Birmingham center helps people with special needs find calming stimuli in new multisensory room

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — Soothing tubes of bubbling water gradually change colors from blue to white to green.

Addie Salamone, 21 months, navigates her way through the white padded room at her own pace, enjoying the lights, soft music and new discoveries, such as a lighted blue egg she cups in her hands.

Her parents, Caleb and Brandy Salamone, drive from Cleveland in Blount County to Birmingham at least once a week so Addie can experience the new multisensory environment at United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Birmingham on Oslo Circle.

The special room has many purposes. It was designed to promote neurological activity and encourage relaxation in children and adults with special needs. Therapists working with the UCP are discovering it can be used for physical therapy, speech therapy, stress relief or simply bringing joy to a child overwhelmed by the world outside.

For Addie — a baby who wasn’t crawling by her first birthday, when many children take their first steps — it is a room where she can relax and learn to walk. She took four steps in the room this week, Brandy Salamone said. And she has started saying more words.

The multisensory environment is the first of its kind in Birmingham, said Sandra Fornes, co-founder of the Christopher Douglas Hidden Angel Foundation, which has built more than 35 of these rooms across North America.

The rooms are very popular in Europe but not well known in the United States, she said. European research has found that a multisensory environment can relieve stress, anxiety and pain for children and adults with disabilities such as autism, brain injury and mental illness, Fornes said.

Children control the environment. Sensors detect a child’s speech, movements and breathing, and music builds up momentum based on the excitement of the child. Colors change based on the child’s reaction. Different stations offer different neurological stimulation, such as lights that flash in patterns and a section of wall with a variety of textures on its surface.
And everything can be altered for the specific needs of each child, said Marliese Delgado, a physical therapist working with Addie.

“Stress makes it more difficult to learn,” Delgado said. “This is a very soothing environment.”

For some children, the world outside can be anything but soothing and relaxing. The UCP shared the story of Xavier Kurre, 3, who has cortical vision impairment and autism.
Tension tamer

A simple trip to the store for the Oak Mountain toddler can be overwhelming with too much noise and lights, said his mother, Nancy Kurre.
Xavier recently used the multisensory room at UCP.

“As soon as he walked in the room, you could see the tension in his body melt away which brought tears to my eyes,” Kurre told the UCP for its prepared information. “Xavier is non-verbal, but you could see the transformation in him. This room allows him to relax and experience his environment when he can’t do that in the real world.”

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Occupational Therapy in the School of Health Professions will conduct research with some of the children using the special room this fall, said Jan Rowe, interim chairwoman.

She said she hopes the research will determine the impact and effectiveness of the environment on children with all kinds of ability levels.

Fornes said she predicts more multisensory environments will be built in Alabama, especially since the Christopher Douglas Hidden Angel Foundation moved from Florida to Gadsden.
But the rooms do not come cheap. The multisensory environment at the UCP cost about $35,000, she said. And staff must be trained to use the rooms properly.
Families like the Salamones appreciate the result of all the effort and expense.

“It is a blessing to have these caring people and this technology,” Brandy Salamone said as she watched Addie. “Hopefully, she will be walking this summer.”

Source: Birmingham News (al.com)