Two boys play with small toys in the sensory room at the Church of the Nativity in Huntsville, Alabama. Photo: Church of the Nativity
[Episcopal News Service] The Church of the Nativity in Huntsville, Alabama, now offers children with sensory sensitivities a special place where they can take a break, relax and regroup.
And for one young member, his parents say, the room makes his time at church much more comfortable – even enjoyable.
The church’s Christian formation director, Emily Cantrell, told Episcopal News Service that the sensory room – previously an unused classroom – was designed in consultation with a local nonprofit with expertise in helping children with sense sensitivity – sight, touch, hearing. Sometimes called sensory processing disorder, it can occur in children and adults who have autism spectrum or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder – or it can occur on its own.
They also met with parents of children who might make use of the room to determine what they needed.
They realized the need for such a space after hosting two years of special sensory-specific Christmas events, which prompted Cantrell and others to wonder what they would need to make a permanent sensory room possible.
An activity board mounted on the wall helps a boy focus in the sensory room. Photo: Church of the Nativity
Last September, they had outfitted the room in the church’s Sunday school wing and opened it for use.
Fluorescent bulbs are covered to make the lighting softer, and on the walls are colorful light-up LED touchpads and several activity boards. Sensory stepping-stone tiles are on the floor. Furniture includes a couch and an enclosed swinging chair, along with a small trampoline. There is a kinetic sand station, and soft toys are placed around the room.
For Peyton and Caleb Jordan, the room has been a blessing for their 7-year-old son. Caleb Jordan told ENS that he himself, their son and their 12-year-old daughter have autism, and their son has taken advantage of the sensory room. He “sometimes struggles to cope” with lots of light and sound and can get overwhelmed quickly, Caleb Jordan said. For him, the new space has been “wonderful.”
In the past, “it used to be a little difficult to get him to go to church, and now he’s a lot more revved about it,” Caleb Jordan said.
He and his children all have difficulty when surrounded by too much sensory stimulation, he said. While their daughter can calm herself more easily, their son gets quickly overwhelmed. “He needs silence and sometimes to just sit in the corner with the light off to reset,” he said, which he can do in the sensory room. He enjoys playing with the kinetic sand table, where he can run his hands through the sand and find small toys in it. “It’s very soothing to him,” Caleb Jordan said.
Caleb Jordan described the type of autism he and his children have as all their senses operating constantly at full speed. “We take in too much information, information we don’t need, so we become overstimulated. But when we get to focus on just one sense, like playing with a squishy toy, that really soothes and calms us down.”
While Caleb brings earplugs for himself and both children – they love the organ but sometimes find it too loud – he is delighted that Church of the Nativity also makes them available. It’s just another example of the church taking the initiative to be more inclusive, “and especially for those of us with maybe invisible disabilities that people don’t realize we have,” he said.
It isn’t easy to make Nativity – an historic building in downtown Huntsville – fully accessible, but Cantrell said she and other church leaders are committed to doing everything they can.
Outfitting the sensory room cost around $2,000, she said, which came out of the church’s budget. She noted that the room is staffed with specially trained behavior therapy technicians, hired by the church.
An enclosed swinging chair helps a boy feel safe and calmer. Photo: Church of the Nativity
Registration is required to use the room – which has capacity for five children – so the technicians can meet the needs of each child. So far, they’ve never had five at one time.
The Jordans are relatively new members of Nativity, having first attended on Easter three years ago. Both Peyton and Caleb grew up in Baptist churches, she said, but found themselves no longer in agreement with that church’s teaching about the role of women. They struggled to find a church where they could belong. When they searched online for churches that aligned with their current inclusive beliefs, Nativity was at the top of the list.
During their first visit, “we loved it immediately,” Peyton Jordan said. It did take them a while to get used to all the liturgical traditions, but once they did, she described the service as “brilliant” and “incredible.” The addition of the sensory room only made them love the church more.
Caleb Jordan said the room also is a tool for evangelism. “If word got out that we had a sensory room, that we were making accommodations for people, I do believe more people would come to church.”
Cantrell said she is glad the church can offer a new, safe space for children who need it, not only during church services but for other events that take place there. Another downtown church has contacted her to learn more about their sensory room. “Even if [a church] makes small steps or doesn’t have much space, I think it’s all in the right direction” toward greater accessibility and inclusivity, she said.
— Melodie Woerman is an Episcopal News Service freelance reporter based in Kansas.
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