Use of multisensory rooms

Multisensory rooms or spaces, traditionally known as Snoezelen™ Rooms, are dedicated spaces which usually provide increased visual, sound and tactile input.  There is a lot of flexibility in what items are in the space, but it usually contains bubble tubes, fibre optics, mirrors, light projectors, soft flooring, seating options and fidget items.

While the  multisensory room can be a calming space for some children, it can be overstimulating for others.  The visual, sound and tactile input in the space might be overwhelming.  It is best to think about the child’s sensory processing needs and consider if the multisensory room is going to offer the regulating input that their nervous systems need.

Evidence of the effectiveness of these rooms for autistic children is limited, and often points to the therapeutic relationship between the staff and the child in that shared space, rather than the equipment in the room being supportive. 

Benefits of a multisensory room

The room will provide a quiet space away from the busy environment of the rest of the school.  It offers resources and input which can be regulating for some children and young people, helping them to achieve a regulated state and readiness for learning and interaction.

Joanna Grace (2020) In ‘Multiple Multisensory Rooms: Myth Busting the Magic’, Joanna Grace (2020) writes: 

• When people were surveyed about the most useful equipment, the ability to create a blackout scored highest. “Darkness was very useful to people in focusing visual attention and reducing stimuli that could distract from a connection between two people.”
• “There were other things like this that people using the rooms today valued especially highly, for example a lot of people said that they did not get interrupted when they were in the sensory room, whereas in the classroom … they were often interrupted. “

Guidance for using a multisensory room

• Where possible, referral should be made to an Occupational Therapist to advise on an individualised programme for the child or young person in the multisensory room.  If this is not possible, the guidance below should be closely followed.
• Equipment should be stored out of sight, or switched off, so that the child or young person initially enters a space with limited input.  During sessions in the multisensory room, only resources which they are using should be visible or switched on.  This will prevent the risk of sensory overload.
• Use of the room should be child-led, meaning that the child or young person should select the resources which they wish to use.  This can be done by giving them access to the equipment and resources to make a selection, or presenting the options on a visual choice board.  Most children and young people are innately driven to know what will be regulating input for them.
• If a child or young person is not able to select their own resources, the supporting adult should collect information from assessments and observations to consider what input is regulating for the individual.  Responses to the multisensory room should be carefully monitored, and the resources changed and adapted accordingly.
• There is a suggestion that emotional regulation is better supported when the child has control over the equipment in the room.    This might be having a control pad with dimmer switches, control over the colour of some lights or which equipment is on or off during the child’s time in the room.
• Remember that the child or young person may like to simply use it as a low arousal space with no sensory input.
• Be flexible with the use of the room.  It may be appropriate to timetable a child or young person for access if it is to be used to regulate them before or after a challenging activity, e.g. transitioning to school in the morning, before/after P.E.  However, it should largely be available as and when a child or young person needs it, rather than adhering to a strict timetable.
• Depending on the room size, it should be an individualised area, rather than used by groups.  Multiple users could create sensory overload in the room, subsequently making it counter-productive.  It may be possible to have screened off areas in larger rooms.
• Make use of other areas in the school to provide regulating input e.g. a black out tent in the classroom, sensory path in the corridor, tactile wall in the cloakroom, a quiet corner in the library, movement input in the playground. 

Resources in a multisensory room

Typically a multisensory room will have a projector, fibreoptic lights, a bubble tube and other electrical/interactive equipment.

However, remember, that there is a vast range of other resources which can be made available for use in this room:

• Therapy balls and peanut rolls of varying sizes.
• A choice of fidget items.
• Therband
• Theraputty and Aroma dough.
• Individualised regulating activities, such as doodling, colouring, reading a favourite book, puzzles.

It really is an individualised space, which every child and young person should be able to use in ways which meet their unique regulating needs.  As one young man working with Middletown Centre for Autism stated about his use of the sensory room:

‘I like to do push ups, talking to another adult about the problem that has occurred, diving onto my crash mat and (depending on my mood) handstands. Sometimes I like to speak to different members of staff, depending on what has happened throughout the day.’

Cavet J., Lambe L. & Smeddle M. (2001). The use of ‘Snoezelen’ as multisensory stimulation with people with intellectual disabilities: a review of research. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 22, 353–372]

Grace, J. (2020), “Multisensory rooms: essential characteristics and barriers to effective practice”, Tizard Learning Disability Review, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 67-75.

Stephenson, J. (2002), Characterization of Multisensory Environments: Why Do Teachers Use Them?. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 15: 73-90. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1360-2322.2002.00102.x

Unwin, K. L., Powell, G., & Jones, C. R. (2022). The use of Multi-Sensory Environments with autistic children: Exploring the effect of having control of sensory changes. Autism, 26(6), 1379–1394. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613211050176