Snoezelen Room
The Autism Academy of Learning has incorporated a multi-sensory or “Snoezelen Room” into student’s schedules. Snoezelen Rooms were first developed in the Netherlands in the 1970s and have been used in providing rich sensory experiences to various groups of individuals. These rooms are specially designed to deliver stimuli to various senses, through the use of lighting effects, color, sounds, music, scents, etc. The term “Snoezelen” is derived from the Dutch words “snuffelen” meaning to seek out and explore and “doezelen” meaning to doze or to snooze.
Snoezelen is a non-directive therapy and can be staged to provide a multi-sensory experience or single sensory focus, simply by adapting the lighting, atmosphere, sounds, and textures to the specific needs of the client at the time of use. There is no formal focus on therapeutic outcome - the focus is to assist users to gain the maximum pleasure from the activity in which they and the enabler are involved. An advantage of snoezelen is that it does not rely on verbal communication and may be beneficial for people with profound autism, as it may provide stimulation for those who would otherwise be almost impossible to reach. Since the room's inception in 2010, the room has provided our students with a place to receive a rich and individualized sensory experience.
As pictured below, the room contains a variety of multi-sensory items ranging from fiber-optics and music to bubble tubes and vibro-acoustic items.
