Laredo, TX: High school opens SENSORY ROOM for neurodivergent students

Sept 30, 2025,  Laredo Morning Times: UISD opens first sensory room on United High School campus 

https://www.lmtonline.com/local/article/first-high-school-sensory-room-united-high-21075516.php

Students with disabilities and those who are neurodivergent can now take a breather to self-regulate with the introduction of United High School’s new Sensory Room, unveiled Tuesday.

The initiative marks the first sensory room on a high school campus in United ISD and is part of a broader effort to serve the district’s more than 7,400 students in special education from elementary through high school.

The room, designed as a calm space for desensitization, therapy and emotional regulation, features beanbag chairs, padded mats for lying on, an egg chair, and stations with crafts and fidget toys. A purple-painted wall decorated with silver lettering spelling out “be brave” and other inspirational quotes adds to the room’s sensory-friendly atmosphere.

The sensory room at United High School features calming lighting, beanbags, an egg chair and interactive elements — all designed to help students self-regulate and decompress.

“This is the first sensory room in our high schools — a designated area for special education students. This is a room where they can come to be calm and desensitize, and it can also be used for different types of therapies,” said Laura de los Santos, director of special education at UISD.

Funds from the Rocking The Spectrum fundraiser helped bring the project to life, along with a smaller sensory space inside the special education classroom. UISD also contributed by providing classrooms and support with painting. . . .

“Through donations, fundraisers and, of course, UISD — which also supported us with painting the walls and giving us the classrooms,” de los Santos said. “The planning was there, and everything came into fruition.”

District 6 board member and secretary Michelle Molina, a parent of a child with special needs, said the project reflects years of advocacy for creating safe spaces across the district. . . .

Now that United High School has taken the first step, Molina said she hopes Longhorn students will use the room to redirect their emotions — and also benefit from speech, occupational and one-on-one therapy.

Students explore sensory tools and fidget toys during the unveiling of United High School’s sensory room Tuesday morning, September 30. The space was designed for neurodivergent learners and students with disabilities.

“We are all the champions of our children with special needs and the children that don’t have a voice,” she said. “Even though we will never truly know what they experience on the daily, we can at least create a safer space for them.”

For 10th grader Nikolas Abassta, the space offers exactly that.

 “It’s so colorful,” he said excitedly. 

“It makes me calm. It makes me happy.”