Sensory rooms make use of various stimuli in order to engage the senses of people living with a variety of sensory conditions. These rooms aim to support people in developing their senses, fostering a new level of confidence, independence, and accessibility in their everyday lives.
Sensory rooms can benefit a massive variety of conditions, from Deafblindness to autism, with proven effectiveness for a whole selection of people. Here at Seashell, we make use of sensory rooms at our facility to support young adults with complex needs, helping them learn, relax and engage.
As part of Seashell’s campus transformation, our Audiology team were given an opportunity to design an industry-leading Audiology Clinic within the new Moulding Foundation Building.
What is an Audiology Clinic?
Using our specialist knowledge and understanding of children and young adults with the most complex needs, our fantastic team of experts were able to create a specialist Audiology Clinic that is as accessible as possible – designed with both students with hearing impairments and deafblind students in mind. But what is an Audiology Clinic, and how can it support students?
Our Audiology Clinic is designed to test students’ hearing and sight, offering them the opportunity to move freely and safely around the room. Providing both enrichment and learning opportunities, our Audiology Clinic is an undeniably valuable asset to our campus.
Our Layout
Learning from the difficulties of our previous suite within an older building on campus, we knew we wanted to remove any physical hazards, such as heavy cabinets and leads. We designed a space with limited exposed wiring, disguising it in trunking. Cabinets have been replaced with wall-mounted screens with protective casing. These changes allow our students with visual impairment to move around and map the room freely and, importantly, safely.
Sensory Testing
We next looked at the testing accessibility for our deafblind students. In a typical Audiology suite, we use a test called VRA (Visual Reinforcement Audiometry), which encourages children to turn when they hear a sound by rewarding them visually with a toy or cartoon. In order to make this more accessible for students who are visually impaired, we have had lighting installed which allows us to light up the side of the room where the sound is. This has enabled us to offer a bigger visual reward for students who may struggle to focus on a small screen or toy.
We are also able to instantly change the colour of the lights which allows greater flexibility to find a colour that may be accessible.
Fostering Enjoyment
Lastly we looked at adding more enjoyment for our Deafblind students. We have updated our toys to include bigger items, such as beanbags in a bucket, to allow VI students to participate in games. We have also added a vibro-chair to support the students to relax and settle into the room.
How Seashell can help
Seashell Trust is a UK-leading disability charity and specialist in supporting children and young people with complex difficulties, disabilities and additional communication needs. We have harnessed this unique expertise to create a range of specialist assessment, support and disability training services that we provide to families and organisations across the education, health and care sectors.
To find out more about what we do and who we are, don’t hesitate to get in touch on 0161 610 0100 or email us at info@seashelltrust.org.uk.
Written by Kate Ellor,
(Senior Audiologist) Seashell Trust
