Sensory Room Q & A

This post is once again dedicated to our sensory area. I am one of two classrooms in our district that offers a sensory room for students, so it's a pretty useful area to have. Not only do my students who have sensory processing disorder use it, there are a lot of typical students with some sensory needs that use it as well! I love sharing our space, that's what it's there for! I thought I'd answer some pretty common questions about my sensory room! Below are some questions that have been asked about our sensory space. See some of the questions and my answers below:

Q: How do you regulate who goes in and when? 

I have a personal preference to have no more than two students in the room at a time. For my own classroom, I work with my occupational therapist to figure out what time of day is best for students to visit this room and develop a schedule. Currently, I have two friends who frequent this room quite often on a work then sensory type of schedule. When other students from the building need to use my sensory room, we set up a meeting and talk about when the room is available. Sometimes, the sensory room is used as a reward for students who have behavior issues. My student's need for sensory regulation come before this need, so if the room is occupied, we try to schedule that student's reward break at another time. 

Q: Do you have to organize your room in a certain way by putting some of the items next to specific items?

No, I do not have any specific way that I set it up. Like my classroom, the room is arranged based on student needs. Last year, I had a corner sectioned off for our crash pad because I had a student who used the crash pad often. This year, the room is more open because my student's highest need is the swing and the sensory table. The crash pad is moved to the corner and we pull it out if needed. I don't think there is a specific way that things need to be set up, as long as you have appropriate materials for your student's needs!

Q: How did you get all of the items in your sensory room? It seems expensive. 

My sensory room has taken me a few years to get to what it is now. At this point in time, I have written two large grants to get materials in it. The grants are from a local developmental disabilities non-profit and required me to have letters from my team (Occupational Therapist and Physical Therapist) on why it would benefit my students. A lot of the larger materials are from those grants. Some of the items are from monies from our special services funds. Some of the items in the room are from my own personal fund. If you have a local developmental board, look into their resources! They often have grants that you can write. The best part about our grants are that the money comes from our own community, and people can see what they are investing in. 

Q: Do you work with an Occupational Therapist?

Yes! My OT and I work very closely together. They are the ones who encouraged me to start writing the grants, and helped me by contributing to it. Each year, my OT completes a sensory profile for each student and then gives me the best times of day for those students to visit the sensory room based on their needs. She also contributes a lot of her own money into our sensory room, and writes requests for materials for my sensory for students. She is a huge contributor to our sensory area, and she's taught me so much! 

Q: How do you keep a student from completely destroying it? 

The answer to this one is easy: I don't. There have been years when students who were really angry, and/or aggressive have destroyed the sensory room. Although the perfectionist in me cringes when I see how messy it is, I know that this room was made to be used to help those students the most. To me, the sensory room is a safe space. Where you can go to calm down, to be mad and angry, to be sad, or to be happy. It's a place that was made for helping students self-regulate their sensory needs and their emotions. Although it has been destroyed many times, it always gets cleaned up. If you have a student who is using the room to let out aggression, let them-- but show them other ways to let it out too. For example, a student who is throwing items might like to throw a medicine ball against the wall instead. Or a student who is running into the wall might like to use the crash pad. Try showing them (when they are calm) a different, more appropriate way to let that aggression out. My suggestion is to not worry about what the room is looking like, but rather making sure your student's are feeling safe. 

Q: When do the kids use the sensory area? 

If they are not on a sensory diet written by the OT they don't have specific times. If they do have a specific plan put in place by my OT they use it when she says! I write a schedule based on those students first and plan around them. Like I stated above, I don't like more than two children in the room at the same time. My aim is for one student at a time, but sometimes that is just not possible. Other students "earn" sensory time after they have completed independent work, etc. Some typical students who struggle with behavior also use the room as a reward. 

Q: How do you ensure it is being used at the right time without interrupting instruction? 

This is a common misconception. Sometimes, it does interrupt instruction and that's okay! True story: I was getting observed for my teacher evaluation and one of my students had a complete meltdown! I mean, full out melt. down. He needed sensory (I knew he needed it because he was literally bouncing his chest off the table and crying), and although I was so worried about what my principal was thinking, I told my paraprofessional to take him into the sensory room and let him have 10 minutes. Selfishly, I thought in my head, "oh man, this is the worst observation ever! I am going to get a bad evaluation for this" not thinking about his needs at the time. After the 10 minutes were over, he came back and finished the lesson and you know what? My principal praised me for knowing that he needed that break. My rule is: If they need it, they need it, but that does NOT mean they are getting out of their work. My student's know that if they are requesting a break during a work session, it's timed. They will get 10 minutes (at max) and when they come back from their break the work is STILL there. I truly have not had an issue with students using the sensory to get out of work, but that is a common misconception that other teachers in my building have. The sensory room is for helping students choose activities to help them get BACK to work, not get out of it. 

Q: How do you implement and manage what the students are doing in the sensory room? 

I am typically not the one in the sensory room implementing strategies. My paraprofessionals are the ones to take the students to sensory. I am usually instructing during sensory breaks. The goal for me is to have my paraprofessionals as comfortable with sensory strategies as I am. However, this is sometimes difficult! I actually created a resource to help with this problem. It's called The Ultimate Sensory Strategy Guide. It's an interactive display that the students and paraprofessionals can use to help guide them which activities are appropriate for the student's! It also has quick reference guides so they can check the cards before asking me a question. 

Q: Where did you get the swing stand?

The swing stand is ancient. I have no idea where we got it! It's called a "C-Swing Stand". There are all types of different swing stands that are available out there. The one I have is so heavy that the maintenance staff refuse to move it anymore (I am sure they would if they had to, but they give me a hard time about it!) It takes four men to move it, and they have moved it three times before I got my new classroom. I would suggest getting a lighter more portable swing stand!

I love answering questions about our sensory area! Drop some more comments below if you have something you'd like to ask! Thanks for reading!