It is never too early to begin helping students develop their self-management skills to help them stay regulated and manage their emotions and behaviors. One way to help students self-manage is to provide proactively scheduled sensory breaks to allow time in a calming environment where they don't have to filter all of the sensory, social, and academic demands of the classroom. Trotwood Madison ELC has done an excellent job creating this safe space for their students. We are excited to share their space in today's Regulation Rendezvous.
Clear Expectations
When starting the Calming Sensory Room, staff at Trotwood ELC attended a series of training sessions presented by our team to better understand how sensory needs impact student performance. There were also written expectations presented to each staff member and posted within the Calming Sensory Room.
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| Staff Expectations |
Expectations were also developed for the students. There were written rules for students to follow.
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| General Student Rules |
Additionally, a check-in system was created for students to choose which sensory station they wanted to visit during their sensory break. Students took the picture of the station they wanted to visit and matched it to the equipment within the room. Additional guidelines were posted at each station as well.
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| Check-in |
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| Specific Rules |
Self-management visual supports were also provided to help students identify the type of sensory input they needed.
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| Zones/Inside Out Visual Support |
A variety of visual timers are available for staff to set time limits for students during their break.
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| Visual Countdown Spinner |
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| Sand Timer & Time Timer |
Lighting
Most of the time the Calming Sensory Room has the lights off to take advantage of the awesome calming light options including bubble tower, string lights, ceiling tiles, and lighted tunnels.
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| Bubble Tower |
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| Crash Pad with String Lights and Ceiling Panel |
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| Lighted Tunnels |
Activities
Trotwood ELC's Calming Sensory Room also has a variety of equipment options to meet different sensory needs. Equipment ranges from passive activities such as sitting or laying down to calm to more active activities such as the steamroller or wall panel.
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| Steamroller |
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| Bean Bag Seating Option |
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| Ball Pit |
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| Sensory Play Wall Panel |
Sensory Tools
In addition to the sensory equipment within the room, there is also a variety of sensory tools that can be used in tandem to the equipment. The tools are organized into bins for easy access.
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| Weighted lap pads, fidgets, and noise-canceling headphones |
Finally, to end their calming sensory break, students use the visual support on the door to engage in several repetitions of deep breathing before transitioning.
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| Deep breathing folder posted on door |
We applaud Trotwood ELC for their dedication to their student's sensory needs and learning to self-manage! This is a life long skill that will benefit them for years to come!
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