How we use our senses— seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and touching— is an integral part of everyday life. However, for some students served in the school district’s Special Education program, significant sensory needs can have a big impact on how they interact with others, their ability to focus on learning, and the flow of their day. For some students, unexpected noises, bright lights, and certain smells or textures can disrupt their learning, while other students may need extra stimulation of their senses to have a successful day of learning.
In January of 2019, after learning of the significant sensory needs of the special education students at Duluth HS from GCPS Occupational Therapist Mary Jo Ray-Jewett, local business owners Clyde and Sandra Strickland of Metro Waterproofing donated generously to sponsor a specially designed room at the school to meet the needs of students, whatever those needs may be.
Ms. Ray-Jewett designed the Sensory Room to support Duluth students who need more sensory input and those who need less. With input from Autism-Level 1 Teacher Cameron Robertson and Special Education Department Chair Allyson Vamplew, work began last spring to outfit a small classroom with the specialized features that would specifically support the needs of the school’s students. The room became fully functional this school year.
The school’s special education teachers can tailor use of the varied features of the room to support each individual student. The room’s features include:
A fiber optic curtain/waterfall provides a visual and tactile experience. This feature is safe to stroke, hold, and wrap around or lay across the body. The changing colors focus attention while having a calming effect.
A bubble wall is useful for visual tracking as the bubbles move up the wall. The low humming of the motor also provides calming “white noise.”
Sensory boxes provide many textures to explore, including brightly colored rice, water beads, and moldable kinetic sand.
An astronomy fluorescent light filter serves to filter emergency lighting in the room, reducing the disruption of fluorescent light for those who are sensitive.
Both an extra-large bean bag chair and a 20-pound weighted blanket provide deep pressure for students who need the equivalent of a tight hug or very firm touch for a calming effect.
A rope hammock chair swing and a yoga hammock swing also support those who need deep pressure and serves several other uses. Swinging provides what is called vestibular input, and supports movement, balance, positioning, and spatial awareness (student’s interaction with his or her environment). Linear swinging helps students develop posture and balance, organize vision, calm the sensory system, and regulate behavior.
A sensory table with therapy sand provides tactile experience. The fine grade of the sensory sand is calming when poured on the student’s hands and arms or the student’s hands move through the sand.
A vibro-acoustic mattress musically massages the student’s whole body from head to toe with stimulating and soothing sound vibrations. The mattress supports relaxation, stress reduction, and pain management, calms restless behavior, and provides physical and auditory stimulation.
“The Sensory Room has been a tremendous help with my students with autism,” says Ms. Robertson who notes that people with autism typically have higher sensory needs. “Whether they need sensory input or output, the new sensory room is able to provide a huge amount of support for my students.”
Ms. Robertson says the Sensory Room is where she can take students who are experiencing frustration or anxiety so they can calm down, relax, and then return to learning in the classroom. She adds that special education students across a range of exceptionalities have been able to benefit from the specialized space.
During the design phase, Ms. Ray-Jewett took into account the sensory needs of all the special education populations served at the school. The Strickland Sensory Room has components to meet the needs of Duluth students with moderate, severe, and profound intellectual disabilities as well as students at all levels served in the autism program. Some classes have been able to integrate the Sensory Room into their daily routine, while others use the room on an as-needed basis. Ms. Ray-Jewett says, “It is exciting to see the students getting their sensory needs met through the Sensory Room!”