The child who cannot enjoy a beach day because the slightest sun glare causes a lot of pain in his eyes or the child who seeks staring at the sun through the window for long periods of time; the child who is terrified by the sound of the blender at home or the child who rejoices at the bursting noise of throwing pots on the floor; the child who asks to wear a coat in midsummer or the child who arrives late to school for refusing to wear a collar shirt as it causes him a lot of discomfort on the skin; the child who frequently stumbles when walking along the smooth sidewalk or the child who does not seem to tire when jumping for long periods of time on the couch at home.  

 

Many people tend to classify these behaviors as ' childish things ' or ' simple nonsense '; but sometimes these features and the like may be alerting on a sensory integration disorder.

According to studies conducted this year, the prevalence of such symptoms in elementary school children is alarming.  And what better way to help our children with sensory deficits than by providing them with the proper resources to help them have optimal interaction with their environment: a multisensory room.

Last April 2 - World Autism Awareness Day – School Board Member Raquel Regalado secured a donation from the Humana Foundation in the amount of $10,000 to create new multisensory rooms in schools that would benefit from these the most.  District 6, jointly with the Miami-Dade Schools Division of Exceptional Student Education, will soon open sensory rooms in Auburndale, Hialeah Gardens and Kensington Park elementary schools.

 

What is a multisensory room?

In the 1970s, a Dutch concept evolved and was identified as 'Snoezelen ' (the awakening of the senses). It refers to an attractive space consisting of resources to help both the student who needs stimulation and the one who needs to lower anxiety levels.

Furnished with auditory, visual, tactile, olfactory, vestibular and proprioceptive stimuli, multisensory rooms have succeeded in helping children with difficulties in expressive and receptive language, insomnia, hyperactivity, frequent tantrums, poor social skills, lack of interest in their environment, difficulty with spatial orientation and other sensory problems.

 

Upon receiving therapy in this space - equipped with bubble tubes, swings, musical objects, fiber optic strands, massagers, mattresses, aroma diffusers, mirrors, projector lights and much more - special education students will demonstrate better behavior and academic progress in school, as their senses will be better synchronized and they will make better sense of the world around them;   and a better day at school is always a better day after school at home.

 

School Board Member Raquel Regalado continues to work to bring this important resource to more public schools in Miami-Dade.

 

For questions contact 

School Board Administration Building

1450 NE 2^nd Avenue

Suite 700

Miami, FL 33132

Ph   305-995-1769

Fax  305-995-4818