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The newly-installed BD53,000 (£100,000) multi-sensory room at The Children's Academy in Hamala looks more like a mini discotheque with neon lights than an integral tool of the sensory curriculum introduced by a special needs school.
The high tech multi-sensory room is the first of its kind on the island and provides an environment in which stimulating activities and experiences are used to increase awareness and positive behaviour in children with special needs.
"The room enlightens the senses and makes our students aware of their surroundings. We have noticed that children become calmer, their alertness improves dramatically and they stay on a given task for longer," said Greg McDonald, headmaster of The Children's Academy. The privately-run school caters to children with mild to moderate learning difficulties and teaches a broad-based English National Curriculum.
The multi-sensory room is fitted with high-tech visual imagery like bubble lamps, projectors with wheels disbursing light patterns, UV lights, star panels and the like.
"Our sensory co-ordinator at the school plans the curriculum so that if children are learning about animals or nature then we put those sounds on in the sensory room. Then there are sensory activities like blowing bubbles, touching or feeling different surfaces," said Mr McDonald.
"Multi-sensory rooms are not a requirement but an added bonus in special needs schools. Specialists know that such rooms are helpful when working with special children and that sensory aids can open up a whole new world for the children," he added.
Multi-sensory rooms are also popular as relaxation rooms around the world. The Sheffield-based company in the UK that fitted the state of the art room at The Children's Academy recently completed a sensory room in one of the unused vaults of a bank in the UK so that the stressed out bankers could calm their senses amidst the ongoing financial crises.
