“There are no guarantees in life, except that everyone faces struggles. This is how we learn (and grow). Some face struggles from the moment they are born. They are the most special of all people, requiring the most care and compassion and reminding us that love is the sole purpose of life.”– Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
These are our Hidden Angels – teaching all of us life’s most valuable lessons.
Summary of Multi Sensory Environment Equipment and its Purpose
| Senses stimulated | Equipment for an MSE | Primary Purpose |
| Visual Effects
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Effect Projector and Accessories
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Produces a variety of moving images, abstracts, and patterns to changes brain arousal levels/behavior. Lens and accessories can enhance the images.
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| Vestibular | Mounted so wheel can easily be changed | Promotes visual awareness, tracking skills, spatial relationships, and impacts vestibular stimulation.
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| Visual, Tactile, Auditory | Bubble Tubes/Columns
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Acrylic tubes filled with distilled water. An air pump provides rising patterns of air bubbles, pleasant sounds, and soothing vibration. Various colors are illuminated through tube. The bubble tubes are the room’s focal point. Provides intensity and novel impact on emotion of pleasure, elicits an awe response. Promotes visual awareness, tracking skills, object localization, sound localization, spatial relationships, cause and effect, color identification, color matching, and impacts vestibular stimulation re the vibration.
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| Visual, tactile | Fiber optics, Fiber optic curtains | Bundle of fiber optic strands that glow with a changing color light display. Strands are sheathed in plastic for durability, flexibility, and safety. Uses tactile and visual sensation and adds to uniqueness for maintaining arousal level. Promotes visual awareness, visual and tactile stimulation, visual fixation, color identification. Can provide deep muscle relaxation, social interactions. Head/neck muscle control and strengthening, encouraging the individual to look up and down, counting, artistic expression.
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| Visual, vestibular | Motorized mirror ball | Used to put intense visual/vestibular stimuli into the nervous system for matching arousal level for change.
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| Acrylic mirror panels | Provides for additional visual stimuli through the multiple bubble column reflection. Also promotes body awareness and gives more depth to smaller rooms.
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| Fan light | Is a sound-activated light display. As the sound level increases, the illuminated multicolored light panels move more quickly across the fan and patterns of light change. The panels light up in response to volume changes in sound and vocalizations, breathing, and vibration. A sensitivity control allows the user to compensate for varying input volume levels. Promotes vocalizations, encourages reduced over-vocalizations, cause and effect, breath control and deep breathing, posture, and positioning.
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| Mirrors | Impacts the multiple imagery and adds to complexity required for change.
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| Tactile Effects | Vibroacoustic platform or chair | Utilizes sound vibration for distressing; also helps define body awareness.
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| Soft Items – floor mats |
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| Pillows, bean bags, vibroacoustic platforms |
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| Sound Effects (Music) |
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| Sensory Activities | Blowing bubbles, finger painting, play dough |
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| Must have a continuum of accessories to match the individual’s arousal level to be able to move it up and down the continuum to change arousal states and mediate behavior. |
