The Sensory Room: Helping Students With Autism Focus and Learn

>>Cheryl: Research shows that if the student's in the right mindset and they get their sensory needs met, they're going to be much better learners. >>Heather: Hands to your heart space. Take a deep breath in. [ inhale, exhale ] >>Cheryl: The sensory room is probably my most important piece of the day. Students go to the sensory room in order to calm their bodies and get all the emotions out and stabilize themselves, so they're ready to learn and they're happy. >>Heather: When we designed the sensory room, we actually took the entire room apart. We carpeted the floor so that we could absorb some of the sound. We put the shades on the ceiling to change the light, so when they walk in that room, they feel the change. >>Cheryl: My class specifically, we utilize the room once a day for a thirty minute break. >>Heather: First thing that they do is go on the ball and they bounce to a metronome. >>Clap. >>It's really a way to ground them into the space and give them some sensory input, before we have them go out into the room. >>Cheryl: We're going to do our rotation now, okay? >>So there's different stations in the sensory room, and some of my students love specific stations. One in particular loves the punching bags and the ropes. He's able to get all that anger and frustration out, so that calms him down. Whereas another student, I know he needs calming movements, so he's on the swing going back and forth. >>Heather: Another area in the room is the crash pad. You will see students that have sensory issues bump into walls, bang their head. So what we've created is a safe space to crash into. And then there's the light wall. You could use your hands, you could use your feet. There's different games that are programmed on there. >>Teacher: Yes, good girl. >>Heather: We also work on balance and coordination. The walking path works on all of those, and they have to right themselves, correct their body in space. We have ten pound slam balls. Some students just need to come in, pick something heavy up and throw it. That's the essence of a sensory room. You're putting materials in there that are appropriate, so a student's not throwing a chair. And at the end when they finish with their stations, they lay on the floor and they're squished. So everything that we do in there is predictable, there's a set sequence. >>Cheryl: We're all done with sensory room. We're going to walk back to our class. >>So after the sensory room, they're able to focus more. They're quieter and their hands are to themselves, and they're able to listen to my directions. We're here, we came from the sensory room, we're ready to learn. >>How does the sensory room make you feel? >>Student: Happy.

Channel: Edutopia

Views: 1,488,082

Keywords: education, edutopia, edutopia videos, k-12, teaching, learning, classroom, teaching strategy, education tips, how-to, education technology, education videos, teaching tips, george lucas foundation, education how-to videos, special ed, special education, sped, autism, autistic, sensory processing issues, sensory

Id: T9j6rQ4rtQY

Length: 3min 4sec (184 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 02 2017