At the heart of every sensory room are calming sensory lights. Sensory lights provide stunning effects and help to create stimulating environments for all needs. For autistic users, autism-friendly lighting in a sensory room can improve a child's focus and attention to detail while in a fun, relaxing and safe space.
Those with needs such as autism, ADHD, Alzheimer's, dementia, and sensory processing disorder (SPD) can feel a lack of control in this world. That's why calming sensory lights are among the most effective products for those who need a controlled sensory environment to focus. Many interactive sensory lighting options encourage a sensory solution to create a calm and relaxing space.
Let's explore the best autism-friendly lighting for a calming multisensory room, including bubble tubes, projectors and fiber optics. We discuss how calming sensory lights can assist those with sensory needs and the many benefits of fiber optics.
Sensory light products have a range of benefits to the user, from the tactile experience with fiber optics to developing visual senses with bubble tubes. For those with autism, calming sensory lights help users interact with their environment in a safe and fun way, as lights can bring anyone joy.
The correct lighting with sensory products helps to promote interaction and development for users with a wide range of sensory disorders. The user can witness tantalizing and calming sensory lights in a sensory room with just one or two of our favorite sensory lighting options. These include:
A sensory bubble tube is one of the most useful and calming autism-friendly lights on the market. With bright and colorful bubbles, bubble tubes are a great tool for developing skillsets such as visual tracking, auditory awareness, cause and effect, and social interaction. A bubble tube is a key component of any autism-friendly sensory room to create a fun and engaging sensory experience for any age.
A sensory room's bedrock is a bubble tube, positioned in a corner and placed in front of mirrors. Bubble tubes grab the attention of a user with their calming sensory lights and effects. They can calm or stimulate those who engage with them due to their moving, color-changing bubbles, which can soothe and catch users' eyes. The user of a sensory bubble tube can change the color of the light themselves to offer a mesmerizing experience that's both soothing and alerting with the use of an IRiS talker paired with any IRiS model bubble tube. Bubble tubes come in calming and interactive modes and are available in various sizes to suit any need or budget.
Autism-friendly lighting can be projected onto walls, floors, ceilings and mirrors to create stunning effects to improve orientation through visual stimulation. Whether you need to add more visual stimulation or emphasize communication in your sensory room, a sensory light projector offers the perfect solution which can prompt discussion through themed storytelling.
Projectors provide an element of movement to a sensory room, and the effects can be changed regularly to keep the space interesting. A projector will project light onto your walls, ceiling, or floor to display imagery and create the atmosphere you'd like in your environment. You can isolate a projector to one wall or move the projector across the room to offer a full multisensory room effect.
For those with autism, mirror balls reflect light to splash it onto your walls, ceiling, and floor to create a therapeutic multisensory experience. Mirror ball lighting does create dazzling, stimulating and calming sensory lights across any room. They are a relatively low-cost and fun way to add some pizzazz to your sensory room. However, a mirror ball might not suit everyone, depending on your child's needs.
LED light strips help direct soft lighting wherever you wish to create a calm and relaxed atmosphere. LED light strips can be mounted on to the wall to produce a color wash of intense colors. This creates a special effect for users, regardless of the sensory room location. For those with autism or who are non-verbal, color changing LED strips are a useful way to communicate their emotions.
Sensory fiber optic lights create a fabulous visual effect while being tactile and safe to touch. Calming or interactive fiber optics appeal to all ages and abilities, including those with autism and other sensory disorders.
Fiber optic sensory lights create calming sensory lights in various forms, from strands to sprays, curtains, and even carpets. Drape your fiber optic strands across a chair, beanbag or mount your cascade fiber optics for a compelling effect. The Calming Fiber Optic Jellyfish is a great option to add an under the sea theme to your sensory room. You could even lay a fiber optic carpet on the floor to encourage motor planning and floor work. What's more, fiber optics utilize small fiber optic filaments that transmit light without the use of electricity. They contain LED light that can be touched and manipulated, making them inherently safe with no need to change any lamps!
If you walk into a multisensory room, you will more than likely see the very attractive, color-changing sensory fiber optic strands. These spaghetti-like light strands can take on the form of various presentations and are very useful for stimulating both vision and touch. Fiber optics come in a range of designs for those with sensory needs to be engrossed in the lights, from sensory corner showers and more.
The benefits of fiber optics are endless, but here are some of our favorites:
Autism-friendly lighting should be at the heart of your sensory room to encourage increased mood and help engage all senses. If you want the lights to go even further, place mirrors around the room for the light to bounce off. This will help the calming sensory lights to be reflected for a more immersive experience.
Experia USA supplies a wide selection of autism-friendly lighting so that you can create a custom sensory room suited to the user's needs. Please don't hesitate to contact us today; our knowledgeable and informed team is dedicated to providing the best possible sensory environment for you. For further sensory resources, our blog is a great place to start.