Carter G. Woodson Elementary School was granted a sensory room for an Individualized Educational Program

Carter G. Woodson Elementary in Crisfield, known as WES, recently received a grant for $2,000 to help fund the construction of a multi-sensory room for students under an Individualized Education Program.

The relatively small room will make a big difference for special education students.

Sarah Ward is a paraprofessional who helped make the room a reality. She says she was inspired after attending a conference about autism that focused on sensory processing disorders, how some students need sensory stimulation to learn properly.

Ward says, “We need a place set aside just to meet that need as soon as we recognized that, this child needs to be more alert, more engaged, that would be perfect because that room offers that opportunity.”

Working alongside Ward is occupational therapist, Amy Carpenter. Carpenter says this need arises because there is something called sensory integration, which is the idea that you take information in from all of your senses and you process it. You use that information to interact with the environment.

Carpenter will focus on student’s sensory diet, which varies by student. She says, “There’s different protocols that I will be designing for each individual student in order to help maybe bring back the level of stimulus that they’re getting or also if that student needs more to be able to engage throughout their day.”

Carpenter explains there are 7 different sense that we could use.  Other than the 5 we typically can think of, there is also vestibular sense, which has to do with movement and balance. And proprioception ,which is sensing where you and your body parts are in space.

The room aims to target every sense. A teacher who focuses on the special education comprehensive says this will be a positive for her students.

WES says they hope to keep adding more to the sensory room as they continue to learn other useful tools as well for connecting with students one-on-one.