A room filled with wonder. Colors flash all around, patterns start to move along the walls. You run your hands over rough and smooth textures lining the furniture. A sense of calm sinks over your body. The peaceful quiet and calming vibe slows your thumping heart. This can be the effect of a sensory room on students with diverse learning needs. Sensory rooms are “therapeutic spaces specifically designed and utilized to promote self-organization and positive change,” according to a powerpoint presentation created by the sensory room team.

Mrs. Hart, one of Lane’s assistant principals, said that the room will cost about $140,000, and they still have about $8,000 left to raise.

“Lots of different materials will be donated,” Hart said. “The design of the room has been donated, but we have to come up with all the pieces that are missing.”

The project is planned to begin over the summer so it will be open for student use in the 2017-18 school year. Lane’s Alumni Association has launched a campaign to raise money for the cause. The Gofundme link has been circulating Lane’s website and people’s facebook pages to give everyone an opportunity to support the sensory room.

The HKS Architects firm has been working with the sensory room team to develop building plans and designs, Hart said. According to the HKS Architects website, they have projects located in 1,742 cities throughout 88 countries. They state that “places of education must be designed to foster learning by adapting to various learning styles, individual instruction moments and group activities.” The firm has designed multiple schools around the world.

“[HKS] has just been amazing — they’ve spent hours of their time doing research and designing the room,” Mrs. Hart said.

Lane’s sensory room will include an interactive peg board window, soothing spots and different forms of tactile materials and media, according to the sensory room team.  

Ms. Clemons, a teacher in the Cluster program, said the room will give students a calm and quiet area if they become overstimulated.

“It will give students an area that is quieter than the classroom, and there are a lot of different tactile manipulatives in the room that will help students decrease anxiety,” Clemons said. She further explained that the room will help teachers by providing an “area that will help [students] decrease anxiety so that they can come back to instructional time in the classroom.”

Mr. Payano, Lane’s music therapy teacher, is already envisioning how he could use the sensory room in his class to benefit his students.

“When they hear a song they like, they love it,” Payano said. “There are students who are nonverbal, but they’ll bob their head. they’ll start shaking around, dancing around in their seat. You can feel the beat.”

Payano also envisions taking music into the sensory room to enhance his students’ sensory experience.

“We have multiple options, we can be playing music, I can be playing guitar, I can sing, [or] play music from youtube,” Payano said.

Though the reality of the sensory room is far away, the benefits are something Payano looks forward to.

“Sometimes a student will get overwhelmed and it will be too much for them to handle. I think a sensory room would be a good place [for students] to have an escape,” Payano said.