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Chilton Cty, AL: Elem school gets sensory room; "30 SPED students use it everyday"

Feb 28, 2019, ABC33, Birmingham, AL: New sensory room at Jemison Elementary provides "a calm place" for students https://abc3340.com/news/school-patrol/new-sensory-room-at-jemison-elementary-provides-a-calm-place-for-students … Chilton County School added a sensory room at Jemison Elementary. It was finished earlier this semester. Every detail of the room, from the ball pit, to the fish tank, to the swing, even the lighting, is a designed as a room where over-stimulated students can find some peace and calm. " They (students) can self-stimulate themselves for them to be able to calm down from all the hectic going on in their mind at the time," Porter said. "We looked at how they become overstimulated, and then found things that would help them." Nearly 30 special education students use it everyday to meet their sensory needs. Porter said her students use it first thing in the morning, "to get our mind and body ready to learn." It can also be used just for any student needing a place to regroup, said Principal Scott Ingram. "You see the problems the students have, and when they do get kind of out sorts and they need a place to relax," Ingram said. "This room can serve so many different students in so many different ways." The sensory room is the only one in the school district, but Porter says her goal is to have more. "That's my dream," she said. "It's touching to know that our students that become overstimulated can come in this room and calm down and be able to join their peers again. This is my dream for every school in this county. Every child should have access to a room like this." …

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