8 tips for creating a more sensory-friendly home
Liam Guetter, 10, wears headphones and relaxes on his bed after school at Developmental Disabilities Institute residence in Smithtown on Jan. 19. Credit: Morgan Campbell
Virginia Scudder has several gaming chairs placed throughout her Aquebogue home for her son, Lukas, 9, even though Lukas doesn't use them to play video games.
Lukas is on the autism spectrum, and the chairs are an inexpensive way that Scudder has found to make him most comfortable at home. “They’re therapeutic for him, because he can sit in them and rock,” Scudder says. The motion is soothing, she says.
Lukas Scudder, 9, of Aquebogue, likes to sit in gaming chairs like this one; he’s pictured with his family’s dog named Stella. Credit: Virginia Scudder
While children on the autism spectrum may share a diagnosis, their sensory needs vary — and parents should focus on what triggers their child when modifying their homes, advises Beatrice Tokayer, a New Jersey-based designer who specializes in sensory interior design, has a son with special needs and has worked with clients on Long Island. “If the child is triggered by loud noises, then target that. If they are triggered by visual stimuli, then target that,” Tokayer says.
Parents, experts who work with children on the autism spectrum and Tokayer have these suggestions of simple things they’ve found helpful at home:
AN INDOOR HAMMOCK
One child who lives in a group home run by the Developmental Disabilities Institute, with homes in Smithtown and Huntington, has a hammock in his bedroom, says Sue Davis, director of children’s residential program for the institute. When he lies in it, “it feels like he’s being hugged,” Davis says. Children may also like weighted blankets for that feeling of security that lessons anxiety, Scudder says.
A CRASH PAD
Tyler Folise, 14, holds a Mickey Mouse paper in his room at Developmental Disabilities Institute residence in Smithtown on Jan. 19. Credit: Morgan Campbell
Crash pads are foam pads that children like to throw themselves onto. “They like the feeling of jumping and falling without hurting themselves,” Davis says. Tyler Folise, 14, who lives in a residential home in Smithtown, has a Mickey Mouse shaped crash pad in his room there that he "absolutely loves," says his mother, Linda, 51, a school paraprofessional from North Babylon.
AN ACTIVE SPACE
When Tyler was younger and still living in North Babylon, Folise had a whole activity area in their house with an indoor trampoline, ball pit and exercise balls. "He didn't really know the difference between my couch and a trampoline," Folise says — creating the activity area solved that issue. Tokayer seconds the idea of an active space in the home: “That way, parents feel relief in their home, but the children can still take their energy needs out.” Along the same lines, parents may paint a blackboard wall in one room. “Kids can draw on the wall. That’s their space to be rebellious,” Tokayer says.
A FIDGET BOARD
Sometimes children feel the need to occupy their hands. Having a fidget board in their room can help with that, Tokayer says. Parents can create their own using items such as a door’s chain lock and fake light switches.
LABELS
“One of the things we do is label their drawers and closets,” Davis says, attaching laminated signs and Velcro-ing them to drawers, for instance with the word “socks” or a picture of shoes or pants. “That helps them be more independent,” Davis says. They can put away their own clothes and also choose them, she says. Davis also suggests using signs in the bathroom for daily hygiene tasks, so the child can be reminded to follow directions step-by-step, such as “Brush teeth, wash face, dry hands.”
LIGHT PAINT COLORS
Tokayer had initially painted her 6-year-old son’s room in navy blue with stars, but he kept telling her he didn’t like it. She realized it was overstimulating to him visually, as patterns and colors can be for some children. She repainted the room a light color. “It made a really big difference. It really calmed things down,” Tokayer says. Theresa DeMarco, 55, who runs a gift shop in Southold called One For All with her son, Sean, now 25 and on the autism spectrum, did the same for Sean when creating a room for him. They chose white walls and a dark floor.
A PLACE TO PACE
Sean DeMarco also likes to pace, so Theresa says she made sure he had room to do so comfortably. “I’ve often asked him about pacing,” she says. “Because his autism has his mind going 24/7, he said when he walks he grounds his thoughts, walking off his mind energy.”
A SENSORY CLOSET OR TENT
Tokayer has tried a teepee-style tent in a child’s room, or what she calls a sensory closet. It’s a place the child knows he or she can retreat to when overwhelmed by too much stimuli, or when feeling frustrated or on the verge of an outburst. Inside, she will put a weighted blanket, fidget toys, a diffuser and a dimmer light. “He [or she] gets to hang out there until he feels calm,” she says.
Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.
