DRYDEN – Kids get the fidgets. So do adults – ADHD and autism affect them, too. Tompkins Cortland Community College has opened a new sensory space designed to help neurodiverse students, but open to all of campus.
The “Neurodiverse Universe,” is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, and includes elements designed to reduce anxiety and increase productivity.
“Sometimes you have students who are feeling overwhelmed by the noise in the class, or the lights in their room, or people moving around in their seats,” said Karen Rachetta, the college’s coordinator of access and equity services. “That’s just the way their bodies process sensory information. So by coming here, you can kind of decompress.”
TC3 has more than 300 students with a disability, she added, and 95% of those students are neurodivergent.
Rachetta championed the plans for the sensory space last July, when colleagues brought the idea to her attention. In November, she asked the Mental Health Association for Cortland County for a $5,000 grant for the space – and received it.
“Everything you see here has a purpose, and it meets some sensory need in the body,” Rachetta said:
•The visual system is covered by the lights around the room, including a “light waterfall” and a projector on the ceiling.
•The vestibular system, governing balance, is satisfied by the swings, and the “Dizzy Disc,” a sitting disc that spins in a circle, which can help people who feel like they need movement.
•Anxiety can be eased by sitting in the “Cozy Canoe” or with a weighted blanket, because pressure can aid in relaxation.
•The collection of fidgets, such as acupuncture rings and calm strips, can help with attention and focus.
•The auditory system is eased by the sound machine.
Rachetta also has candy for students to take, which she said has different uses. Peppermint helps with concentration, while the citric acid in sour candies like Warheads can help stop a panic attack.
If students just need a break from all senses, they can enter the “Black Hole” – a sensory deprivation tent. It blocks out light and has soundproof headphones to cancel noise.
Angie McComb, a registered nurse at TC3’s College Health Services, said the sensory space is important.
“It’s wonderful to have the sensory space because it’s open and accessible to students of any walk of life to use it,” McComb said. “It gives them the ability to take a break, de-stim, or have a space by themselves that maybe they have at home but they don’t have anywhere else.”
Rachetta said she believes that none of the SUNY campuses have a space like this yet, but coping with neurodivergence is important in adulthood, too,.
“Those needs don’t go away. You’re just learning coping skills over time,” Rachetta said. “It’s really all about the different functions of the items, and the functions of the items are the same whether you’re 3 or 30.”
As time goes on, Rachetta would like to change the space based on student feedback. Rachetta also has her own ideas: She’d like to continue her lending library; and she already has “wiggle seats” students can borrow, but wants to add more.
McComb and Rachetta both said they would also like to see the space grow.
“I hope it can be a space that is utilized more, and more in the middle of where all of our students go, it would be nice to have all of our services closer together instead of separate,” McComb said. “If we could grow it and make it larger that would be amazing.”
Rachetta also would like to create sensory go kits with gum, hard candy, sunglasses, fidgets, earplugs and more. These kits could help bring the sensory space to the students.
She’s also started workshops involving the campus. Students had the opportunity to make aromatherapy putty during finals week in December, which she plans to do again in May.
Rachetta’s long-term goal is to open the space to the community.
“My long-term goal is to make this a community space,” Rachetta said. “So maybe monthly, we would have activities for families in the community to bring their kids and come explore.”
