My students need additional sensory materials such as balls for the ball pit, stepping floor tiles, and a weighted lap pad to further develop our sensory space!
As an educator, I work hard to make sure there is a positive, supportive, engaging, nurturing, and structured environment for those students who are faced with such significant global deficits.
The things we celebrate are different from the other classrooms as there is just no feat too small to celebrate!
Cheers, verbal praise, high-fives, language modeling, and even occasional meltdowns or tantrums (let's be real!) that were just unavoidable despite our best proactive efforts, echo down the hall!
It is our goal to set up opportunities throughout the day to actively engage each student to build their motivation, social reciprocity/relationships with others, and communication skills. These opportunities are crucial, really, to their success. Most students are non-verbal, or have limited-to-no functional communication, and are learning to communicate via total communication approaches, low-tech and high-tech options, etc.
In reality, these little guys and gals are the ones who end up teaching and inspiring us! They are faced with extreme challenges and work hard every single day!
My Project
I am looking to continue to build a sensory room in a small space available right off the classroom that would benefit all students and give them a multi-sensory experience that they actively seek out and crave throughout the school day.
Providing such sensory input, in turn, helps them learn, better attend, and progress.
Many small items for the classroom are purchased out of pocket but items to build an appropriate sensory space for children with autism is just too costly to do alone! This new sensory room is a dedicated place where sensory stimulation can be controlled, either intensified or reduced. We recently acquired various visual stimulating items through generous donations. There is so much more that is needed to meet the student's varying sensory needs. The goal is for the room to incorporate light effects, colors, sounds, and tactile input in which the selected items will provide. Right now, the requested weighted lap pad, stretchy band, balls for the ball pit, stepping floor tiles, and the light cube accessories are the next steps in continuing to build that room. These items will allow students to physically move around and receive the tactile stimulation they seek.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. C. and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.