How Sensory Integration Can Enhance the Classroom Experience
The research is there—and has been for a very long time.
As a school based physical therapist working in Fresno County California, I’m often educating teachers on the role movement plays in regulating our emotions and how that relates to academic success.
Despite the research that backs this, not all classrooms have the flexible seating needed to implement affective strategies. I am seeing changes in the classrooms of new schools, but a lot of our students attend schools with a rich history that deserve the same benefits in seating options that a new school can offer.
Did You Know: We have 8 senses?
There’s a widely held belief that there are five senses, but we actually have eight. Add in proprioception, interoception, and the vestibular sense. Vestibular and proprioceptive sensory input are vital to support balance and our ability to move through our environment. Design choices that go beyond how the classroom looks, sounds, or feels to include vestibular and proprioceptive input can have significant impact on a student’s success.
What is the Vestibular System?
The vestibular system consists of structures in the inner ear and brainstem and is highly connected to the limbic system (which is primarily involved in the regulation of emotions). In 2017, the Journal of National Science, Biology, and Medicine conducted a study (Understanding the links between vestibular and limbic systems regulating emotions) that dug into the relationship between them (as well as both the central and autonomic nervous systems) and what possible mechanisms could stimulate the vestibular to influence emotions and modulate mood.
Taking that a step further was a 2015 study (Vestibular involvement in cognition) I also draw from in The Journal of Vestibular Research: Equilibrium & Orientation, that explored the inner ear vestibular system’s (substantial) impact on cognitive function. The abstract alone states:
The strongest evidence exists in connecting vestibular function to the cognitive domain of visuospatial ability, which includes spatial memory, navigation, mental rotation, and mental representation of three-dimensional space. Substantial evidence also exists suggesting the vestibular system has an impact on attention and cognitive processing ability.
“Appropriate Vestibular Stimulation in Children and Adolescents—A Prerequisite for Normal Cognitive, Motor Development and Bodily Homeostasis—A Review,” by Nina Božanić Urbančič, Saba Battelino, and Domen Vozel, talks about how people have known the connection for centuries and used furniture to address it: hanging beds can provide low-frequency vestibular stimulation, inducing sleep and relieving pain. Spinning chairs, with their high-frequency stimulation, have been used to treat mental illnesses, such as manic episodes [3,4].
The study further states that much has been learned about vestibular-impaired subjects and what difficulties they might face that can include:
- Gaze and fixation problems that can cause decreased visual acuity and consequent reading problems [91].
- A range of cognitive deficits that can include problems establishing a mental representation of the world, which could be connected to impaired numerical skills [10,70,71]. These deficits can also include non-spatial functions such as object recognition memory, self-motion perception, and bodily self-awareness [70,92].
How can we use this knowledge to create supportive learning environments?
As I knew many of my students suffered especially from those final two elements, I set out to find how I could use my knowledge of sensory input as a physical therapist to change the sensory experience of the classroom, and therefore better support extensive need students with a goal of decreasing their dysregulation and enhancing their learning opportunities.
Armed with 16 years of orthopedic clinical physical therapy practice and about seven years of school-based practice under my belt (and a few of those during a pandemic no less!), I got part of my answer in 2022 when Artcobell Rockers entered my life.
You can read the full story of how Artcobell Chief Development Officer Patricia Cadigan, ALEP and I teamed up to test a variety of flexible seating options like their Alphabet Rocker and the MOV Stool in my quest to help some of our students with the most extraordinary of needs, here.
But long story short, it was a revolutionary move for our classrooms, resulting in students achieving and surpassing IEP goals that had once been thought out of reach. By mitigating student dysregulation and/or tapping into strategies to calm dysregulation faster, students were increasing academic time and engagement. As time went on, use of the Artcobell chairs evolved as students became less reliant on them, providing greater opportunity for educational access. The success was both dramatic and impactful resulting in my administration purchasing 29 additional units for our classrooms after a six month trial, and we continue to add more each year.
CONSIDERATIONS WHEN DESIGNING CLASSROOMS
Our partnership with Artcobell continues as we have now extended it to redefining our district classroom layouts. We will follow up this blog with more details outlining how we worked together to develop these new schematics. But for now, allow me to offer some hints for anyone trying to incorporate the use of movement into an educational space:
- When considering moving and movable furniture—particularly pieces that rock and shift—be extra cognizant of your pathways and overall flow of the classroom.
- Realize that every year will look a little different because the needs of the students will never be the same. The beauty of working with Artcobell is that utilizing their flexible seating can account for any necessary changes as time goes on.
- Today’s classroom should have a 360-degree view of learning. There’s no front and back—the whole space is utilized with a beautiful array of functionality throughout.
Change the sensory input; Change the body's response
I often share with teachers to remember that our students’ responses are a result of the sensory information that our brain processes and the myriad of elements that can impact that. Change the sensory input and you change your body’s response—which is true for ALL kids. And while gen ed children can certainly benefit from these interventions, administrators are now seeing how this is a necessity for the special ed population. And I’m so excited to see how we can continue helping them reach for the stars.
Stay tuned!
Read more: This study aimed to capture parent and teacher perspectives on how sensory differences affect learning and life at school for pupils with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Distraction, distress and diversity: Exploring the impact of sensory processing differences on learning and school life for pupils with autism spectrum disorders - accessed via ScienceDirect.com.
Read more about Laura's early rocker experience in this article: Can the Right Furniture Help Students with Physical, Emotional Challenges.
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