Sensory room provides dedicated calm space on campus

Our first sensory room is now open in the Education Building (lower-ground room B.04) at our Mount Pleasant Campus.

The open-access Sensory Resource Hub provides neurodivergent students, and anyone who might find the university environment overwhelming, the space to decompress, to regulate your senses and to recharge in a calm and supportive environment.

The room is open Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm.

The space has been co-designed by level 5 students on the Education and Special Educational Needs programme, alongside neurodivergent students, with help from Seaview Sensory, a family-run sensory business on the Wirral.

The project has been facilitated by School of Education PhD researcher, Libby Robinson, whose research aims to improve inclusivity and student mental health and wellbeing in higher education.

Libby hopes to help other universities to co-design their own sensory spaces with neurodivergent students’ input, and she is also working on developing a framework so that more sensory spaces can be created across the LJMU campus.

Libby said: “My inspiration for the Sensory Resource Hub came from researching multi-sensory environments which highlighted the lack of implementation of sensory rooms in higher education.

“With being neurodivergent myself - with ADHD - the university environment can be overwhelming at times. By having a sensory room, it will allow students to have a safe space and a short escape from the noisy, fast-moving university environment.

To our knowledge, this research is the first of its kind as neurodivergent students are working as collaborators to design a sensory room fit for their needs.

Libby Robinson, PhD researcher 

Libby added: “I encourage all neurodivergent students, both diagnosed and identify as, to use the Sensory Resource Hub regularly during university hours as it can aid in sensory stimulation or give a sense of calmness depending on the user’s needs.”

Email Libby if you would like to know more about her research or to participate in having your say in the design of the Sensory Resource Hub or co-designing your own sensory object based on your needs.