In August 2021, ESPA College South Hill was granted funding and official Karten Centre status and saw the successful installation of a brand new Sensory Room.
ESPA College South Hill is an education setting for young autistic people between the ages of 16 and 25 years. The majority of students have additional and complex needs, including learning disabilities, ADHD, mental health conditions, behaviours that challenge and sensory issues.
The sensory space was created in collaboration with Mike Ayres Design and college staff. The team chose a suitable space in their building, and selected the very best equipment, to meet the complex sensory needs of their students.
The Sensory Room features:
- Large bubble tube
- Rainbow light bar
- Tactile cause and effect wall panel
- Sound and light wall panel
- Interactive fibre optic unit
- Sensory projector
- Sparkle cloud
- Integrated audio and visual system
The sensory needs of our students can be a barrier to their education, so the installation of this state-of-the-art Sensory Room supports students to manage their sensory needs; making it easier to focus and participate in lessons and community activities.
The room is used, at present, for two 2-hour sessions per day (Mon-Fri). This is a mixture of individual and small-group use (usually a maximum of three students at one time).
Because the users of the room have full control over the mood created, the room can be quiet and calm, or stimulating, depending on what the individual requires. When someone is craving some sensory input, the Sensory Room can be the perfect place for them to get the stimulation that they need. The room is also used regularly to implement established sensory routines in order to reduce or manage sensory overload, and regulate sensory input.
Sessions within the room can be for small groups – which encourages socialising amongst the learners – or individuals, who like to use the space help to manage emotions and reduce anxiety and stress. It can also be a safe place to practice coping skills and emotional regulation strategies.
Our learners and staff at South Hill have had access to the new Sensory Room since the beginning of the academic year and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. We have been providing inductions for ESPA residential staff, so they can use the room for their service users when the college is closed (evenings and weekends). We have also opened in holiday times for our residential services. This is something we would like to increase once people become confident using the equipment.
Case Studies
Katie and Sarah use the Sensory Room twice a week. They both use the room for different reasons and get different outcomes from the sessions that take place.
Katie
Katie likes to go into the room and enjoy the quietness as this really helps her to self-regulate. She likes to listen to Disney music whilst in the space and interact with different pieces of equipment; most often she likes to entwine the string lights through her fingers and watch the different colour changes that occur. The texture of the strings on her hands as she moves them through her fingers stimulates her senses through touch and sight. The sensory input that Katie requires is high, and she needs her senses stimulating throughout the day, in different ways, using sensory items and objects.
Katie enjoys watching herself in the mirrors and seeing her own reflection, and the facial expressions she makes, whilst watching the bubble tube. She will focus on the bubbles moving up and down the tube, and watch as it changes colour after a few seconds. Occasionally, Katie will watch what staff are engaging with and, with some encouragement, will explore the equipment herself. Katie will watch staff interacting on the sound box drums on the wall and she will move closer and then start off one at a time by pressing one of the buttons and then copying the sounds the staff make. Eventually she will carry on doing it all herself.
Sarah
Sarah loves all the different colour and mirrors in the Sensory Room. She loves to explore the different textures using her hands and feet. Sarah loves to remove her socks and feel the different textures of the flooring and mats with her feet. Sarah will move around the Sensory Room and explore the different texture of the equipment; again with her hands or her feet.
Sarah loves to sit on the mats near the by bubble tube and watch herself in the mirrors and explore and watch what others are doing around her. She will pull faces in the mirrors and occasionally she will touch the mirrors if she sees something she likes. Sarah will also interact with the bubble tube; watching the bubbles move up and down the tube and exploring the colour changes. Sarah can get very fixated with the bubble tube and she will lie on the mats next to it and explore everything about it; the colours; the different shapes of the bubbles; the way a few bubbles stick together. She finds all of this so interesting and curious and she expresses this through her facial expressions.
Throughout Katie and Sarah’s sessions in the Sensory Room both students are encouraged to use different pieces of equipment and try and engage their senses through touch, sight, smell and sound. We have found that if for any reason we miss a session in the Sensory Room both Katie and Sarah’s behaviour can change. This is apparent through their body language towards staff, and refusing to listen to staff, or becoming very mischievous and running to different parts of the college.
The Sensory Room plays a very big part in Katie and Sarah’s education as they need their senses stimulated, otherwise they would find their day hard to cope with. By using the Sensory Room, Katie and Sarah can learn in different ways and absorb information differently. The sessions are very much tailored to each student’s needs.
Additionally, by using the different equipment with both Katie and Sarah, this helps both students to improve their colour recognition and fine and gross motor skills. It also helps with hand/eye coordination.
Georgia
Georgia really enjoys it in the Sensory Room. She relaxes a lot by the bubbles tube and watches the colours change. She also enjoys watching the colours on the Sparkle Cloud. She is also known to fall asleep sometimes! The room really helps Georgia relax.
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- This article was written by the ESPA College Karten Centre
- Featured in the Karten Spring 2022 Newsletter
- This article is listed in the following subject areas: Case Study, Centre News