Sensory Needs

I used to teach the blind and multihandicapped back in the dark ages and many of my students were tactually defensive. To help with their sensory needs I used to have a huge container of sand and I would hide objects in it. I would tell my students that we were going on a treasure hunt and let’s see how many treasures we could find. Believe it or not, they would dig around in the sand when before they would not even go near it and had a blast finding little treasures along the way. We used to have contests to see who could find the most or find a certain object.

My students could not sit in a container filled with sand (too much of a sensory overload), I had to use one of those big plastic tub things you wash dishes in (you could also use a big Rubbermaid plastic storage container with a lid). I used objects that they were into at that time and funny stuff like spoons, combs, marbles, crayons, etc.

I had to start with sand first and work my way up to shaving cream. Shaving cream is cold and slippery and the smell is overwhelming too. I used to color the shaving cream with food coloring for extra stimulation when they were ready for it. :)