Life & Style

A quiet place: How to build a sensory room

For children with autism or sensory processing problems, building a sensory room can offer calm and respite — and it doesn’t have to cost a lot

Sinéad Glynn says that for her twin girls the sensory room represents their own safe space into which they can retreat if overwhelmed or agitated.
Sinéad Glynn says that for her twin girls the sensory room represents their own safe space into which they can retreat if overwhelmed or agitated.
Caroline Madden
Sat Oct 08 2022 - 05:00

Christmas two years ago was hard for Sinéad Glynn, a mother of adored five-year-old twins with autism Saoirse and Róisín: the girls had no real concept of Santa Claus and no interest in the toys he brought. But last Christmas, Santy realised that the twins didn’t want a pile of presents under a tree, so instead he gave them what they really needed: a sensory room.

Christmas morning, Glynn says, was “magical”. The girls opened the door to a room in their home in Milltownpass, Co Westmeath, to discover a beautiful space specifically designed for each of their sensory needs. Róisín, who is in an ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) class in a mainstream school, loves dark little corners so she has a built-in den especially for her, while Saoirse, who is in a specialised school, has a ball pit. The room is also fully padded for safety. Both girls now love the bubble tube and mirrors installed in the corner and the laser light that projects a soothing pattern of stars.

Glynn stresses that it is not, as some people might think, simply an expensive playroom, nor is it a luxury. For the girls, it represents their own designated safe space that they can retreat to if they become overwhelmed or agitated. It also allows them to learn a vital life skill: how to self-regulate their emotions and behaviour. Róisín is able to pull down the blackout blinds herself and turn on and off the laser light, and if she sees that Saoirse is getting upset, she’ll do that for her. “Then she cuddles her and holds her.”

The sensory room.
The sensory room.

It is definitely the room that the girls use most in the bungalow, a new home that Glynn and her husband Mark decided to build because Saoirse had difficulty managing the stairs in their previous house. Everything they do is with the twins in mind, including creating a sensory garden earlier this year. “We spent 12 years trying to have them through IVF,” she says. “They’re our life.”

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What difference has the sensory room made? “Life is a lot easier and more content. I couldn’t tell you the last time Róisín had a meltdown.” She has also noticed that the girls are now getting a lot more sleep at night. Every evening after they have a bath, they spend a little while in the sensory room, winding down by watching the bubble tube and the laser lights, and then they’re into bed at 7.30 and asleep by 8.00. “Routine is definitely the key to everything.”

It should be noted that when it came to installing the sensory room, Santy had more than a little expert help from the “brilliant” Bryan Morgan of Total Sensory Solutions, who worked all through Christmas week in the Glynn house to ensure everything came together on time for the big reveal.

Bryan, who himself has a special needs brother, says the most important thing when fitting out a sensory room, whether it’s an attic or a box room, is to understand the child’s needs and then formulate a design based around those unique needs.

Notwithstanding that, Morgan says there are three essential products needed to create any sensory space. A bubble tube is “number one without question”. Prices range from a small metre-high tube for €250 to an interactive top-of-the-range model, with a controller that the child can use to change the colours, for about €1,000. If the child is very active, parents often opt for the tube to be fixed into the wall so it can’t move.

“Fibre optics are also very popular,” Morgan says. This is a type of visual product that changes colour, but it’s also tactile: kids can drape the strands over themselves and touch the ends. The final essential element in creating a “calming, relaxing environment” would be a projector that can shine an image of, say, tropical fish on the wall. Once those three critical elements are in place, parents can then incorporate things they might already have like beanbags.

“Budget-wise, if you have a budget of €5,000 you can put in a really, really good home sensory room for that … more or less top end,” he advises. “You probably would need a minimum budget, to do it right, of about €3,000.”

‘Game changer’

Morgan also installed a sensory room in Lisa and Marc Daly’s new build in Kilmacud on Dublin’s south side. The building project, which was featured on Room to Improve earlier this year, was beset with challenges, but viewers will recall that Lisa and Marc never waivered in their determination to incorporate a sensory room for their son Liam, who is now 13, and their steadfastness paid off. The room, Lisa says, is “a game changer”.

“We were never really able to have people over [in our old home],” she explains. The change in the noise levels would be overwhelming for Liam. Now, if anything gets too much for him, he goes off to his sensory room. Having his own space also means that he can let off steam without disturbing his older brother Jake while he’s studying, or his younger brother Alex, when he’s having playdates.

The room itself is completely blacked out, with no windows, and is painted sapphire blue to sharpen the outline of projected images. Two of the most important elements are the bubble tube and the secure hook in the ceiling that can take the weight of a swing or a hammock. “With Liam, to regulate he needs a swing. He really calms down,” she says.

In terms of cost, the couple had budgeted about €3,000 to €4,000 for the room. She says it’s hard to estimate the exact cost, as they incorporated a lot of sensory products she had already accumulated over the years, but believes it came in under budget.

They also had an occupational therapist visit and formulate a ‘sensory diet’ for Liam; the sensory room now plays an essential part in his daily routine and the benefits are evident. Daly says that “seven times out of 10”, when Liam comes out of the room, he’s “completely calm”. Also, it used to take him up to three hours to go to sleep but now that he has his sensory room (and has settled into an “amazing” new school), he’s falling asleep within the hour.

Aoife Costello: 'If you buy a load of stuff for movement, without any idea of what it is doing to the child’s body… [it could be] doing them more harm than good.'
Aoife Costello: 'If you buy a load of stuff for movement, without any idea of what it is doing to the child’s body… [it could be] doing them more harm than good.'

Consulting an occupational therapist to figure out your child’s unique needs before kitting out a sensory room is also wise.

Aoife Costello, an occupational therapist who runs the online store OT-ABC (http://ot-abc.com), says that sometimes parents who come to her have already bought a lot of expensive sensory products that she would not recommend for their child. “If you buy a load of stuff for movement, without any idea of what it is doing to the child’s body … [it could be] doing them more harm than good,” Costello says.

With a sensory room, you want to avoid over-stimulation as the whole objective is to calm the body. So if, for example, a child uses equipment like a mini-trampoline or a balance board, this needs to be followed by regulating activities like squeezing a fidget toy or relaxing with a fluffy blanket. She also recommends keeping the lighting soft and — if budget allows — installing soft play material around the room for safety.

Overall, Costello says, sensory rooms are “extremely beneficial” in terms of giving a child the opportunity to self-regulate. “I have never had a parent come back and say they weren’t glad they did it.”

Top tips on creating a sensory space on a budget

  • Ideally a sensory space should be located in its own designated room away from the busiest parts of the house. However, if that’s not feasible and you’re on a tight budget, occupational therapist Aoife Costello suggests finding a really quiet space with as few windows as possible. Use blackout blinds if there are windows. “Visual input can be really stimulating,” she explains. “Being in a dark room can really regulate the senses.”
  • In Lisa Daly’s old house, she designated a corner for her son Liam and kitted it out with beanbags, fidget toys and an affordable bubble tube from Argos. However as Liam grew older, she realised he needed a little bit more from his sensory space, so it’s important to plan and budget for future needs.
  • Black-out sensory tents are also a cheap way of providing children with a place where they can go to self-regulate.
  • Costello says that using a crash pad in a sensory room can be a good self-regulating activity. However, she points out that the prices for crash pads are “extortionate” and could eat up half your budget. Instead consider a jumbo beanbag which “does essentially the same thing”, she suggests. If it’s big enough, kids can crash into it and “it’s also more comfortable to sit on than a crash pad”.
  • Before making an investment in expensive products, check out your local library first, as many public libraries around the country now have a collection of sensory toys and equipment available for lending. For example in Dun Laoghaire, the DLR Lexicon now has a lending collection which includes sensory /tactile toys and equipment, as well as tools to help build motor skills and help develop life skills. In Kildare, the Athy, Leixlip and Naas Libraries have a specialised collection of toys and assistive equipment which can be borrowed free of charge.