Therapy but fun

It had been quite a while since Sophie and I had been to the snoezelen room so we headed there the other day.  If you are wondering what in the world snoezelen is, it is a sensory room for people with special needs that is meant to be soothing and stimulating by activating your different senses.  It has a whole assortment of items for sensory stimulation including music, swinging chairs, fans, differently textured balls and fabric, many kinds of lights and movement like the bubble tube.  Sophie has a severe vision impairment as well as multiple physical limitations and snoezelen is one more way that helps her interact with the world around her on her own terms.

You have to be very careful about over-stimulating your body and mind when using snoezelen.  On our first visit when Sophie was little, we turned on a bunch of things at once and it was too much.  She cried the whole time and I thought it was a bust from then on in.  When we did go back again we took it much slower and just turned on one item at a time and it worked much better for her.  I have learned what equipment she likes and dislikes and she will play the whole hour most of the time now.

These pictures show Sophie with some fibre optic lights.  It is amazing how she will open her fingers and touch the strings, she is usually fisted but she likes to touch these and pull on them.

This is one of Sophie's favourite things at Snoezelen, it is an infinity wall and she has always enjoyed it.  She is lying on a massage mat that vibrated and hummed.  She thought the sensation was pretty funny as my dad turned it on and off.

This picture shows the fibre optic lights as well as a light show that spins on the wall.  You can choose an assortment of pictures but she liked this liquid looking one.  She likes lying on the bearskin rug too.

This is a bubble tube, it changes colours and has fish and bubbles moving all around inside the tube.  There is a button controller that I try to get her interested in so that she will try to press the buttons for a cause and effect and she will sometimes use her feet to push the buttons.  But usually she just wants to look in the mirrors that are behind and beside us in this area.  Sophie LOVES mirrors. I don't know if she is looking at the tube or at us when we sit by it, but she becomes mesmerized.

In my committment to do more this year, I am hoping to get back into a regular schedule of visits to the snoezelen room with Sophie.  It is alot of effort but I think it is worth it.  I have tried to incorporate snoezelen-esque items into our play items at home and they are some of her favourite toys.  Of course you could spend thousands on the real deal like the one we visit, but we find alternative items that work just as well.  Sophie has a fibre optic toy, a glow bear, a mini bubble tube/lava lamp, a "fish aquarium" screen and many other toys that do the trick.