Last Fall, competitive grants were offered to school members to fund the creation of sensory rooms, aimed at enhancing sensory integration to deescalate students, foster a calming atmosphere, and reduce workplace injuries resulting from interactions with students who have special needs. Our Schools Risk Management Specialist, Angela Guptill- Nagle indicates that 66% of all workplace injuries in schools and BOCES across the United States are caused during interactions with students with special needs. In order to decrease workplace injuries, “It is important that teachers are trained and have resources available to de-escalate students should they become dysregulated during the school day. Sensory rooms are an effective tool to regulate all students that have difficultly during the course of a school day.” The following four School Districts were selected to receive our grant:
- Clarence Central School District
- Wyandanch Union Free School District
- North Tonawanda City Schools
- Nassau BOCES
Over the past month, each district organized teams comprising staff and administrators to collaborate with PERMA and Fun & Function. These teams selected sensory items tailored for specific age groups and disabilities for their new sensory spaces. The Children’s Readiness Center at Nassau BOCES, upon receiving their grant award, quickly assembled a team to work with PERMA to design a sensory room for their special needs population. The committee remarked, “This new sensory room will allow us to proactively meet the needs of our students before escalating to a crisis, ensuring safety for everyone. When our students are given the tools to regulate their emotions and sensory needs, they are calmer, less impulsive, less reactive, and more focused. When our students exhibit these appropriate behaviors, our staff is less likely to face stress-related or injury claims. This room will enable us to address our students’ needs proactively in a calm, controlled, and safe space.”
Sensory room CAD drawing from Clarence Central School District at Harris Hill Elementary School.
Additionally, Elizabeth Petryk, the North Tonawanda Central School District’s Assistant Director of Special Education says, “As our district’s Special Education Department grows and begins to offer more in-district programs for students with disabilities, a sensory room can provide a much needed support to students who can quickly become overstimulated in a classroom setting. Our team has a strong focus on supporting students’ self-regulation and social-emotional development. By teaching students to recognize when they are becoming upset or uncomfortable in their environment and how to proactively utilize this space, we hope to create a safe and supportive environment for everyone. We designed this room with a designer from Fun and Function to include a variety of equipment, which can provide calming sensory input, such as compression or vibration, visual stimuli via a waterfall light feature, and overall relaxation with a variety of adaptive seating options.”
The addition the sensory rooms is anticipated to be transformative for both students and staff. It will provide a safe and calming space for students to regulate their emotions, leading to fewer classroom disruptions and a more supportive classroom environment. For staff, knowing that students have a dedicated place to reset allows for a greater focus on teaching and reduce classroom injuries. At PERMA, we continue to look for exciting, innovative grants for our members to help reduce workplace injuries, keep workers safe and promote the best possible workplace. We look forward to providing additional updates on this grant project.
Congratulations to this year’s winners!