Wisconsin school develops sensory room for students with autism

From The Daily Telegram in Superior, Wis. on July 3:

This fall, Superior High School students will have a place to calm down — a retreat with soft lights and soothing sounds if the classroom noise and bright fluorescent lights become overpowering.

Superior High School is preparing for the influx of six additional autistic students this fall by developing a sensory room. It’s converting its Autism Spectrum Disorder program room into a space devoted to sensory experience and movement for students with the disorders.

This fall, SHS’s autism program will serve about 20 students with varying degrees of severity along the autism spectrum.

The Autism Spectrum Disorder program serves students at all levels of the spectrum — from students able to graduate with honors to those who cannot take general education courses and instead must concentrate on life skills.

Autism spectrum disorders are present in all racial, ethnic and socioeconomic groups, but are more common among men. The cause is unknown, but scientists believe both genetics and the environment are involved, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Autism Information Center Web site.

Autistic people don’t sense the world in the same way as other people. Their eyes, ears and the rest of their sensory system works differently, so autistic kids are self aware, said Jim Starzynski, program teacher. Autistic people are more sensitive. Some of the SHS’s autistic students will only eat Domino’s Pizza and no other brand because of the texture — taste has nothing to do with it, he said.

The SHS program was started in 2004 to support autistic students’ education. Most of them spend much of their day in regular education classrooms but require accommodations for some assignments.

The sensory room will support the students’ regular education by giving them a retreat when they become frustrated by noises, lights and other stressors during their day. It will also be a place for teachers and therapists to work with students on loosening up to move around and experience the world, said Jamie Hunter, occupational therapist with the Superior school district.