Thanks to the ingenuity of one dedicated teacher, students with sensory issues at an elementary school in Illinois now have a creative way to get some relief.
With just some paint and a hot glue gun, Amy Maplethorpe created two sensory chairs by cutting tennis balls in half and hot gluing them to the back and seats of the chairs.
Maplethorpe, a speech pathologist at Raymond Ellis Elementary School, says that the chairs are helpful for students who have sensory issues. For some children with diagnoses like autism, Down syndrome, and components of sensory processing disorders, it can be difficult to regulate sensory input within their body and in their environments. Maplethorpe went on to say that the tennis ball chairs provide relief because the tennis balls offer a different texture than the regular chairs.
“By sitting down on it, it could just be that input that a student needs at that time instead of that flat surface that kind of gives that rounded feel to the chair,” she told The Huffington Post.
The idea has gone viral after Raymond Ellis Elementary School posted a photo of Maplethorpe and the chairs on their Facebook page. The school wanted to thank her and give her the recognition that she deserved for being so dedicated to helping her students.
She received so much love and interest from the post that it had to be edited to include directions for how the chairs were made.
Although the results differ for every student, Maplethorpe says that she has seen many benefits for her students.
“I’m really excited that this has taken off and I’m really excited to see the benefits for students across the country, and educators and parents,” she said.
Aside from how exciting it is that these chairs have so successful, it’s also inspiring to see just how much love and devotion Maplethorpe puts into her job and her student’s well-being.
By: Shareably