a blazer with full pockets of fidget toys that have collected

silly putty

I just fiddled with pens when I was at school, and pencils. Would click pens and such.

One of the things I had to do in school was find a dark/quiet room to rest in for about 2-5 minutes. When I was in elementary school. I would have to ask the teacher if I could go to the rest room in the middle of class and I would get in trouble for that and if I was denied, I would flip out but that was because class time could be up to 2 hours long. Once I got to Jr. high (Now middle school.), it was now less then an hour of class every period and in between periods. I would take my break then and because I could take it more frequently, I could manage much better. BTW: I could never take the edge of by playing with a fidgit gadget.

I never could either to be honest Always ended up walking out of class, couldn't deal with it.

Just thought maybe fiddling with pens might help OP, but I certainly wouldn't encourage walking out of class.

Used to do something with a pen as well
you know in the movies where you flick the coin between fingers
well did that with a pen
so much fun

A small Koosh ball or a piece of string. Anything that does not end up being dropped every few minutes, because picking it up is too distracting.

Oh, I have a bunch.

- Two stones. One is a long, slab-like smooth one, and the other is a small, clear blue-tinted one that is really cool because it conforms to my "grip." Sometimes I hold both of them in one hand, or one in each hand. Their secondary purpose is to keep me from biting and picking at my nails, so when I start doing that, I actually mentally prompt myself with, "LtlPinkCoupe, get out your stones." And it works, most of the time.

- A tiny stuffed "Beanie Boos" bunny named Petunia. I actually got her as a gift from an online friend who is also on the spectrum. Petunia's very cute and soft, and she's in soothing shades of pink and lilac. She's also small enough to fit in my pocket, which is where she usually stays during the day, along with my stones.

- Dory, my stuffed dolphin. Dory is actually my main "coping item" or "emotional support animal" of sorts, and her presence and texture is comforting to me. I don't take her out when I'm in class, I just like to keep her in the front pocket of my hoodie, where I can easily reach in and stroke and squeeze her as needed.

I also ordered a fuzzy Tangle Jr toy online that can be worn as a bracelet, so there is that, too. I love fuzzy, flocked textures.

I put my head down on my desk when I am on the second floor and I can hear everything in the floor below me and I doodle.

Nothing, nothing beats learning to ignore these sounds and lights and getting over it.

.... aaand he still doesn't know ANYTHING about autism and hasn't learned the difference between a neurological problem and an attitude problem.

For me, I found the best way to deal with a sensory overload in the classroom was simply to abruptly storm out and go somewhere quiet. If the only real issue was sound/people talking, and I knew I could get away with it, I would put on my headphones and listen to some music. I would often listen to music anyhow even if things were quiet, though some of my teachers didn't appreciate me trying to tune out their mindless babbling, thus I often had to take out my eatbuds for them.

This can actually be impossible for some people. My brain lacks the system that allows a person to ignore stimuli over time. Most people will stop feeling their clothes unless they think about it, I am always conscious of the feeling. Or if you enter a room with a bad smell most people find that they no longer notice it or can smell it after 20 min or so. Not so with me because my brain lacks that area. This leads to over-stimulation problems.

Most brains also assign priorities to tasks, so that when you are focusing on one thing other things fade to the background. However for some people (especially people with AS) this is not so. For me, with sounds especially, all sounds are given equal priority. This means that I have trouble making out speech from background noise. It is less bad visually, I can focus on a book or image unless their is movement in my peripheral vision, then my focus is split.

Hopefully you can see how this is distracting and can be challenging to the brain to keep up with. Because they are large systems of the brain that are different one can not just overcome it. There are coping mechanisms that can allow person to function better, but it is never ignorable.

For being let out of class to have a minute, college is the best. No teacher cares if you walk out, as it is assumed you have to go to the restroom, etc. To ease that even more my college has as one of the standard accommodations for students with AS the option to leave class at anytime with out notifying anyone (except tests). If you need to be able to walk out for 2 min talk with your teacher about why you may need to do this on occasion and have a signal or something so that they can know when to let you out. And do not abuse the privilege if granted it.