SaskAbilites Yorkton enhances relaxation room
Yorkton, Sask. -
SaskAbilities Yorkton has enhanced their relaxation room to help people with disabilities experience a more comfortable and calming environment.
“Our ExploreAbilities room is designed to meet sensory needs for all individuals that we support through SaskAbilities here in Yorkton,” explained Sheila Reynolds, day program senior supervisor of Yorkton SaskAbilities Branch.
“Everything we do in the ExploreAbilities room has that cognitive component to it to help create new ideas, stimulate their senses, and their creativity.”
The $10,000 project was sponsored by Yorkton Toyota, and officially opened on International Day of Persons with Disabilities on Dec. 3.
“This project is made available to us through the Toyota Community Initiative. Our job is to find an organization to partner with that aligns with Toyota’s values,” shared Rob Black, general manager of Yorkton Toyota.
“Our marketing team identified SaskAbilities as an organization that we can help out with, and we utilized our resources to help along with this project. It’s extremely rewarding just to see what this project has done for everyone in this facility, the reception is received from everyone. It’s very satisfying.”
The “ExploreAbilities” room at Yorkton SaskAbilities encourages people with disabilities to find a safe and calming environment. (Sierra D'Souza Butts / CTV News)Reynolds explained the main purpose of the room and the difference it makes to SaskAbilities participants.
“It is geared towards individuals who are maybe having a rough start to their day and need to have a calming area to bring them back down to a baseline, so they can go about their day and have a successful day,” she voiced.
“It can also be turned around by helping people boost their energy. Despite changing some of the different music and lights, atmosphere in the room, it has multiple opportunities to do things for every individual.”
The room has various sensory items, lights, and activities with the aim of providing a soothing and engaging environment for individuals.
“It’s really rewarding to see the benefits because you’ll have someone who started with a really bad day and after spending 15 to 20 minutes in the room, they can come out and they end up turning their day around and having a really successful day going home with a smile on their face,” Reynolds expressed.
“Just seeing the excitement, all the feedback from all of the participants using the room, it’s really rewarding to see all of that.”
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