San Bernardino school debuts sensory room to help special needs students

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (KABC) -- Special need students in San Bernardino now have new tools to help with learning.

Teachers and staff at Henry Elementary School cut the ribbon on a new sensory room on Friday.

The room is designed with the needs of students with Autism or Down Syndrome in mind.

Teachers say giving students an opportunity to "let loose" during the day helps them focus when it comes time to learn.

"Once we come in here, they're allowed to let loose, not let loose it's structured loose, but once we come back out, we're ready to work, and we have to do our work, and it's much easier to get them to zone in and work once we let loose in here, and they go back out there," said Courtney Swoboda, a special education teacher.

The sensory room is already proving to be successful and could serve as an example for other school districts.