Comfort Room for Kids (IA UCEDD/LEND)

June 11, 2016

The Center for Disabilities and Development, Iowa's Center for Excellence on Disabilities is excited to roll out a new and unique experience for our patients and families. The Comfort Room for Kids is scheduled to open in late spring 2016.

The Comfort Room uses technology to help reduce anxiety and stress in a safe and fun environment. Many key sensory items in the room help patients with:

• Development of switching skills
• Cause and effect
• Color recognition and color matching
• Motor skills
• Social interactions

The room has an LED bubble tube with a wireless control, which lets someone control the color and bubbles in the tube. A soft padded base lets the user sit close to the tube and feel its vibrations. The LED Fiber Optics Softie lets a child sit on a beanbag with fiber optics to hold, look at, touch and feel. This makes for a great visual and physical experience. It also gives a place for children to relax while lying down and watching the colors slowly change. Wall and floor padding helps make the room a safe place for people to sit or lie down and enjoy the calming music and lighting.

A mirror ball and four colored lenses allow us to control the color in the room. A sensory room wouldn't be complete without a projector. Our projector system shows a Firework Bonanza or an Under the Sea experience.

For more information on The Comfort Room for Kids please contact Heather Roman, Communications Specialist at 319-356-1514 or [email protected].

Enhancements to the room have been made by Variety - The Children's Charity of Iowa.