Regulation Rendezvous-- Calming Sensory Rooms featuring Bell Haven PreK-6 School and Rosa Parks ELC, Dayton

We recently had the pleasure of seeing the Calming Sensory Rooms at Bell Haven PreK-6 School and Rosa Parks Early Learning Center in Dayton Public Schools. It is fantastic to see these buildings prioritize these sensory supports for their students and dedicate space and funds for the equipment.

On today's Regulation Rendezvous we will share some pictures of each building's Calming Sensory Room as well as some tips from our OT, Lynn DeMange, on setting up a calming sensory room.

Most of the equipment featured is from the local manufacturer of sensory integration equipment, Southpaw. Visit their website at https://www.southpaw.com/ for more information and ordering.

First up is the room at Bell Haven PreK-6 School.

Zones of Regulation visual on door

marble panel 

sensory rocker

cloud nine

Fiber Optic Tunnel

bubble tube with platform

fiber optic tunnel, bean bag chair, and stereo rover with projector

steamroller and bubble mirror

Next is the Calming Sensory Room at Rosa Parks Early Learning Center:

ball pit and bubble tube

bean bag with fiber optic strands, cloud nine, and color panel

activity panel

sensory rocker, marble panel, stereo rover with projector, and bubble tube with platform

bubble tube with platform

fiber optic strands with platform

If you are thinking about creating a Calming Sensory Space for your school, Lynn has the following recommendations:

Top 10 Tips for Creating a Calming Sensory Space

1. Cut down on visual and auditory clutter with clearly defined areas. Larger rooms sometimes benefit from the use of dividers to separate spaces. 
2. Be careful not to schedule too many students in the sensory room at once. This can lead to a calming break actually being too alerting!
3. Music should be instrumental and played softly.
4. Use dim lighting to reduce visual overstimulation. 
5. Students with ASD sometimes struggle with unstructured sensory breaks. Use visual supports and schedules in the sensory room to provide structure and reduce the need for auditory cues.
6. The calming sensory space can be used as a proactive support through embedding breaks into the student's schedule. Frequency varies depending on a student's individual sensory needs, however one break in the morning and one break in the afternoon is a great place to start. 
7. Additional breaks can be recommended by staff or initiated by the student.
8. Use calming seating options such as a rocking chair, vibrating chair pad, or 2-point suspension swing for vestibular input or a bean bag chair or cloud nine for proprioceptive input. 
9. Weighted items such as a heavy stuffed animal, lap pad, or weighted blanket are also calming. 
10. Going to a calming sensory space should be viewed in a positive way and not associated with punishment or "time out".