Calming Kuujjuaq’s kids

KUUJJUAQ — Lying on a waterbed, listening to peaceful music, while you’re watching cascades of light and coloured bubbles float by… sounds relaxing, doesn’t it?

This is the intent of a remarkable new space in Kuujjuaq’s Jaanimmarik School.

Called a Snoezelen Room, it’s filled with equipment designed to calm down even the most hyperactive kids, as well as to stimulate the senses of the handicapped.

Among its specialized furnishings are a giant, floor-to-ceiling lava lamp, a massage pad, a swinging chair, beanbag chairs, a soft box filled with plastic balls, and a wheel lit up with colourful spinning geometric shapes.

It’s the kind of environment often associated with psychedelic dreams.

But European educators found out that these captivating effects that touch the senses can also help the handicapped.

A $64,000 grant of federal money from the “Gathering Strength” program paid for Kuujjuaq’s new room, which school officials hope will help a variety of children with physical or emotional needs.

“We hope it will be a boost to them, although we don’t expect instant results,” principal Peter Bentley said.

Jaanimmarik School has around 25 students from kindergarten to Grade 7, who will be introduced slowly to the room, in groups of two or three, along with a monitor. They’ll be encouraged to experience this room in what vice-principal Bev Makiuk says is a “non-goal-oriented” way.

“Enjoyment just for the sake of enjoyment is underestimated,” Makiuk said.

Makiuk, who recently received training on how to best make use of the room, said “joy” is one of its most striking results.

“That’s a plus, right here,” Makiuk said. “And it could be more.”

Older students and even teachers have also expressed interest in using the room: Its strong appeal clearly cuts across the ages.

Jaanimmarik School has had its share of challenges over the past two years, including a fire and several suicides among its secondary students.