Sensory Areas & Rooms

By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
​Updated November 4, 2017

For the student with visual impairments such as Cortical Visual Impairment, highly controlled environments may be needed to help the student learn to look and use their vision.  A sensory room is appropriate for students who need a place to go where they can have minimal visual and auditory distractions.

If you are planning to set up a sensory area in your room, be sure that it is a quiet area away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the classroom. Some schools may have the luxury of having a sensory room, but space is typically limited in schools and creating a space within the classroom may be your only option. When setting up a darkened area for viewing lights and also providing tactual experiences, try to think about ways to encourage active involvement for the student. This could include using a power link device to connect electrical lights so when the student activates a switch, the lights (or other materials) turn on.

The Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI) can assist in setting up an area that will minimize auditory and visual distracters and encourage the student to attend visually to materials presented. The goal is to work on vision skills in the controlled environment and gradually introduce distracters until the student does not require such a controlled environment and goals can be addressed in the classroom under normal conditions.

Position the student with their hands and object in the preferred visual field; use appropriate or prescribed adaptive seating to achieve this. Determine the student’s preferred positioning for best visual function (sitting, supine, side-lying, etc).

• Try upright positioning to increase visual alertness.
• Minimize postural effort and maximize vision use by providing extra support. Read and respect disengagement cues such as gaze aversion, “tuning out,” and postural withdrawal.
• Avoid visual, auditory, and tactual over-stimulation. Provide multiple trials and look for patterns of response.
• Expect inconsistent responses.

For some students with significant disabilities, it can be helpful to place several objects around the student’s body that touch the student or are very close so that any movement will cause contact with a toy. Allow the student time to discover and rediscover the same toys in the same places so that his play environment becomes more predictable. It may be necessary to find ways to stabilize toys for students, particularly for students that are in wheelchairs of standers. Use Velcro, Dycem, shelf liner or rubber pads under the toy to prevent it from sliding off a surface while the student is playing with it.

Suggestions

​I have constructed toy bars using cut pieces of PVC pipe and elbow and "T" connectors to form a stand. Depending on the students color or light preference, I have then wrapped Christmas lights around the toy bar. I then plug the lights into the Power Select switch from APH and encourage the student to activate the switch to turn on the lights. Another option is to suspend metallic materials from the toy bar and have the student activate the switch that is connected to a small fan (set on low) directed toward the materials. If the student is able to visually attend when there are auditory distractions, you may also want to connect the switch to a radio or CD player to play music or a story when activated. Alternatively, I have drilled holes in a Sterilite, or similar, clear plastic storage box and attached miniature lights and suspended reflective materials that can be activated through a switch.

Material Suggestions

Adaptable Stick Switch, available from APH, is available in the Sensory Learning Kit and is also available as a replacement item.

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Adaptable Tactile Switch, available from APH, is available in the Sensory Learning Kit and is also available as a replacement item.

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Power Select, available from APH, is available in the Sensory Learning Kit and is also available as a replacement item.

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TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC: An Activities Based Curriculum for Teaching Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired
The TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC is a digital pdf available for download. It is designed specifically for fellow itinerant Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI’s), and consists of over 400 activities and topic areas of discussion for instructing students in the Expanded Core Curriculum. The activities are age-neutral and multi-sensory and therefore can meet the needs of the broad range of students served on an itinerant caseload serving. The activities can be individualized to the students various learning modalities and scaffold in order to challenge students but ensure success. Select those activities that align with the student’s learning objects based on the student’s unique visual needs and academic and developmental level. In addition to the core activity areas, each of the 32 Thematic Units incorporates additional unique ECC concepts and skills providing you with a years’ worth of activities. These units are cyclical and can be used repeatedly to help students build on prior knowledge and develop a deeper understanding of concepts. Each unit includes suggestions for activity adaptation associated with the unit. These include lists of objects, possible community-based experiences, environmental print, poems, children & young reader books, children's songs, pop culture songs, movies, and websites.


In addition to the book, the following two supplements are included:
·      TVI’s Guide to the ECC Concept Checklist
·      TVI’s Guide to the ECC Activities Checklist


For complete product details and additional images, visit the TVI's Guide product page.


TVI's Guide to the ECC Product details
·      Digital pdf download: 346 pages (11 pt font)
·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
·      Author: Carmen Willings
·      Language: English


Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheets: TVI's Guide to the ECC Grab and Go Supplements
The Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheets is a Grab and Go supplement to the TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC. This workbook is a pdf download that can be printed on demand for use with students. It contains five different types of worksheets for developing visual motor skills and near magnifier fluency skills particularly with the use of a video magnifier. As a companion to the TVI’s Guide to the ECC, the worksheets correspond to each of the 32 ECC Thematic units. The worksheets, along with a list of environmental print for each thematic unit, are designed to help students refine their visual motor skills while reinforcing ECC concepts presented in the thematic units.  


For complete product details and additional images, visit the Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Product Page.


Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheet Details:
·      Digital pdf download: 210 pages
·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
·      Author: Carmen Willings
·      Language: English


Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency and Maintenance Worksheets: A TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC Grab & go Supplement
The Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency and Maintenance Grab and Go ECC worksheet packet is a print on demand workbook that contains worksheets in print and simulated braille to use for data collection. Present the student with a hard braille copy and use the worksheets to document accuracy and fluency in reading braille. As a companion to the TVI’s Guide to the ECC, the worksheets correspond to the ECC Thematic activities presented in the curriculum guide. These word lists and sentences will help the student refine their keyboarding or braille reading skills while bridging ECC concepts presented in the thematic units. Although the lists and passages can be produced using a manual braillewriter, you may also copy and paste the passages into any braille translation software for quick production on an embosser. They may also be entered into a typing program such as APH’s Talking Typer to build keyboarding fluency.


For complete product details and additional images, visit the Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency & Maintenance Product Page


Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency Worksheet Details:
·      Digital pdf download: 338-page print and simulated braille worksheets
·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
·      Author: Carmen Willings
·      Language: English


Thematic Vocabulary Cards and Checklists: Grab & Go ECC Supplement
The Thematic Vocabulary Cards and Checklists Grab and Go ECC supplement is a 446 page pdf downloadable print on demand workbook that includes 2940 vocabulary card on 3 1/2" x 2" templates divided by each of the 32 Thematic Units along with a checklist of each unit words in print and simulated braille. As a companion to the TVI's Guide to the ECC, the vocabulary cards correspond to the ECC Thematic activities presented in the curriculum guide. 


Additional Use:
Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments can have a extremely varied caseloads. It is possible to go several years without having a student on your caseload who requires braille instruction. Like other skills, if you do not practice your braille regularly, it is easy to lose those skills. Use these checklists and cards to maintain your braille skills. Fold the checklist along the line dividing the print from the braille. Choose to either read the print and produce the word in braille using a braillewriter or read the simulated braille and decode it. Finally, these vocabulary cards and checklists may be used with family members or peers who are interested in learning and practicing the braille code.


For complete product details and additional images, visit the Thematic Vocabulary Cards & Checklists Product Page


Thematic Vocabulary Cards and Checklists Details:
·      Digital pdf download: 446-page print on demand resource
·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
·      Author: Carmen Willings
·      Language: English


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Lotto Cards
The LOTTO Cards Grab and Go Supplement includes 37 theme related unit cards along with activity suggestions that support activities within the TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC.


On My Way File Folder Cards
Print and use these cards to represent locations the student may visit that are related to the current thematic unit. Use these with the On My Way File Folder Game outlined in the TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC p. 27.

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