Sciences Participating with Arts & Culture in Education

Special Education–Through the Snoezelen Lens

The first thing that caught my eye was the raindrop-shaped hammock hanging from the ceiling. A boy sat inside, swaying like he was on a swing. I followed a creaking sound, my eyes landing on a small trampoline with a boy bouncing up and down on it. A girl ran across the room to a radio on my right and made it sing. “Ça fait rire les oiseaux, ça fait chanter les abeilles,” she sang along. Next to her, a boy sat in a swivel chair and spun ten times counter clockwise, then ten times clockwise, counting out loud. Behind me, I heard the bumping of wheels on the tiles of the ceramic hallway floor. A boy, placed in the push-up position, had his hands on a plastic trolley which consisted only of the platform and the wheels. His feet pushed off the floor, making him accelerate.

These children were not on recess. In fact, these activities happen during their class time daily, and they are all part of their curriculum. I was visiting an elementary school on the North Shore of Montreal. More specifically, I was spending a morning in this school’s special education classroom, and enjoying every minute of it.

When I arrived, these children were following their routine of morning motor activities. They were a small group of only five. Each student had a cubicle, formed with separators between each desk which were all placed facing the wall. On these separators hung their individual schedules. Each student had a timer and stopped whatever activity they were doing when it rang, announcing their time was up. Like someone working out different muscle groups at the gym, they would then consult their schedule, and move on to their next activity.

This school is currently in the process of building a multi-sensory environment called a Snoezelen room for their special needs students. The Snoezelen room, designed in the Netherlands in the 1970’s, was named from the Dutch words “snuffelen”, which means “sniffing”, and “doezelen” which means “dozing” (Snoezelen: Definition & Teaching DVD). Here, think of the word sniffing as in exploring, like a dog exploring a stranger’s shoes when he first takes them off. Dozing relates to the soft music and dim lights in these rooms that would have me doezelen off to dreamland in no time at all. Multi-sensory environments are used to communicate with people with special needs by using elements that reach the senses (lights, scents, foods, music, and physical contact with various objects), as well as to both stimulate and relax them (Janus CTV News). For these reasons, many teachers believe in the room’s usefulness when teaching special needs children.

Being in the Snoezelen room would mean that these students are separated from the others. As mentioned earlier, many teachers believe this to be effective. On the other hand, many people believe that special needs students should be integrated into regular classrooms.

There seem to be reasons to support both approaches. Before looking into it, I really did not know where I stood. The research I first did pointed me in the direction of being pro integration. First of all, special needs students in an integrated environment would more easily develop age appropriate behaviour among with the other classmates. Being with the other students their age would also create a more challenging environment that would help these students develop more skills and gain a sense of autonomy. They could also make friends they would not have met had they been in a separate class (Benefits of Integration Opportunities). Although I found these arguments somewhat convincing, I still wasn’t sure. I have a family friend in a special education classroom, and as far as I knew, this worked well for him.

His is the school I visited. He and his four classmates have learning disabilities as well as other difficulties such as with their movements or their language development. Their teacher, Julie (named changed), believes this separate environment is good for them. “I would say that I see them evolving, and they feel well in a setting like this one,” she said. When a student needs extra help, Julie can take the time for one-on-one work, and they go over the activity together, for example, learning how to tie their shoelaces. The students also have time to work on their own, and if Julie sees that something, like writing skills for example, needs revision, she works with the student to improve it. Julie also has support from a full-time specialized educator and an occupational therapist an hour a week.

When asked why the school wanted a Snoezelen room, Julie responded, “We are convinced that in terms of sensory development, it could be an advantage for the kids”. The children, a maximum of two at a time, would go into the Snoezelen room with their teacher, and they would work on improving a certain task or skill. “If you are more relaxed, chances are you will be more receptive, therefore learning occurs more easily. It’s all like a preparation for the work that comes after, and in the Snoezelen room, it’s not just a room where I sit and enjoy the panorama. There is a whole work process that can be done. We work on an objective, and it’s always in terms of the sensory aspect, using all the senses. All the proprioceptive too.”

Although there is still more research to be done on Snoezelen rooms, other teachers have expressed their approval of them. A study published in the Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities shows that many teachers agree on the room’s usefulness when working on a task (Stephenson and Carter 353).  In a regular classroom, this is done on a larger scale. A task is explained, and students must work on it to become better at it. Special education is basically doing that, but on a smaller scale, and it is more individualized to better suit the student’s needs. In these special education classrooms, there is more one-on-one teaching than in a regular classroom, and this helps these children improve. The study also shows that some teachers choose not to use the room as a place to teach, the curriculum but as an environment where students can learn to relax (Stephenson and Carter 354). Although the link is indirect, it seems to me that an acquired knowledge of relaxation techniques can still be beneficial in a classroom. The classroom, whether integrated or not, can be a stressful place. That’s coming from someone who once cried during a math test. In addition to typical school stress, some people with special needs may be stressed by things like certain sounds or too much movement around them. Relaxation techniques may come in handy in these uncomfortable situations. For these reasons, the separation of special needs children in schools, such as by using the Snoezelen room, does seem advantageous.

A study was published in The Scientific World Journal about the effects of the Snoezelen room on families, and I found the story of one particular family very touching. For three years, a boy with special needs lived in a residence that provides special care to children in need. As a result of some difficult times at home, this boy’s family was afraid of having him visit. Since the day he had moved in, this boy was not taken out of the residence.  Over a few months, the issue was worked on with this boy and his family in a Snoezelen room. Eventually, the boy’s family brought him home for three days. It was a joyful visit and remained relaxing even with the presence of his extended family. Due to the success of the therapy provided in the Snoezelen room, this boy can now leave the residence regularly for a few days at a time, and enjoy the comfort of his own home (Karim, Carmit, Kandel, Kessel, and Merrick 503).

This boy was not simply separated in school. He was separated from his home and his family because life at home became too difficult. However, the use of the Snoezelen room enabled him to get through some issues, and gave him the chance to spend time with his family on a regular basis. If the separation of living in a residence can lead to the positive integration with one’s family, isn’t the separation worthwhile?

Now think of it in the classroom. If being separated enables students to relax and improve certain skills, shouldn’t we want that for them?

There are other aspects to look at. Integration in schools is not simply about sharing a room, and following the other students’ example. “Some students can, for certain periods and for certain types of activities, be integrated, but academically, they wouldn’t be able to,” Julie said. As much as the more focused learning in separated classrooms is an advantage, integration offers many benefits on a more social and psychological level. Some of Julie’s students are separated for things like writing and math, but they can participate in an integrated music or a gym class once a week. They do the same activities and assignments as the other students.

Integration in the classroom should also involve group work (Rix, Hall, Nind, Sheehy, and Wearmouth 92). If a special needs student sits in an integrated classroom, but can’t keep up and feels apart from the others, that’s basically still a form of separation. On top of that, sitting in a classroom and feeling left out can have a negative effect on one’s sense of self. Having the students work together is true integration.

Special needs children live in an integrated world, so being in an integrated class is helpful for understanding diversity in the community (Inclusive Education and its Benefits). It makes sense to me that we should be preparing these children to enter the “real world”. When these students are at home, they are not separated from others, so it seems logical not to keep them constantly separated at school. We should also keep them from feeling different and excluded.

Participating in some regular classes has positive effects on Julie’s students. Julie said, “They develop other competencies. For self-esteem, the confidence of being able to evolve in another group, of being accepted, of being chosen by students other than those from the [special education] class, they are like us.”

It is important to remember that all children are different. They all learn in different ways. Some special needs students function well in integrated classrooms. My younger cousin is mildly autistic, and he is in an integrated class. At times, he has someone who accompanies him and helps him with his work. He can follow instructions and work well enough to be in this class. This was the solution found for him. The family friend I mentioned earlier has needs that would not allow him to work well in an integrated classroom. Academically, he does much better in the special education class. Once a week, he joins the other kids in their music class, and this is good for him.

It would be wrong to say that integration is the answer, or that separation is. We should rather try answering the question of how a particular child can learn various skills as well as be in environments that boost his or her self-esteem and feelings of acceptance. There are as many answers as there are people in the world.

Bibliography

“Inclusive Education and Its Benefits.” Inclusive Education and Its Benefits. New Brunswick Association for Community Living, n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.​

“Benefits of Integration Opportunities”. Division of Special Education. Los Angeles Unified School District. n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2013.

“Snoezelen: Definition & Teaching DVD”. International Snoezelen Association ISNA – Snoezelen professional e.V. International Snoezelen Association ISNA – Snoezelen professional e.V. n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2013.

Janus, Andrea. “Multi-sensory Environments Provide Relief, Escape.” CTVNews. Bell Media, 7 June 2008. Web. 15 Oct. 2013.

Nasser, Karim, Cahana, Carmit, Kandel, Isack, Kessel, Shlomo, and Merrick, Joav. “Snoezelen: Children with Disability and Working with the Whole Family”.The Scientific World Journal. 4 (2004): 500-506. JSTOR. Web. 14 Oct. 2013.

Rix, Jonathan, Hall, Kathy, Nind, Melanie, Sheehy, Kieron, and Wearmouth, Janice. “What Pedagogical Approaches Can Effectively Include Children with Special Educational Needs in Mainstream Classrooms? A Systematic Literature Review” Support for Learning. 24:2 (2009): 86-94. Academic Search Premier. Web. 11 Oct. 2013.

Stephenson, Jennifer, and Carter, Mark. “The Use of Multisensory Environments in Schools for Students with Severe Disabilities: Perceptions from Teachers”. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities. 23 (2011):339–357. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Oct. 2013.